eDC Weekly!
Hola! We are back with the second edition of eDC Weekly. Just like every edition, this time also we hop onto the ongoing entrepreneurial changes happening in and around us. Read more to find out!
Recent Updates with eDC
Unicorn Series has begun! - Oct 1st, 2022
The "Unicorn Series" is a brand-new series put on by eDC-IIT Delhi along with IIT Delhi Alumni Association, aiming to help and encourage young minds at IIT Delhi to pursue and succeed in entrepreneurship. The Unicorn Series seeks to foster entrepreneurial potential by having interactive sessions with IIT Delhi alums, who will provide essential insights and help students turn their entrepreneurial ideas into successful firms.
For the first session of the Unicorn Series, we had Mr. Vidit Aatrey, the founder and CEO of Meesho. He completed his BTech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi in 2012. Even though he worked for ITC and InMobi, his desire to be an entrepreneur ensured that he did something of his own. Since 2015, he has done a tremendous amount of hard work to turn Meesho into a unicorn. In the session, he touched upon his childhood days and how he came up with the idea to start Meesho with his hostel wingmate, now his fellow cofounder, Mr. Sanjeev Barnwal. He asked all budding entrepreneurs to learn from their failures and manage their emotions in case of failure.
The session was moderated by Mr. Gaurav Goyal, Treasurer, IITDAA and Covener of the Startup Sub Committee. Ms. Punam Lade, EC Member, IITDAA and the Startup Sub Committee member, thanked Mr. Vidit Aatrey for taking his time out for this eventful session.
XR Startup Program - Oct 7th, 2022
Extended Reality Technologies (XR) have never been more exciting than before. This umbrella tech encompassing augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) is a growing force to solving modern day problems with a futuristic touch.
eDC-IIT Delhi, along with FITT-IIT Delhi, organised XR Startup Program in collaboration with Meta and MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI. A panel discussion was held about exploring the potential of XR across various domains, such as healthcare and education. The program aimed to accelerate and nurture the development of Extended Reality (XR) technologies in India. With an eye on the metaverse buzz and the crazy developments following up, this is indeed a great learning experience.
News around the entrepreneurial world!
Govt Launched SETU Initiative To Empower Indian Startups
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal launched an initiative called SETU in San Francisco, California. SETU stands for Supporting Entrepreneurs in Transforming and Upskilling. SETU aims to connect Indian entrepreneurs and startups to US investors and is designed to break the geographical barriers between mentors based in the US that are willing to invest in sunrise sectors in India. The Interaction between the American investors and Indian startups will be supported through MAARG which is Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth program. It is a mentorship portal under the Start-up India initiative. The portal has been developed with the idea to be accessible from every corner of the country to connect with a mentor. The initiative will offer human intelligence to guide startups. Globally, more than 200 mentors have been connected to MAARG.
The Fall of Pound
The announcement of tax cuts Britain's government brought havoc in their currency by dropping the pound's value to $1.03, the lowest level pound has ever been against the dollar, raising concerns of even higher inflation. Experts say the pound declined so sharply because many investors are wary of British Prime Minister Liz Truss's proposal to increase government borrowing to pay for tax cuts.
How is the UK affected by it? Oil & Gas is one of the key imports for the UK, and it is priced in dollars on international commodity markets. A weaker pound would make diesel or petrol more expensive. Also, since the United Kingdom imports more than fifty percent of its food, food prices will increase. How does this affect foreign nations? It makes UK goods and services more affordable!
Fun Trivia
The term entrepreneur originates from the French verb "entreprendre", which means “to initiate, to begin, to start, to create, to embrace”.
Speaking of the entrepreneur's work-life balance – it is about how many hours per week a person works? A study conducted by 80000hours.org shows:
• 19% of entrepreneurs work over 60 h/week
• 30% of entrepreneurs work around 51-59 h/week
• 33% of entrepreneurs work 40-50 h/week
• 14% of entrepreneurs work 30-39 h/week
• only 5% work less than 30 h/week
Where do you think you would stand?
Question of the week!
So here we are with the question we left you with last time!
Deferred Placement Program: The Deferred Placement Program here at IITD is an iconic opportunity for bright young minds seeking a plunge into entrepreneurship. This program, open to pre-final B.Tech, Dual degree, or M.Tech students shortlists promising startup ventures, and offers the students an option of deferring their placement for two years.
The shortlisting is done by an esteemed panel consisting of faculty members and industry experts, which later will consistently monitor the team’s progress. Besides helping in availing of key guidance and funding, the panel will help the team on legal and entrepreneurial matters. There is no upper cap on the number of students availing of this benefit which irrespective of the outcome, supports the student in mitigating the risk associated with the process and helps realize true ambitions.
For more details, refer to the Official Program Circular.
Have you been overwhelmed by the number of clubs at IITD? Or do you feel they are fewer, and you wish to come up with a club of your own? IITD offers you the freedom to do so but wait, how exactly do you do it? Have you ever thought of it?
Stay tuned till next week until we share you the answer. If you were fascinated by our work and want to work with us, fill this form. Till then, keep thinking, keep asking, and have a safe stay. Bbye!