I was the finalist in a business case competition organized by the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Kharagpur. The competition was a part of the various events held at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2023 (GES2023). The first stage of the competition was an online quiz round where I competed against 1000 other teams to secure a place for myself in the top 10 teams. Luckily, I made it through the first round and it was a hell of an experience. The top 10 teams were called to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2023 and also compete in the final stage of the business case competition, where I had to present my solution to the Board of Directors of an analytics-based company. The crazy part was that my college exams were clashing with the competition. While having second thoughts, I made up my mind that I am not going to miss this opportunity, no matter what. My intuition told me to just go for it. I packed my bags and off I went on my 1000-mile journey to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2023 without a care in the world about my college exams.
The Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) is IIT Kharagpur’s annual international corporate summit conducted by the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Kharagpur. It is the largest student-level entrepreneurship summit in India which provides a platform for India’s budding entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, new-age business personalities, and emerging entrepreneurs to meet, connect, and network with seasoned entrepreneurs and take entrepreneurship and innovation to new heights. GES is conducted at IIT Kharagpur- one of the most prestigious and well-known colleges in India. It is the first IIT established in India in the 1950s with its eminent alumni that have made outstanding contributions in various fields. IIT Kharagpur is built on a lush green 2200 acres campus. It is famous for its engineering courses and world-class study opportunities. It hosts the sharpest minds from all across the country. Every engineering aspirant dreams of getting the opportunity to study at this college. The academic excellence, campus facilities, research opportunities, rich heritage and legacy, along with the placements and alumni network are some of the reasons why IIT Kharagpur is so highly regarded and sought after in India and around the world.
Now jumping right back into the topic, me and my teammate went to IIT Kharagpur to attend the GES2023 and compete in the business case competition. We stayed on the huge 2200 acres vibrant and lively campus for a couple of days. The campus was so big that we were not able to explore all of it, even during our stay there. Moreover, we had to attend various workshops and also had to devote some time to our case competition. The 16th edition of the GES2023 took place over 3 days where multiple workshops, competitions, live music concerts, stand-up comedy shows, dance performances, skits, and plays were conducted. There was just so much fun and liveliness filled in the atmosphere during the entire event. The event was full of energy and enthusiasm. Multiple keynote sessions by experienced entrepreneurs were conducted which gave us insights into various industries and the functioning of startups.
On the first day, I reached IIT Kharagpur in the afternoon when the sun was blazing hot. My cab dropped me off at the main gate and the campus was just so big that I didn’t know where to go. I took help from some college students there and they took me to the registration counter. After getting my documents verified, they assigned me a room for accommodation. Just imagine walking 3 miles in the scorching sun on a Friday afternoon with a 60-pound suitcase on you. Well, anyway, I reached my room after an hour or so, and then I just relaxed for some time. In the evening, somewhere around 6:00 PM or 7:00 PM, we decided to roam around and explore the campus. The whole campus was a different vibe. There were people everywhere. I interacted with a lot of like-minded people and made some really good friends.
After some time, I and my teammate decided to attend a workshop on BlockChain Development and DeFi. The workshop was insightful, and the organizers were also very resourceful. I have got to learn and explore a lot about these fields. I also met a lot of other college students with out-of-the-box startup ideas. They helped me learn a lot and shaped my perspective to approach real-world problems from different viewpoints.
After attending the workshop, we had our dinner and retired back to our rooms. At around 10 PM in the night, the organizers of the competition hit me up, and they gave me a case study question for solving and presenting tomorrow. We had to present a go-to-market strategy for a data analytics company planning to release its IPO by the next year. We had to prepare a 10-slider solution for the presentation tomorrow. I stayed awake the whole night and worked till 8:00 AM for my presentation at 10:00 AM. I was completely over-caffeinated and was struggling to stay alert. Somehow, I managed to get the work done and guess what? - The presentation was a tremendous success. I satisfied the board members of the company with the solutions and they cross-questioned a lot, but I managed to answer everything confidently.
Just when I thought I was going to get some sleep after the tiresome presentation, I came to know that we had our negotiations challenge on the same day as well. It was a team-v/s-team challenge where we had to find a common way to go about for the company to solve some logistical issues and make a strategy for its HR operations. It was a spontaneous round and wasn’t premeditated before. The first two rounds took us all night to complete. There were still two other rounds left for the coming days.
We attended a few more workshops and events in the evening. We met founders of various startups who were marketing themselves and promoting their products. I also interacted with some social startups and was moved by their sense of social service and the welfare of the community. We discussed the structures of startups and what it takes to build one from scratch. All these events helped in bringing out the entrepreneurial spirit in me to build my startup.
We got another Pitching challenge and a Strategy challenge to prepare for the next day. We had to submit a 7-slide pitch deck each for both of the competitions and present our solutions in the morning. For two days in a row, we worked all night to get the work done. The next day, our presentations went quite well, and we did okay. It marked the end of the competition and we finally got some time to sleep after that. We slept through the entire afternoon and then we finally went to get some fresh air in the evening. We attended a stand-up comedy show in an amphitheatre and went for dinner afterwards. In the night, we decided to go on and explore the huge college campus. I contacted some of my friends there and we went for a long walk at night. We explored the campus, clicked a lot of pics, and had loads of fun. Do you want to know the worst part?? Students can’t use any vehicles on campus and have to use only bicycles to commute on campus. And while being caught up in work, my dumb ass just couldn’t think of renting a bicycle. We just wasted lots of time walking from one place to another.
The next day was our last day at IIT-KGP for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2023. We made sure that it was going to be the most memorable day as well. We saw various dance performances, live music, competitions, and workshops, and most importantly, we made sure to enjoy ourselves and have fun. Some of the goodies we brought with us were souvenirs. In the evening, we came back to Delhi.
GES 2023 provided me with an opportunity to connect with great entrepreneurial minds from across the world and learn about various fields such as metaverse, cryptocurrency, e-sports, marketing, finance, risk management, entrepreneurship, and much more. I must say that it was a hectic experience, and we were always on our toes. But now when I look back, I have no regrets and just beautiful memories to cherish forever and experiences to share with you guys!!
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