Participate in: Pitchcamp, Shotgun Startups

There is undoubtedly a lot of excitement here within the organizers as the biggest-ever volunteered team of Proto.in is quickly getting a slew of things in place for the upcoming edition of Proto.in. You might be aware, and if you arent by now – the Registrations for the event are open. Just as last time, there are tickets available online (www.proto.in/register) and also in select outlets in some of the cities across India. If there are any questions you have on this regard, to email us via www.proto.in/contact.

There are two major initiatives that we are planning this time:

Pitchcamp.
I have always found that our entrepreneurs could use a sharper pitch when it comes to explaining to someone “What does your company do?” A pitch is not one that you always use to convince investors, and if possible I’d like to add the tag “Forget the Investors and Pitch”. A very good friend and entrepreneur would rightly say that as an entrepreneur you are constantly selling – as you encounter and network with people, and build professional relationships and the pitch becomes an extremely crucial one. The clearcut agenda for this activity will be up on the site soon, but the brief is as follows:

Startups that are interested in sharpening their pitch need to write to us via contact@proto.in with the name of their company, a small brief about what they do, the names of the founders and a link to the site. Of all the entries that come in, 10 companies will be shortlisted and will be given a hands on workshop on how to improve your pitch – for free. That’s why its crucial that you fire away that email right away. A Panel of marketing experts after a brief talk about what makes a great pitch will work with you to help make a killer pitch, and at the end of the day we’ll try it on the audience at Proto.in and vote for the best pitch. How does that sound? I’m sure excited to see how this turns out.

ShotGun Startups.
I am sure a lot of you are wondering whether its possible to build a startup or a prototype for a product over a weekend. If you are asking that question, the answer is a resounding YES. Shotgun Startups follows the same concept as Startup Weekend. If you are a team of folks with amazing capabilities to build an interesting idea that you’ve been putting off for long, this might be the time to give it a shot. Anything from Web services, to Iphone Applications, to Facebook Applications, or even Embedded Systems, or if your enthusiasm drives you to build robots, we are fine with that too. We will have the right kind of experts to help you, if you find yourself stuck – depending on what kind of ideas come in. At the end of the event, we will ask the audience to vote for the best product, and if you are the right kind of marketer, you could have an audience of 750 sway to the whoosh of your product capabilities. It’s certainly an opportunity to not miss. If you’d like to pitch an idea for this, do send them to us at contact@proto.in with the subject like Shotgun Startups. The microsite for this initiative is coming up in a few days and I will update you on this soon.

Proto.in Conversations:

Now I really do need your help with this one. We are lining up people to talk at Proto.in and we all know that there are several conferences out there which keep sounding repetitive at times. But as a startup there are, and there must be topics that you are curious about and couldnt find answers to. Why dont you write to me, and I’ll make sure that those topics are well represented at the event? Try us, We’ll make sure we live upto to. I am going to expect some emails from you on this regard.

So we are just another three weeks to go and lots of excitement building up. Am looking forward to seeing you all, and I sure hope that this will be an exciting two days and a boom to the startup community here in India.

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admin, December 31st 2008 | Posted in Uncategorized

Nominations Close. Registrations Open.

The registrations for those who’d wish to attend the fifth edition of Proto.in, slated in the dates of January 23, 24 in Nimhan’s Convention Centre, Bangalore are now open.

Do hurry and register. We are getting a lot of interest from folks around the country, from Calcutta, Kerala, Mumbai, and all around that it wouldnt be too long before the seats fill up – there is a history of seats getting sold out every time. So be wise about it :)

For Registrations, Click here

Details on Registration:

You will realize that we have two classes of registration this time. The entry fee is Priced at Rs. 750 per person. For those who are students and do feel that they wouldnt be able to afford it, there is an option that if you get a two person ticket you can get it for Rs. 1000 (effectively making it Rs. 500 per ticket) – This option is only meant for students and aspiring entrepreneurs, so I hope the honor will be maintained.

If there are any questions regarding the same, shoot us a mail

Look forward to seeing you all there.

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admin, December 22nd 2008 | Posted in Uncategorized

Nominations Close This Weekend. Registrations Open Monday.

Nominations for the fifth edition of Proto.in have come in really hard and fast. It certainly looks like the economy does not have much impact on the number of startups coming up, or as to how they continue to thrive and grow in numbers in this country.

We also know that a lot of you have been writing to us asking about the details on how to register for the event. This time we are promoting the idea of evangelism. so the tickets are priced at Rs. 750 per person (for both days) and Rs. 1000 for two people. So if you can find someone to bring along for the event, there is an incentive for it. Do take advantage of it.

Registrations for attendees will start on Monday. Prompt!

2 Comments

admin, December 19th 2008 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized

Nomination Deadlines Extended. Server Downtime.

Hi Everyone,

We have extended the deadline to the end of this week. It seems that our host (Dream host) has gone down under and is failing to recover. We are doing the best from our side to bring it up, and I hope it will be back soon.

In the meantime, I am getting a lot of mails from panicky last-minute nominations as to missing the deadline. It really would have helped to nominate a day before, you know! :) In any case, no worries. do take your time, and do write to me, if there is any clarifications required.

If there is anyone that you know in dreamhost, could surely use a hand (Contact Kausik at Kausik@proto.in) to get the servers back and running again. Thanks again.

New Nomination Deadline Date: 19th December 2008.

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admin, December 15th 2008 | Posted in Protofe09, proto.in, startups, upcoming events

December: TES ‘08, NEN Hottest Startups, WATBlog Mixer, NASSCOM Innovation Awards

December is seeing a lot of interesting things happening in the startup Scene. The Annual event of The Indus Entrepreneurs, is finding its home in Bangalore this year on the dates of December 16, 17, 18. The lineup of speakers, seems impressive as ever. If you are in Bangalore and do have the energy to network, this is an event you should check out. Visit the site for more details and for registrations.

The People’s choice awards for the hottest startup in the Indian landscape is still going on, and it seems that the initiative has exceeded the expectations that it set out to fulfill. The final 30 are selected and the voting process to choose the final five are going on. Do visit the site for more information on the same.

NASSCOM has been the most active this year, and if this is a sign of things to come, we do have quite some great years ahead of us. NASSCOM is putting together a multi-city showcase of some of the interesting startups and emerging companies in some of the cities across India. There are different categories of businesses showcased in various cities acrossed the country and the details can be found following the link. The Roadshows are planned from December 15th – 23rd.

The Best part, saved for the last comes up in the form of the WATBlog Mixer that is being arranged by WATMedia (The stars behind WATblog, WATshow etc). The mixer is to have a sole focus on the Startup audience, and invites the local entrepreneurs and investors from the region to join for a free evening of socializing and getting to meet and greet. The event is planned on the 17th of December. Visit the site and register (for free), if you’d like to attend. They have limited seats, so please do hurry!

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admin, December 13th 2008 | Posted in india, startups, upcoming events

Bloggers! Help us Promote Proto.in Jan Edition ‘09

Proto.in, the startup event, has grown to be because of the community – there is no doubt about it. It has been the sheer effort, and need of the entrepreneurial landscape that has defined what this platform is able to accomplish for the benefit of the startup community here in India.

This January, as we come together for the fifth time, we ask for your help; From Bloggers, to tweeters, microbloggers, to mobloggers, to folks who are passionate about entrepreneurial evangelism, we ask for your voice to help spread the word.

If you are a blogger, or run a website, do feel free to host one, or all, or some of the Proto.in badges here and link it to the main site. Leave the url of your blog or blog post in the comments section so that we can link back to your blog. Could surely use your help in this regard, and do eagerly anticipate your support.

Click for Larger Versions:

If there are any questions in this regard, write to us?

34 Comments

admin, December 5th 2008 | Posted in Proto.in Update, proto, proto.in, proto5, resources, startups, upcoming events

PitchCamp! Coming this January @ Proto.in

Have you ever wondered how to impress an inscrutable Venture Capitalist, convince a doubting journalist or perfect the guaranteed door opener for a partner?

Then this workshop is for you. Learn the inside scoop on how VC’s, corporate partners and journalists think. Hear tips on how you can compellingly explain your business to each audience—whether it’s raising money, trying to close partnerships, or getting attention from the media. Watch as fellow entrepreneurs develop concise, and unique value propositions that generate fever and excitement in their markets. And personally participate with industry experts to find the best ways to position and pitch YOUR company.

This Proto.in, we are having a workshop for startup companies to hone their skills in the art of Pitching. And it will be something to look forward to. This is how it works (Follows the same model as Pitchcamp in Oreilly Conference):

This is a highly interactive hands-on workshop where you will have the opportunity to refine your own company’s message, learn more about how to pitch the people you need to impress, and have fun at the same time – the expert panel will help coach you to success and be judges at the end of the workshop, awarding prizes to some lucky participants.

8-12 Companies will be selected to officially participate. The selected companies will be assigned a pitch coach from a list of highly experienced marketing team. After a general overview of the do’s and don’ts of pitching, the individual companies will go into a break out session with their assigned pitch coach to refine their pitch. Other attendees of the workshop will be invited to participate in the breakout sessions as well. The final hour of the workshop will be the companies presenting their revised pitch to the entire panel of experts who will critique and evaluate the new pitches.

The companies with the top two scores will receive prizes that might include Marketing and PR Services, VC Pitch Consulting or Premium memberships to various networks.

While the team here at Proto.in is busy putting together an elite team of marketing and experienced entrepreneurs to drive this workshop, spanning all the way from the world of advertisement, film industry, technology and pure business, do let us know if there is someone who’d make the perfect fit for this activity.

We look forward to more of your feedback. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Regards,
Vijay Anand
Curator, Proto.in

6 Comments

admin, December 3rd 2008 | Posted in Protofe09, india, pitchcamp, proto, proto.in, proto5, startups, upcoming events