BY A STAFF REPORTER
LONG BEACH, CA - TiECon SouthWest , the day-long annual conference hosted by The Indus Entrepreneurs with the aim of connecting entrepreneurs and bringing professionals from a vast range of industries together under one roof, took place on Nov 17h at the Long Beach Convention Center here. The seminar began early with registration, networking, and exhibits.
LONG BEACH, CA - TiECon SouthWest , the day-long annual conference hosted by The Indus Entrepreneurs with the aim of connecting entrepreneurs and bringing professionals from a vast range of industries together under one roof, took place on Nov 17h at the Long Beach Convention Center here. The seminar began early with registration, networking, and exhibits.
The official program kick started with TieCon Executive Director, Anshuman Sinha, taking to the stage to welcome and address the attendees. Sinha explained that TiECon SouthWest this year was being held for the first time at the Long Beach Convention Center as it had outgrown its previous location. There were over 700 people in attendance this year and their previous location would not have been able to accommodate so many.
Smita Bagla, President, Tie SoCal was then invited to the podium and gave a brief description of the current and upcoming initiatives. “We strive to focus on the entrepreneurial mindset,” said Bagla. Additionally, she spoke about how she believes that Southern California is where startups really begin not Northern California.
TiECon Chair, Dave Naidu, then presented a brief overview of TiE Southwest.
The attendees were then introduced to the keynote speakers.
`Resurgence of Virtual Reality’ was the topic of the first three morning keynote speakers. It focused on the current state of the art, future directions, and production opportunities. The panelists included Dr. Parag Havaldar, Oscar award winner and Blizzard engineer, and Sony executive, Josh Ochoa. They talked about hurdles in virtual reality and augmented reality, the timeline for mass adoption, and the upcoming advancements in hardware. `Startups to Billion Dollar Exits’ was the next keynote which featured two successful entrepreneurs. Beerud Sheth, founder of Elance and Gupshup, and Rakesh Mathur, founder of Junglee and Gupshup. Both have wildly successful startup backgrounds and exits. Bagla, a serial entrepreneur herself, interviewed them with hard questions related to their challenges and perseverance through rough moments.
The Q & A session kept the engagement level of the panel high and inspired the audience. This was cited as the best session of the day, with practical inspiration to pursue a startup venture.
`25 Years and More: Sustaining High Growth in this Competitive World’ followed as the third keynote session. Sue Bhatia, founder of Rose International, and Pandora Ovanessian, Advisor to the Caltech Entrepreneur forum led the session. Together they spoke about overcoming adversity and how to distinguish your business from the competition.
Wrapping up the keynote sessions came time for the breakout panels. The first three breakout panels were more industry specific to give entrepreneurs, seekers, and professionals an opportunity to hone in on specific innovations and challenges related to their industry. The featured industries were entertainment/gaming, medical devices, artificial intelligence, product design, automotive, and hospitality. These panels were presented to entrepreneurs, seekers, and professionals, with an opportunity to hone in on specific innovations and challenges related to the industry.
There was a parallel breakout track of companies pitching in front of investors which is another important component of TiECon, the TiE Angels and Investors track. The top three pitches were FIYSkyHi, OOTify, and Chronus. Of these pitches, TiE SoCal Angels group, made up of TiE SoCal Charter Members, has invested in the startup OOTify - empowering everyone to embrace their own mental health and wellbeing by connecting you with their qualified provider network of coaches, therapists or peer-to-peer mentors.
The Fintech panel was the most popular of the breakout sessions. Sanjay Sabnani, CEO CrowdGather and Advisor Wilbur Labs; Kausik Rajgopal, Senior Partner McKinsey Silicon Valley; Ash Patel, President and CEO Commercial Bank of California; and Manshu Agarwal, CEO and co-founder at Ponder; were the panelists present. It was a popular session because the topic is hot, there is big money to be made, and opportunities for disruption.
Hospitality was extremely popular as well because of the addition and contribution from Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA). This was the first event that the organization collaborated on and are on a path to build on the strengths of memberships in the South Asian business community.
The entertainment panel was also popular, riding the momentum of TiE SoCal’s new entertainment special interest group. The speakers included: Erin Gavin, actress ; Mona Shaikh, Standup comedian and actress; Ravi Kapoor, actor/writer/director; Nitin Chawla,Head of Connected Experience, Walt Disney; David Freeman, Exec VP 20th Century Fox Television. The med tech panel was also well attended. Following the breakout panels, attendees once again gathered in the main hall for the fourth and final keynote session for the day.Erik Huberman was the keynote who talked about his own startup journey, creating Hawke Media focusing on talent recruit and retention, as well as how his agency positioned themselves to clients and business financial growth.
Investors, mentors meet and greet, a magic show, recognition, and acknowledgements were presented on completion of the final session. The conference came to a close with cocktails, snacks, and
Smita Bagla, President, Tie SoCal was then invited to the podium and gave a brief description of the current and upcoming initiatives. “We strive to focus on the entrepreneurial mindset,” said Bagla. Additionally, she spoke about how she believes that Southern California is where startups really begin not Northern California.
TiECon Chair, Dave Naidu, then presented a brief overview of TiE Southwest.
The attendees were then introduced to the keynote speakers.
`Resurgence of Virtual Reality’ was the topic of the first three morning keynote speakers. It focused on the current state of the art, future directions, and production opportunities. The panelists included Dr. Parag Havaldar, Oscar award winner and Blizzard engineer, and Sony executive, Josh Ochoa. They talked about hurdles in virtual reality and augmented reality, the timeline for mass adoption, and the upcoming advancements in hardware. `Startups to Billion Dollar Exits’ was the next keynote which featured two successful entrepreneurs. Beerud Sheth, founder of Elance and Gupshup, and Rakesh Mathur, founder of Junglee and Gupshup. Both have wildly successful startup backgrounds and exits. Bagla, a serial entrepreneur herself, interviewed them with hard questions related to their challenges and perseverance through rough moments.
The Q & A session kept the engagement level of the panel high and inspired the audience. This was cited as the best session of the day, with practical inspiration to pursue a startup venture.
`25 Years and More: Sustaining High Growth in this Competitive World’ followed as the third keynote session. Sue Bhatia, founder of Rose International, and Pandora Ovanessian, Advisor to the Caltech Entrepreneur forum led the session. Together they spoke about overcoming adversity and how to distinguish your business from the competition.
Wrapping up the keynote sessions came time for the breakout panels. The first three breakout panels were more industry specific to give entrepreneurs, seekers, and professionals an opportunity to hone in on specific innovations and challenges related to their industry. The featured industries were entertainment/gaming, medical devices, artificial intelligence, product design, automotive, and hospitality. These panels were presented to entrepreneurs, seekers, and professionals, with an opportunity to hone in on specific innovations and challenges related to the industry.
There was a parallel breakout track of companies pitching in front of investors which is another important component of TiECon, the TiE Angels and Investors track. The top three pitches were FIYSkyHi, OOTify, and Chronus. Of these pitches, TiE SoCal Angels group, made up of TiE SoCal Charter Members, has invested in the startup OOTify - empowering everyone to embrace their own mental health and wellbeing by connecting you with their qualified provider network of coaches, therapists or peer-to-peer mentors.
The Fintech panel was the most popular of the breakout sessions. Sanjay Sabnani, CEO CrowdGather and Advisor Wilbur Labs; Kausik Rajgopal, Senior Partner McKinsey Silicon Valley; Ash Patel, President and CEO Commercial Bank of California; and Manshu Agarwal, CEO and co-founder at Ponder; were the panelists present. It was a popular session because the topic is hot, there is big money to be made, and opportunities for disruption.
Hospitality was extremely popular as well because of the addition and contribution from Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA). This was the first event that the organization collaborated on and are on a path to build on the strengths of memberships in the South Asian business community.
The entertainment panel was also popular, riding the momentum of TiE SoCal’s new entertainment special interest group. The speakers included: Erin Gavin, actress ; Mona Shaikh, Standup comedian and actress; Ravi Kapoor, actor/writer/director; Nitin Chawla,Head of Connected Experience, Walt Disney; David Freeman, Exec VP 20th Century Fox Television. The med tech panel was also well attended. Following the breakout panels, attendees once again gathered in the main hall for the fourth and final keynote session for the day.Erik Huberman was the keynote who talked about his own startup journey, creating Hawke Media focusing on talent recruit and retention, as well as how his agency positioned themselves to clients and business financial growth.
Investors, mentors meet and greet, a magic show, recognition, and acknowledgements were presented on completion of the final session. The conference came to a close with cocktails, snacks, and
RSS Feed
