What does it take to establish a successful start-up? That’s the million-dollar question, quite literally!
There is no better time than now to enter the $300 billion start-up ecosystem in India. With 2000+ active investors, 500 institutional investors and 250+ accelerators and incubators, India is churning out a myriad of start-ups at an unprecedented rate. Irrespective of the industry or mode of business, all start-ups begin with nothing more than a ‘reason’.
Even the most successful start-ups are rooted in the reason for their founding. Take a Swiggy, a Nykaa or a Cure Fit; all of them had a clear reason to serve a set of end-consumers, while leveraging market gaps, meeting consumer expectations and riding on technology.
The Advantage of Learning from Founders
It’s important to have the right set of resources, skills, financial support, and networks to make a big difference. So where can one start, especially if the journey is to go from zero to one?
The Vidyashilp University Start-up Founders Program is a learning experience for aspiring founders. One can learn ‘how to start a start-up’ with faculty and mentors who are founders themselves.
One steps into the start-up ecosystem armed with a strong foundation in Design Thinking, Lean Start-up Methodology, and exposure to real-world dynamics. What’s interesting is that aspiring founders build on their ideas from Day One. The program encourages budding founders to continuously go back to the drawing board and refine their ideas throughout their journey. But success is about clarity, isn’t it?
Going from an Idea to an Investor Pitch
The highly experiential nature of the program encourages aspiring founders to build on their idea from day 1. Our faculty, who are founders themselves, have marked out 4 distinct milestones to ensure that every start-up idea makes steady progress towards an investor pitch.
Milestone 1: Formation of teams and creation of a business idea
Milestone 2: Design and validation of minimum viable product (MVP)
Milestone 3: Identifying the product-market fit (PMF) and building a business plan
Milestone 4: Pitching to an expert jury comprising of successful start-up founders, venture capitalists and investors
This zero-to-one journey is mentored by founders of successful start-ups like Capital Float, Mu Sigma and JobsForHer, among others. You will also have the opportunity to accelerate your start-up journey by engaging with domain experts and founders from the start-up ecosystem.
The Network Effect
More doors keep opening as participants get opportunities to collaborate with a community of change-makers. One can build a professional network through formal and informal networking events, hosted by VU and 256 Network. Founded by Founders, the program facilitates interaction with Start-up Founders, Seasoned Industrialists, Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors from Bengaluru, and across the world.
Clearly, not only does one get to learn alongside ambitious peers but they imbibe experiential knowledge from a large pool of invested members in the thriving Indian start-up economy.
Bringing Start-up Reasons to Life
Speaking of investment, Vidyashilp University too is invested in success stories. The VU Incubation Centre invests intense effort, resources, and time, to help those with a great idea transition successfully into an entrepreneur in the start-up world.
A highlight of the program is its location in the city of Bengaluru – the Silicon Valley of India and home to numerous start-ups, multinationals, and a plethora of opportunities.
With a program curated by founders of successful start-ups like Mu Sigma, Capital Float and JobsForHer, the program is geared to nurture future entrepreneurs. Moreover, mentors who are founders themselves will journey with budding founders from reason to realization. So, if you have a reason, you know where to bring it to life!
