| Grooming tomorrow’s entrepreneurs |
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07/02/2012 03:52 (113 Day 11:28 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- When Shashank ND was studying for his engineering degree at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka in Surathkal, India, he did not know the meaning of entrepreneurship.According to Tata, that was until a senior student of the institute came back from America and started an e-cell on campus, changing Shashank's life.
That was in 2006. Today’s Shashanks are much more savvy and knowledgeable about the benefits of setting up their own business. In fact, entrepreneurship has emerged as a buzzword across campuses, as thousands of young Indians seek to chart out an independent career path. And helping, encouraging and mentoring them through the ups and downs of starting a business is Tata First Dot, India’s definitive platform for student entrepreneurship.
The grand finale of the 'Tata First Dot powered by NEN' competition held in 2011-12 was held at SSN College of Engineering, Chennai, on January 9 and 10, 2012, with over 600 student entrepreneurs participating. The winners of the Tata First Dot National Competition and of the Tata First Dot People’s Choice awards were announced on the second day of the conference. The 10 winning ventures were selected from a competitive pool of over 200 student ventures from all over India.
While a majority of the student entrepreneurs who were nominated were from engineering and B-school backgrounds, many students from the liberal arts and undergraduate degree programmes also made it to the shortlist. The main criteria were that the contestants should be full-time students, running real businesses with actual customers. The winners ranged from an egg-speciality restaurant to a windmill manufacturer.
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