(L) Anita Raghavan (M) Monish Pabrai (R) Jai Khanna BY AMELIA MATTHEWS
CERRITOS, CA – The Indus Entrepreneurs annual conference TiECon Southwest 2013 drew around 400 attendees to the Sheraton here on Nov 9. The mega day–long event, a joint collaboration with TiE SoCal, TiE Phoenix, TiE Rockies and TiE Nevada was abuzz with activity offering huge opportunities for networking with peers, experts, entrepreneurs and investors.
Shankar Ram, Chair, TiECon threw the event open welcoming all followed by TiE SoCal President Vijay Kotrappa who began by giving a brief history of TiE and its primary goal of fostering entrepreneurship and went on to give...
CERRITOS, CA – The Indus Entrepreneurs annual conference TiECon Southwest 2013 drew around 400 attendees to the Sheraton here on Nov 9. The mega day–long event, a joint collaboration with TiE SoCal, TiE Phoenix, TiE Rockies and TiE Nevada was abuzz with activity offering huge opportunities for networking with peers, experts, entrepreneurs and investors.
Shankar Ram, Chair, TiECon threw the event open welcoming all followed by TiE SoCal President Vijay Kotrappa who began by giving a brief history of TiE and its primary goal of fostering entrepreneurship and went on to give...
three valuable tips to attendees to gain the maximum leverage from the event - networking and connecting with others, learning something new and not hesitating to ask ‘shamelessly”- which was a sure way to success. He thanked all volunteers and sponsors for their hard work in pulling off the huge event. He also welcomed Congressman Ami Bera who represents California’s 7th Congressional District.
Keynotes for the event were Mohnish Pabrai, Anita Raghavan and Jai Khanna with their varied backgrounds in different industries, but all sharing the same immigrant dream, presented to the attendees their stories of success giving valuable advice along the way. Pabrai, managing partner of the Pabrai Investment Funds impressed the audience with his philanthropy combined with his entrepreneurial spirit. He started off by paying tribute to Indian-American entrepreneurs across the board from the convenience store and motel owners to those in the upper echleons of the business world. They have all made their mark and TiE has brought their stories to light and “lighted the dark and narrow path for us to reach the promised land.”
Moving on he focused on startups informing that a million new businesses get launched every year of which 1000 are venture backed. But they are an anomaly that can safely be ignored. “You do not need money to get a business of the ground,” he underscored counter intuitively.
The secret he revealed is the “second job” which can be the startup. He recounted how in 1990, when just 25 years old, he worked on his startup for 2 to 3 hours in the morning before heading off for his regular job, and then for a few hours in the evening. Facetiously, he said his VCs were Visa and Master card which were later replaced by a low cost line of credit. Four years on it was among the Inc. 500 Companies! “You can walk and chew gum at the same time,”
Keynotes for the event were Mohnish Pabrai, Anita Raghavan and Jai Khanna with their varied backgrounds in different industries, but all sharing the same immigrant dream, presented to the attendees their stories of success giving valuable advice along the way. Pabrai, managing partner of the Pabrai Investment Funds impressed the audience with his philanthropy combined with his entrepreneurial spirit. He started off by paying tribute to Indian-American entrepreneurs across the board from the convenience store and motel owners to those in the upper echleons of the business world. They have all made their mark and TiE has brought their stories to light and “lighted the dark and narrow path for us to reach the promised land.”
Moving on he focused on startups informing that a million new businesses get launched every year of which 1000 are venture backed. But they are an anomaly that can safely be ignored. “You do not need money to get a business of the ground,” he underscored counter intuitively.
The secret he revealed is the “second job” which can be the startup. He recounted how in 1990, when just 25 years old, he worked on his startup for 2 to 3 hours in the morning before heading off for his regular job, and then for a few hours in the evening. Facetiously, he said his VCs were Visa and Master card which were later replaced by a low cost line of credit. Four years on it was among the Inc. 500 Companies! “You can walk and chew gum at the same time,”
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