I’m happy to announce that StartupDunia has partnered with Economic Times’ new initiative – “Power of Ideas“, a program to promote entrepreneurship and help people pursue their entrepreneurial dream.
The program will be conducted across 8 Indian cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkota, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Hyderabad & Chennai as below:
Phase 1: Call for Ideas and Participation ( Jan 21st – Feb 20th). You can submit your business summary via email, online or even snail mail.
Phase 2: A jury comprising of ET editors and Indian Angel Network will shortlist candidates. All shortlisted candidates will be given group mentoring sessions to prepare them for an elevator pitch interview
Phase 3: One on one mentoring will be provided to candidates shorlisted from the elevator pitch.
Phase 4: In the final phase, the selected candidates will present to investors.
You can view the entire program details here.
The realm is not limited to technology so folks with non-technology based ideas can also participate. If you have the entrepreneurial itch, nows the time to scratch that itch.
Kudos to the ET team for putting this together. If you have any questions, comments, feedback about the program, let me know.
How safe is it to submit your idea to an unknown group of people ? a good idea can be stolen i guess.
At what stage of your idea (inception, implementation, ready ) should one enter this event ?
can some one shed some light on this.
D,
There’s nothing like stealing an idea. The concept of idea is worthless – its the execution that matters. Everyone has ideas – its the execution that separates the entrepreneurs from the wanna-preneurs.
You can ask any entrepreneur around that they’ll attest to it — ideas are by themselves of very little value.
But even then if you’re apprehensive of someone stealing your idea, then the program just asks for business summaries – the program website FAQ section should answer some of your concerns.
You can enter this event at the idea inception level itself — if shortlisted, the program will help refine and develop your idea.
let me know if you have any more questions.
you are right
same happned to me in engineering sector
Dont worry. They won’t do like that! Economic times are one of the brand organization in india.
I totally agree with Pranav on that! Ideas at most of the time are not of much value. In Times Ascent, today, following is what they say about a true enterpreneur:
A true enterpreneur is one who takes up an ordinary idea and convert it into extraordinary business proposition.
Thus, an idea in itself does not hold so much. Its the vision of the enterpreneur which makes the idea successful by executing the idea in an extraordinary manner.
any one can believe me if I will mak promise to make money double in 3 years with manufacturing sectores.
Is there anybody to ready .only youg entereprenure
location is rajasthan and gujarat
My self done MBA (FIN) LONDON,LLB, MCOM
call or mail
9687967770
vijayrlodha@yahoo.com
Hi
I disagree…. a good idea needs to be protected. Remember that only the first to market an idea will survive and take the lions share of the market.
In atleast the webworld the barriers to entry being so low it makes sense to keep the idea under wraps.
I have been apprehensive about idea sharing since mark zuckerbergs stole connectu idea to launch facebook.
infact i stopped attending the MIT networking events after that.
See even before facebook there was MySpace, and even after facebook there is Orkut and then Big ADDA. Concept is same “SNS” but they are implementing differently, Orkut boasts of very good GUI, facebook of apps and BigADDA of marketing exposure etc etc. SO at the end what mattered is how each one of them executed the same concept, uniquely.
Your sharing of idea can never be a threat, on the other hand your execution itself becomes a threat after its released in the market.
If you’r worrying about sharing your idea with Handful of Industry experts (who anyways have no intentions of stealing it) think about sharing it with millions when you have a released product. It becomes a bigger threat!!!
Yes,
I agree with D. It is really unsafe to submit an Idea to a company, which has some team to develop something.
Sarav,
consider this scenario – lets say you approach investors and pitch them about your idea.
assume that you’re concerned about the vc’s stealing your idea and request them to sign a NDA before pitching your idea.
most of them will show you the door if you do that.
I’ll say this again — ideas are worthless without execution. if you are paranoid about others stealing your idea, you’re worrying yourself about absolutely nothing..
I would definitely invest in the guy who has the guts and foresight to protect his IP.
A look at the statistics and we will find that there is no respect for IP protection in India. Plagiarism thrives in India and will continue to thrive
Pranav,
Just a suggestion … can you put a forum to this website for these kinds of discussions ?
thanks D for the suggestion — I’ll look into it — although it might be only doable early next month — gonna be caught up in a few personal issues rest of the month.
If the idea is IT or software related then only the problem and should think before submit . Other ideas I am not sure…
Absolutely agreed with Pranav and Rabi.. You can always share your idea. as Pravan said – “Everyone has ideas – its the execution that separates the entrepreneurs from the wanna-preneurs.”
very well said
WOWWWWW WAT AN IDEA BY ET ,.ITS REALLY THE WAY WHICH WILL PAVE THE PATH 4 SOME GEN-NEXT ENTERPRENUERS.I HOPE IN FUTURE GOVT WILL ALSO EXTEND ITS HAND FOR SUCH PROGRAMMES.
WISH THIS IDEA A VERY BEST OF LUCK AND ALSO TO ALL THE PARTICIPANTS
Hi,
Read the discussion and have a thought upon this.
1) I agree totally that its the execution that matters and not the idea. It depends how well thought is the idea. How much knowledge you have in your domain.. etc etc
2) As it is true and pranav mentioned it above tooo.. that they have not asked about the full details and just the basic idea: “then the program just asks for business summaries”
so combining the two. The idea as such is not as important as are its details and the execution planned for it, and at the same time its just the opposite these guys here are asking (the same is asked in Business plan completitions too). Then how fair is the judgement??
PS: This is from a personal experience. I have competed in many B plan competitions. The idea is solid, and has won at many places, but some times its not even shortlisted as its a very generic idea, but lot of work has been put into it, which cannot be seen during the first shortlisting.!!
what happened to TATA NEN thing ?
i guess they’re still in the final mode of the competition..which seems like forever..
This is a wonderful initiative in India. I hope investment in rural sector, especially one which harnesses the best mix of traditional with modern technological and managemental tools, gets a bigger pie. This, I say because, with 86% of inefficiencey in delivery of public services, the coordination of services to rural India, could fill up the coffers of millions of entrepreneurs who would also be able to quench their spiritual quest in making many SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRES!!!
I, on behalf of our NGO, HABITAT and its flagship 9-GRAM, 9-RATNA YOJANA, call to visit our web-site and see our presentations so as many of us could work as ‘network organisations’ in some states of India where we are strong such as Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar. Our condition is that any kind of technological, service delivery and service innovation, which could be deployed as a tremendous cost-cutting measure, shall be welcome and would find entrepreneurial energy in a cluster, which we could together choose under our managemental tool named, “Multi Institutional Alliance or MIA”!
i just wanted to enquire that whether the idea that we submit has to be a totally new idea or can it be based on an ignored sector or regarding the extension of an already existing product or sector?
priyanka,
it can be anything — a totally new, disruptive idea or an extension / enhancement of any existing idea – product – market.
As long as you think – hope to build a business out of it, it’s valid.
Hi,
Good to know that people are so concern about their ideas. They do not want to share the idea due to threat of being the idea stolen by an unknown company. I am not denying the fact but I just want to ask those intelligent people that what will they do with the idea if it is not shared or executed. Ideas will multiply and become many but will never work. But if you share, probability is there that one day they end up being known and respected.
At the end: “Future Belong’s to Risk Takers and not Comfort Seekers”
that is not what I meant by sharing idea. I think there is no point in sharing ideas among other entrepreneurs or an unknown set of people at the inception level.
there is a time and place for everything. Ideas multiple …sure…. they do…. but ideas get stolen too …. do you know the amount of IP that gets stolen every year?
if there is no problem in sharing ideas then why do companies keep their products under wraps almost until their launch or atleast till they have a prototype ready??
just my 2 cents….
D,
http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html
Hello,
We want to participate in The Economic Times The Power Of Ideas. We could not find category related to our web portal. – MeriCAR.com
We want to put this into Category – AUTO, but it is not in the list of categories.
Can anybody suggest us?
Regards,
Neha
Dear Neha,
you could easily put in last category OTHERS.
i THINK THIS SHOULD SOLVE YOUR PROB.
ALL THE BEST
MANISH
thanks manish for the input..
i think its a great initiative by times of india group and all budding enterprenuers shud take part.
all the best to all.
manish
Its a good initiative…..probably many of us have ideas, most of them exceedingly brilliant. The only thing that matters is that how these ideas are transformed into real projects and are executed in an appropriate fashion. I do agree to some extent that mere ideas are of less value as they gain importance only when they are executed. But ideas are the first step to any project. Any one who has entreprenual skills and has a vision can make anything out of these ideas even if he just got to listen the idea or concept from an unknown person in an informal conversation.
Anyways, I would like to know that is there any proper format to submit your proposal or it could be in simple words just giving an outline or summary of the concept.
Would be happy to recieve comments.
Vinita
vinita,
I’m not sure if any format is expected, but I guess a business summary format should suffice..you should be able to get a business summary template from the web.
however, if you want further clarification, i’d say that you can contact the ET team on their email: etideas@indiatimes.com
Yes even my concern is the same……….can i get sum help with regards to the format expected…………..thanx…
There are the list of 10 questions that need to be answrred within the stipulated word limit.I guess that should be enough.Actually the questions are one line questions but the answers will surely not be in a single line….
Hope it helps.all the best to all.
Dear Sir,
Can single contet can give more than one ideas.or the same can
present together.
Regards
Balaji.K
I could not see my idea on the site (ideas.economictimes.com). I would suggest if they can display all ideas simply on the page rather showing “bulbs”. It is good idea showing bulbs, but now there are many and difficult to search info.
Regards,
Rakesh
MeriCAR.com
reservebank must start specify the validity /expiry dates on currency notes of rs.1000 and rs.500 in the way similar to expiry dates put on by pharmacy companies.
this single action can wipe out most of the black money that is circulating freely in the market. this will also reduce the corruption in a big way.
the expired note may be retrieved through banking system on declaration of pan card no.
but the problem is it hurts the decision making politician most.
the GDP can grow to 10% and more without doing anything.the common man is the highest gainer.
good work man you are right
Nice Idea.
Indian BUDgets are BADgets since they seldom carry reforms, we call our loose spending plans as Annual Budgets, this is unfortunate.
Hi
consider this scenario : and I quote from one of magazines –
there’s a place where people cant even afford phones in an STD/I SD booth-. They do not know how use the technology either
there was this person who raised the idea – lets promote communication and things will be better – nobody bought this idea
finally even though the whole business proposition showed losses on paper before starting – STD and ISD booths were set up all over the place giving an employment opp too.
in a few years- the growth in the region was phenomenal
if the idea is really good, the threat is zero ! Not excuting it and not being a slave to the idea is a bigger threat !
the above was called disruptive innovation !
Interesting way to showcase one’s entrepreurial venture ideas!! Kudos to ET team!!
REally…
it’s a great concept to promote entrereneurship in india, and to leverage the progress n developement of india, beyond the limit.
I think ideas are important as a potential seed to a great biz. Don’t get fooled by this “ideas are dime-a-dozen” bit that is usually thrown around by those looking for ideas at dirt cheap ideas.
Ideas are stolen not just in india – but also in the biggest corporations in the west.
Having said this, do understand that Ideas are the first step – there is a long path of building the product/service, marketing/sales and business development before the idea actually bring in good money.
So yes, if you have an idea, you definitely need to be careful sharing/disclosing it. But, remember there is a long way ahead as far as money goes.
agree with you atul …
A peace pill for our peace-seeking world:
Adopt LoveAll-HateNone philosophy since Humanity essence of all religions, faiths and philosophies of our acquisitive world.
Do not do for others what you do not want others to do for you.
God and Religion:
A true religious mind knows no religion since GOD knows no religion.
No one is bad since everyone belongs to God.
Laws not built on humanity do not last longer.
The need of the hour:
Sow humanity and reap peace, Sow peace and reap progress. Sow progress and reap prosperity. Sow prosperity and reap endless happiness. Therefore – Humanity is my caste, Humanity is my community, Humanity is my religion, Humanity is my creed, Humanity is my race, Humanity is my tribe, Humanity is my region, Humanity is my nationality, Humanity is my language, Humanity is my mother-tongue, Humanity is my consideration, Humanity is my philosophy, Humanity is my approach, Humanity is my way of life. Finally, Humanity is my world.
NVSN Murthy, Scientist
A temporary visitor on earth promoting Humanity and Friendship for Peace, Progress and Prosperity of people and nations of our mother planet earth.
Past address: Unknown
Present address: Earth
Future address: Unknown
A peace pill for our peace-seeking world:
Adopt LoveAll-HateNone philosophy since Humanity is the essence of all religions, faiths and philosophies of our acquisitive world.
Do not do for others what you do not want others to do for you.
NVSN Murthy, Scientist
A temporary visitor on earth promoting Humanity and Friendship for Peace, Progress and Prosperity of people and nations of our mother planet earth.
Past address: Unknown
Present address: Earth
Future address: Unknown
Uncertainty is more certain and more inevitable than the most inevitable change.
Thus, Indian entrepreneurs in general and corporate sector in particular, must be more watchful than never before since emerging technologies demanding abrupt changes needs abnormal potential to absorb changes associated.
Politicians in power seldom comeback to power by ignoring farmer, politicians aspiring power seldom come to power by ignoring farmer, political parties ignoring farmer will disappear forever.
NVSN Murthy, Scientist and a temporary visitor on earth currently passing through Asian soil.
Qualification seldom qualifies anyone for employment, percentage of marks does not mean merit, age does not mean maturity, experience does not mean knowledge and talent does not mean wisdom.
Therefore, employers must develop tools to measure performance and creativity essential to assess usefulness and wage-worthiness. Employers ignoring these facts end up in recruiting non-contributors.
NVSN Murthy, Scientist
A temporary visitor on earth currently passing through Asian soil and attempting to promote new concepts and higher levels of competitiveness essential for effective development of people and nations of our mother planet earth.
Change is challenging:
Only a change can change a change and change alone can challenge a change along with the inevitable uncertainties associated with every change. These are the real challenges of life for the present and future generations.
Death means UNWILLINGNESS to change.
So far, Science has miserably failed to understand the nature and several things happening around. For reasons best known to all concerned, man-made tools like science, engineering and technology continue to fail forever.
This fact is nothing but a truth. Therefore, let go along with the nature as thoughtfully did by the most knowledgeable ancient people of our planet.
NR Narayana Murthy seldom did his best to become the best. He became the best because he did the best.
This is the only secret of his success.
NVSN Murthy, Scientist and a temporary visitor on earth.
No one is poor by caste since caste cannot cause poverty, we attach poverty to caste for political gains and people prefer that to bypass competition, in the process – people who are genuinely poor are suffering most.
NVSN Murthy, Research Scientist and a temporary visitor on earth currently passing through Asian soil.
The easiest thing in this world is to criticize contributing giants like Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji, Ratan Tata etc. These negative comments are nothing but jealousy.
Let us quit this nasty and dirty mindset since it drastically cuts our life span through deadly diseases.
Finally, let us involve in a constructive and productive activity.
Annadhatha MK Rao, Economist, Age: 65
Nothing is free in this world since everything comes from nothing.
NVSN Murthy, Research Scientist.
A temporary visitor on earth re-scripting concepts
I agree totally that its the execution that matters and not the idea. It depends how well thought is the idea. How much knowledge you have in your domain..
I beleive that at the end of the day its not about the idea but more about the implementation. If you could implement it well, you should npot fear going into the market with your idea
Appreciating the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you provide. It’s nice to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same unwanted rehashed information. Wonderful read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m including your RSS feeds to my Google account.
Hi,
we have enjoyed your posts and site. We shall return again, thanking you, please keep posting your great articles. Yours.