Proto.in

It sure feels like everyday there is a new height achieved in Proto.in these
days and we are given a bit of ample time this time around to get everyone
involved. I will dive into a bit of updates with this email, and follow up
with an opportunity for you to get involved directly into Proto.in:

There has been a couple more updates this week in regards to the upcoming
event. I am having a conversation with Josh Bornstein of Footprint Ventures
this week to confirm their participation in the event. I would also be
present in the IBM venture group meet held in Bangalore on the 8th and 9th
of May, as they seem interested in attending Proto.in and also to meet other
stakeholders in the ecosystem and to extend an invitation to them. Thanks to
Sasha Mirchandani of Bluerun Ventures, and the founder of the the Mumbai
Angels, there will be a fair bit of Angel Investment community that will be
present for the event.

From the list of prominent people who will be present during the event, I
did miss out Rohit Agarwal of Techtribe in my last update (Sorry Rohit).
Rohit is a veteran entrepreneur and has recently written a book on how
innovators connect. Known to be a good speaker and he has a background in
building companies and successfully making an exit from them. It will be
valuable to have folks such as Rohit in the event, for the value they can
provide for the up and coming startups and entrepreneurs. We will look
forward to having you with us Rohit.

From the Press and Industry coverage, Tonse Telecom will be giving the
Telecom companies the fair bit of exposure they require. Sridhar heads Tonse
Telecom a industry intelligence newsletter which has a fair and wide reach
to most of the telecom industry executives across the world. Tonse will
provide valuable addition and feedback for the detailed analysis that
telecom companies require. We are also looking to partner with Venture
Intelligence, run by Arun Natarajan and are working out ways in which we can
jointly bring value to the table. I will post an update on that regard next
week.

This is where I get to the part where I would like for your involvement and
support. If there was one thing that we didn’t do justice in last time, it
was in terms of the widespread reach that we needed to announce the opening
of nominations and of this event to the companies that we are trying to help
here. I strongly believe that what we are doing here is not an event, but
the building of an ecosystem and the bringing together of the necessary
elements and everyone who is equally important and essential for a healthy
network for innovators to be born, built and to succeed. I would be the
first to admit that we wouldnt even come to close to achieving that without
your help and support.

This is my request; If you do know of contacts in the Media – both print,
and web, I would strongly urge you to talk to them about Proto.in and
explain to them why this is important. When we organized the last edition of
Proto.in, a lot of the media was skeptical as to what is it that we can
accomplish. This time around, we have numbers, people, and the goodwill that
bringing like-minded people together – to prove the impact that such a
platform can generate. Please do get in touch with me, if you can help on
this regard. If you know of a PR agency who would be committed to this cause
and can help us, I would like to get in touch with them. I strongly believe
that startups, and companies that build Products are, without a shadow of
doubt, the only way to sustain the economical growth that this country is
seeing today To nurture them, and to provide them with the ample space to
breathe and flourish is crucial.

I look forward to hearing from you, and thanks again for your support.

Oh yes, We’ve already started receiving nominations. Do send in your
nominations, if you still havent done so. Nominations close on June 5th,
2007.