Young Entrepreneurs' Bootcamp

"This is my design of a solar-powered refrigerated EV three wheeler for small farmers to transport and sell their produce at a better price", said Layasree an 11th grader from Bengaluru while showing the sketch on her tab. She wanted to know how to proceed further ?

"How is startup valuation done? How does it affect the investor's decision while making an offer between debt and equity", asked Chakshu, a 9th grader from Lucknow.

"I have an idea to use AI for crime prediction and detection in crowded areas through CCTV image processing. How do I get customers?", queried Prasanna an 11th grader from Chennai.

"We have two ideas for a startup in the healthcare sector. How do we choose one?", was the dilemma posed by Arshroop from Indore. 

Layasree, Chakshu, Prasanna and Arshroop- all of them- are participants of  a six-day Young Entrepreneurs' Bootcamp (YEB) being held at BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus from 24-29 Dec 2022. Another YEB was held in Pilani campus last moth. With the idea to catch them young, YEB aims to give a glimpse of technology driven innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem at BITS Pilani. YEB comprises lectures by BITS faculty and alumni and hands-on activities to give students an exposure to high tech labs and innovative startups. Readers may browse the YEB link for more details.

YEB-22 has 61 participants selected from across India and overseas. Three-level selection has brought together the best of the best school students of 9th to 12th grade. I had the privilege to interact with the YEB cohort on the topic of 'Funding of Startups- BITSian Stories'. As you can see from some of the questions listed in the opening part of the story, the session was interactive and the participants' inquisitiveness and focussed thinking floored me. 

BITS Pilani has taken the lead in promoting entrepreneurship at the school level as enunciated in the National Education Policy NEP-20. YEB is the first step in the implementation of  NEP-20.

Am sharing a few pictures of YEB-22 at Hyderabad. 

For the readers not known to me personally, I have been teaching Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship at PG level for more than 15 years now. Readers may browse some of our earlier stories listed below:

Proof of the Pudding - Real life stories of ten young MBA/BBA graduates who took up the entrepreneurial challenge successfully. All of these entrepreneurs were my students.

Startup Ideas - Ideas submitted by a PGDM class

Get Your Hands Dirty - Advise by the Jury of a B-Plan Contest

Can Startup Management be Taught? - Experience of another B-Plan Contest

Learning from Failures 

Raindrops and Entrepreneurs 

We end with a picturesque quote on one of my pictures shot during the rain.

Thanks for browsing. Thanks are also due to my alma-mater for giving me the opportunity to interact with the budding entrepreneurs.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 28th December 2022

Postscript 30th Dec 22: Manik Srivastava, an experienced high school teacher wrote, "9th to 12th  Std, is a tricky age. Either it is uphill or a complete  burnout for them. They need guidance  and  good advice  from the best to go forward". Thanks Manik for your feedback.

#entrepreneurship #nep2020 #yeb22 #bitspilani #bphc #hyderabadcampus #bootcamp #youngentrepreneursbootcamp #startups #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #entreprenurshipatschools