Idea Carnival

The Idea Carnival was organized by the Hyderabad4Innovation group in our campus from 16th to 17th February. The purpose of the two day event was getting the best minds from the premier institutes of Hyderabad like IIIT, IIT, BITS Hyderabad and ISB together to build upon an idea, which could possibly be the next Facebook.

The event kicked off at 10 in the morning with the organizers introducing the first timers to the format of a typical Startup Weekend. Around 60 tinkerers were a part of the event and 40 did the elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is quick 1-2 minute pitch in which you describe your idea, progress, the kind of people you will want to be a part of your entrepreneurial venture, and so on. Once the pitches had been made, top 12 ideas were voted for. This was followed by a networking session, where the floor was left open for team formation. This was the tricky part. As the owner of the idea, you have the responsibility to carefully pick your team according to your requirements.

After team formation, the entire day was meant for brainstorming. When students from top colleges are put into one team, problems will arise. There will be ego clashes, difference of opinions, and a host of other problems. We actually learned to work as a team and respect the counter arguments.

Sunday’s schedule involved building the business plan around your startup. Once the teams were ready with their presentations and prototypes, all of us were moved to Avasa Hotel for the finale, where investors were present to judge our ideas. Every idea was unique in its own way, and the corporate hot-shots were dumbfounded with the talent in the young college-going folk. The top three ideas were directly given entry into the penultimate round of the Uber Accelerator Challenge which will be held in April’13.

These kind of events not only reflect upon our business aptitude, but they also helps us in building character. How to work in a team where you don’t know anyone, how to interact with people, building public relations, giving presentations in front of an experienced startup crowd, are things which were worth grasping from the event.