Starting a company is all about the relentless effort and optimism, and risk-taking is a key element in building a company. One has to be clear about one’s strength, and shouldn’t try to do everything single handedly. This becomes a core learning for any startup and the whole SiliconIndia Startup City environment turned a small city of innovation, where all the 95 startups tried to showcase their strengths through the demonstration of their own products. The event became a platform for these budding entrepreneurs to show their enthusiasm and commitment towards their new ventures. It also became a learning ground for all the 2,000 odd participants who took the opportunity to witness these budding innovators encouraging each other to turn their entrepreneurial dream into reality.

The willingness to go the extra mile in the industry is the best characteristic of a real entrepreneur. Through Startup City, SiliconIndia provided a platform for the budding entrepreneurs to get lessons from the industry leaders’ lives who have already established their firms. It provided the participants with an opportunity to experience the culture of innovation in small companies. In addition, the participants got a chance to listen to visionary keynotes and in-depth panel discussions that lend a hand to the promising entrepreneurs to take confident steps towards realizing their dreams.

“Out of 50 ideas only one becomes a business,” says Krishnakumar Natarajan, Co-founder, CEO, and Managing Director of MindTree. His words explain a lot about the risks that are involved in building firms that can challenge the tech biggies. While sharing his MindTree experiences in the jam packed auditorium, Natarajan confirmed his belief in the potentials of mid size organizations. The MindTree leader believes that these budding entrepreneurs who are coming up with leapfrog innovations with an aim to become industry leaders of tomorrow could raise a challenge to the tech biggies. By grasping the insights of the MindTree leader, the growing entrepreneurs could lay their hands on the life of industry leaders that gave them the glimpses of struggles involved in entrepreneurialism.

Innovation is the core of firms to create challenges to the bigger firms that struggle to continue growth. The insights of Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder and CEO of Rediff.com, were well articulated in his address on “Nurturing the Indian Innovation System.” He encouraged the budding leaders to explore innovation and to turn out to be the leaders of the different sectors of the wide spread technology industry. In his opinion ‘every innovation has its origin some where in the society’.

“If the entrepreneurs want to build a successful product story, they have to make it the best and not the cheapest,” says Bharat Goenka from his own industry experience. According to this leader of Tally Solutions, entrepreneurs always have two choices. They can make changes happen and enjoy the process of directing it or resist the changes and suffer when it becomes a reality.