(Live) Blog. Tweet. Click. Win an Ipod Shuffle this Proto.in

If you are one who can write in words. Tweet away on your mobile, or just carry a fancy for clicking pictures, this is a chance for you.

We are giving away three Ipod Shuffles at the event this time, courtesy of Infibeam (http://www.infibeam.com/). This is the same company that acquired Picsquare (One of the Proto.in companies), a few months back.

Got your fancy? Here’s what you need to do:

If you are a blogger, you will be following the same concept as last time and liveblogging the event. The best Liveblogger, gets an iPod Shuffle, selected by the audience and best vote right there at the venue. The rules are simple:

1. Have a link to the site www.proto.in. Should have a logo of Proto.in on the post
2. Use the tag protodotin and proto5 – we wont be able to find your post otherwise
3. If you want to be extra nice and gain some brownie points from our sponsor, you can mention Infibeam and write a little about what you think about their site and their offering.
4. Leave a link to your blog as a comment to this post.

If you are a addictive Twitterer, the rules are:

1. Follow @protodotin
2. Retweet the message “I will be tweeting from Proto.in (www.proto.in) for the contest”
3. use the hash tag #protodotin for all the tweets
4. Have one opening tweet with the link to the site
5. The tweets have to be live.

If you are a creative snap photographer, the rules are:

1. Click
2. Upload them on flickr
3. tag them with the tags protodotin and proto5
4. Leave the link to your pool as a comment to this Blog post.

And let the games begin! Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Regards,
The Proto.in Team

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admin, January 21st 2009 | Posted in Proto.in Talks, Proto.in Update, pitchcamp, proto, proto.in

Proto.in Conversations: Bhavin Turakhia on The Game of Business.

More such Videos every week at the Proto.in Conversations Channel Online

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admin, September 26th 2008 | Posted in Proto.in Talks, proto, proto.in, proto2008se, resources, startups

Proto.in Talks : In Slides

There were two sessions, which used slides and some of the folks had requested for it. So here it goes. As for the the rest of the talks, we’ll be converting them into a format that we can host online and share them. Do stay tuned.

At the Helm of a Fast Growing Business – Bhavin Turakhia, Directi

The Art of Financing Your Itch: A Bootstrapping Story – Gaurav Bhatnagar, Tekriti Software

8 lessons in funding your own dreams

1 Comment

admin, July 24th 2008 | Posted in Proto.in Talks, india, proto, proto.in, proto2008se, resources, startups

Proto.in Talk: Reconciling Investors and Entrepreneurs – Sanjay Anandaram

So, the toughest Act that one could possibly Imagine being an entrepreneur, and especially one if you are to raise funds – the need to find the balance and commonality between your goals, visions and ambitions and those of your investor.

Sanjay Anandaram of Jumpstartup, did a talk on the same during this edition of Proto.in, and here’s the summary as made by Namitha Jagadeesh on her blog post:

Venture capitalist Sanjay Anandaram, who co-founded early-stage VC fund Jump Startup in the dotcom era, had an unfortunate post-lunch, drowsy slot but did a pretty good job of keeping the crowd awake with his blunt talk. Anandaram, who along with his co-founders did not raise a second fund with Jump Startup, keeps busy these days “helping some start-ups, advising a couple of funds and teaching entrepreneurship at colleges”. His session was on the near impossible task of ‘Reconciling investors and start-ups’.

The professorial streak was evident, as he explained the basics of startup-VC dynamics in an interactive classroom session of sorts.

Lesson 1: Be careful of your expectations

What do you expect from your VC?

(Audience answers) – Bring money to the table, add value, help me monetise my product, help with customer contacts and relationships, help with hiring

If you want the VC to do all this, the VC will ask you what the hell you are going to do for the company. The VC’s job is to write you a check to back your vision. Don’t take check and let him modify your vision and execute it for you.

Lesson 2: If the chemistry isn’t right, the arithmetic will not work.

Chemistry with your VC is the most important thing. The bad news is, the VC has the money, is on your board and has a lot of veto rights (such as first right to refusal of stake in future) in his favour, so make sure it’s someone you get along with. Being a CEO/Founder is a lonely job, and a VC should be part-psychiatrist, part good friend, part straight-shooter.

Read More, right from her Blog …

1 Comment

admin, July 22nd 2008 | Posted in Media, Proto.in Talks, proto, proto.in, proto2008se, resources, startups

Proto.in July Editon ‘08 Comes to a close.

I think I speak for most folks when saying that we were quite blown away by the response we saw for this edition of Proto.in. We’ve certainly come a long way, and have quite a long way to go as well.

There has been a lot of requests for the videos that we played during the event, and yep, they will be up on youtube soon and I will post a link to it.

If you couldn’t make it to the event and want to catch a glimpse of things, do search the blogs for the tag proto4, and there seem to be quite a bit of them floating up. The twitter streams were quite active with proto tweets making it one of the hottest global search trends for the two days – so twitter search should give you a lot of per minute insights as well.

We do want to get your input on a few things though – starting with the talks on day one, and as we move towards some of the things on the second day. If I may request, can you take a few minutes to fill out this survey and give your feedback – as to whose talks you thought made a lot of sense and were useful? It would surely help to improve things in the future, and as also a constructive feedback for the speakers looking to engage with the startup audience. Feedback Survey

… And for those of you who liveblogged and tweeted away to glory, the winning announcement is still due. Those who tweeted, can you provide links of all your tweets and leave them in the comment section of the blog post as well? We’ll announce the winners as soon as we can collate all this info and make a decision.

2 Comments

admin, July 21st 2008 | Posted in Proto.in Talks, india, proto, proto2008se, resources, startups

Kiran Karnik At Proto.in July ‘08

Karnik

If there is one that needs no introduction in this Shining India story that we are enjoying, its Mr. Karnik. After spending 20 years in ISRO and building NASSCOM which put a structure, quality and bent the policies for growth, for the services Industry, his legacy is one that is embedded into history.

There are striking similarities to the path that was tread then and the path that we are treading now. Both new ones, and both with a lot of need for structure, and revolutionary changes. The essential bit starts with building the community, and together coming up with the affirmative action for growth. If that sounds too complicated, try this : We need to come together and get our act right!

Mr. Kiran Karnik will be delivering the keynote speech this time at Proto.in on the 18th of July in the Seminar hall of IIT Delhi. Be there, and hear him speak – it might very well be the first words spoken of the revolution of the second wave that this nation is experiencing, and from what we’ve seen, this one is going to be a much bigger one!

I don’t know about you, but having a peek into what’s ahead in this edition of Proto.in, I am super excited. Look forward to seeing you there.

1 Comment

admin, July 9th 2008 | Posted in Proto.in Talks, india, proto, proto.in, proto2008fe, proto2008se, startups

Two Out of Three Questions, You Ask.

These are the usual set of Questions.

1. Who are the folks who are coming?
2. What are the speaker sessions this time?
3. Who are the presenting companies?

Well, I sure can’t answer the third one, but we can answer the first two. I just posted the content and update it to reflect the current (apart from a few logos I am still waiting for for the Who’s Coming bit) state of affairs.

Go Check it Out. Visit the site and click on Who’s Coming and The Fastrack Sessions.

I’m going to be here, waiting and keeping my fingers crossed that what we have worked hard for, indeed pleases you.

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admin, July 1st 2008 | Posted in Proto.in Talks, india, proto, proto.in, proto2008se, resources, startups

Article: Stop Living on Instant Noodles.

I’m convinced that we are doing something wrong.

During a conversation with someone who has experience beyond my age, on how the product landscape in India is evolving, he smiled, took the time to coin his words (into something more politically correct) and said, “Nobody is really changing the rules of the game. Everyone is looking to make a quick buck”. When I met Subho Roy of IAMAI a few weeks back, he pretty much resonated with that and almost let out the frustration saying “This is all turning into a valuation game. Where are the days of building solid businesses?” Is there something wrong with that? Thats what I am hoping we can discuss, argue and debate about here.

It’s that time of the year for Proto.in – got barely a month to go and usually this is the time when we are finalizing all the companies and lining up the speakers for the Fastrack Sessions. We are talking about… How to sell, as a Startup? Not how to sell-out, more like how to sell your products and make revenue. There is much that seems to be obscure in the land of the startup community with so much millions and trillions discussed about – especially the size of the VC firm’s wallet.

I have been touching base with a fair slew of guys who have natively built and sold products here in India. Tally is one such company that I got in touch with and the response I got really got me thinking – because it resonates with what Mr. Experienced told me before. He wasn’t sure if he could make it to the event since he has travel plans, but left with a note saying “I wonder if people are ready to hear the heartache of building a business over 18 years. It might even depress a startup.”

Lets not make a mistake here saying that Tally just didn’t hit it right. Do you know how long it took for Bose to become a double digit million dollar making company? More than a decade. There is a joke within circles that Bose would be a bad company in a VC’s portfolio. Infosys took 25 years to attain maturity and go public. Look at Wipro. Look at Microsoft. Read More>>

This is an excerpt of a post from the Author’s Blog, The Startup Guy. The views of the author are that of the individual.

5 Comments

admin, June 19th 2008 | Posted in Proto.in Talks, india, proto, proto.in, proto2008se, startups

Proto.in Talk: From Nothing to Something [Coming Soon]

Vishal Gondal, the founder of Indiagames.com spoke about his journey of starting his entrepreneurial journey from a world of ideas, chaos, and aspirations in a world that he has built today.

Coming Soon. Stay Tuned.

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admin, June 1st 2008 | Posted in Proto.in Talks