Interview with Divyansh Saxena and Shivender Abrol

Launchpad Interviews

1. What is E-cell? What exactly is Launchpad all about?
   
   SA :The Entrepreneurship Cell strives to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation, both within BITS Hyderabad and beyond. We want to help aspiring entrepreneurs overcome any hurdles they face and support them in any way possible, including by connecting them to mentors and investors and providing any other support they need. Apart from this, we attempt to enhance the culture of entrepreneurship and invention on campus. From hosting talks with the leaders of various industries, conducting workshops to propagate skills related to entrepreneurship to organizing events and competitions we aim to build a community of innovation and excellence.
   
   DS: Launchpad is one of the biggest entrepreneurial summits in the country. It includes several events, competitions and celeb talks that focus on entrepreneurship. We are also conducting our highly anticipated Internship drive for which we were even approached by fourth year students to participate since the companies this year have given stipends of up to 1.25 lakhs.
   
   SA:  Last year, we made a transition from online to offline mode after the pandemic. We’ve tried to scale up this summit rather than just making it a chapter on campus,This year we’re also having the networking arena at T-Hub; World’s largest business incubator. It is primarily targeted for the Hyderabad ecosystem, with participation from all major VC firms including 100X.VC, Anthill Ventures.
   
2. As the president of E-cell and as the chairperson of Launchpad, how have you and the team divided work among yourselves for the smooth functioning of the Launchpad ‘24?
   
   SA : We have a team of a hundred people. The work is naturally divided as per the expertise of the distributed groups among these and our own which complement well. However, we have a common ground for decision making which we discuss with our executives and teams..
   
   DS : I believe this synergy we are having has been very crucial as it helped us to increase our output significantly and also restore entrepreneurial culture which was intact pre-pandemic era. Apart from scaling up Launchpad, we have had launch collaborations with several colleges including more than fifteen IITs out of a total of fifty colleges within 1 year. We have also started initiatives including Startup Spotlight lecture series and we have partnered with certain VC firms too. We also have E-cell ventures in which we help and support startups from ideation to MVP stage (Minimum Viable Product) which is the most difficult transition for most entrepreneurs. One more interesting fact is that we have had a lot of BITsian participation.
   
   
   SA : To promote the startup culture of BITS even further, we have brought up some BITsian startup stories this year. We connected with a lot of them from various spaces which even Divyansh and I personally interacted with from 1975 batch.
   
3. With numerous events lined up, what kind of publicity will E-cell take to set them apart from the normal publicity that we do for our regular student union fests?
   
   SA : Rather than focussing on the short term publicity we created a base pretty early and executed the publicity as we planned according to the 6 month plan we had.We did not rely on last 10 day publicity plan and rather tried to publicize via the long term collaborations we built with colleges,VC firms, startups,investors support the entrepreneurial endeavor so that the stakeholders reap the real output out of the E-summit.Apart from this we tried to include more variety of participants in the E-Summit, for example a lot of  students want to participate in Launchpad across India, but due to travel and time constraints they can’t travel to campus, for such people we introduced online competitions.In order to provide school students with a firsthand experience of entrepreneurship, we introduced competitions for school students.In summary, our approach to publicity for E-cell events prioritized long-term collaborations and strategic planning, aiming to maximize stakeholder engagement and inclusivity, including initiatives tailored for the stakeholders.
   
   DS : The publicity of a fest is very different from what Launchpad is. Launchpad is not a fest, it’s a summit. The crowd here is very targeted which has 2 parts. Firstly, there’s the corporate crowd who are very difficult to get but also where we only need a few and secondly, there’s the enthusiasts crowd. We have to plan for both of them essentially. We have had collaborations with other colleges from the past 6-7 months such that we have good connections with. We have arranged transport facilities and accommodations for them to come. We have a separate team for planned visits to targets, including coworking spaces of Hitec city.This year will level up from previous editions, in which we had weaker competitions and they had good participation. But this particular year, the best thing about it is that we have had at least a 100% increase in the number of participants from BPHC.From Hyderabad campus last year, we have had a total of only 4 registrations across all events. It has climbed up to 40 this year
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Can you shed some light on how Launchpad benefits the general body, the companies and the college as a whole?
   
   SA: Launchpad brings a ton of benefits to everyone involved. First off, it’s like a networking goldmine. You get to rub shoulders with industry bigwigs, alumni who’ve made it big, and successful entrepreneurs. It’s not just about exchanging business cards; it’s about getting real insights, mentorship, and maybe even landing your dream job. Startups get access to funding, mentorship, and all the support they need to thrive.  Launchpad also levels the playing field, for whose college isn’t in the most happening location. It creates this buzzing hub where everyone can come together, collaborate, and make things happen. No need to worry about being left out just because of where you’re located.Even with the pandemic throwing a curveball, Launchpad is bouncing back, slowly but surely. It’s like a sign of resilience, showing that we can adapt and keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive
   
   DS : I would like to add to it that the best part is about how the crowd gets along with the partners and speakers on panel. It is effective due to its distinctive and intellectual crowd, you can actually network and talk with them, might even find a co-founder which lets one be exposed to ideas that are going to be built online for the 5 days. This is to enhance the startup experience.
   
   
5. Can you shed some light about the challenges you have faced so far. What is the expected footfall from non-BITSians?
   
   SA :The E-Cell strives on a spirit where we try to build connects in the startup ecosystem which exists inside and outside the campus,bringing the 2 extremes closer.Having felt the need of expanding outside BPHC initially we felt a significant challenge however the team of first yearites and 2nd yearites tackled that really well,establishing over 40 partnerships in less than 3 months.I’m pretty sure we’ll be going beyond what Launchpad has ever seen. The challenge was to get the pre-pandemic network back in its prime form. When we go back to the years before 2019, there were a lot of stakeholders of the ecosystem who were visiting campus and were prominent to help the candidates. We have made those partnerships relevant again. Over the 7 month tenure we guys had, one will see the effect of that in launchpad  partnerships.
   
   DS : A part of our tenure was to have some events that were good enough for the footfall to be beneficial for the crowd and also act as stepping stones that we can build for Launchpad. It was a good challenge, the preparation for Launchpad wasn’t just two months, it has been since the beginning of our tenure. And coming to the crowd, it depends on a lot of things but we can definitely say that it’s going to be higher than the last launch for IDFC or any of the Launchpads till date.
   
6. You have mentioned that you are trying to regain the network that we used to have by going to colleges to get a footfall. When we pitch, the other colleges raise the point that our college doesn’t participate sometimes. Can you shed some light on what activities by E-cell BPHC has participated in and if it has helped to get those relations back.
   
   SA: When it comes to our participation and efforts to regain connections with other colleges, the Entrepreneurship Cell at BPHC has been quite active on a national scale. Over the past 5 months, we’ve made significant strides in fostering relationships with institutions like IIT Hyderabad, IIIT Hyderabad, and ISB.Our approach has been twofold: firstly, we’ve been proactive in initiating meetups with these colleges, focusing on mutual collaboration and support. These interactions have been crucial for discussing how we can assist each other in our entrepreneurial endeavors.Secondly, our team has consistently shown strong participation levels. We’ve been sending delegations of 15-20 representatives to these colleges, actively engaging in discussions and collaborations. Additionally, we’ve also extended support to colleges that have reached out to us, demonstrating our commitment to fostering a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem.One noteworthy collaboration we’ve had in the past involved partnering with NALSAR University of Law and BITS Pilani. Recognizing the importance of legal support for startups, we exchanged expertise: NALSAR provided legal support while we assisted with the technological aspects of startups. This mutually beneficial collaboration exemplifies our dedication to facilitating holistic support for startups.. The diverse attendance, including individuals from remote areas, underscores the success of our efforts in attracting external footfalls and fostering meaningful connections.

7. What are the few drawbacks of Launchpad ‘23 that you are trying to rectify this time?
   
   DS: One drawback was definitely footfall. Besides that, one thing that we failed upon was to engage the ground in what the essence of Launchpad was, it’s not exactly for one’s entertainment, it’s something one should be engaging off on an intellectual basis, one gets to make good connections, one gets to have fun, but one is mostly stunting on learning to what exactly the startup ecosystem has to offer which is right at your footsteps during Launchpad. The most disappointing thing is that there are more people interested in participating from outside rather than those from the campus itself.
   
   SA : There are times when we notice that there are BITSians very willing to take opportunities that exist inside their campus. We want to let them know that they can approach us freely in Launchpad
   
8. Could you name all of your major events and give a brief description about them?
   
   SA : I’ll start with the first event called Pitcher’s Pilot. This is a very ambitious take we took in 2022 Launchpad which saw investments of over 1.6 crore rupees. To make it clear for the general body, we can take this event analogous to Shark Tank in which we will have renowned investors which will be revealed very soon. There is an annual report for the top 20 firms that make investment across the Indian ecosystem. We have 4 out of those 10 firms directly participating in this event. It’s like a live fundraising event in which investments can be anywhere from 30 lakh to 3 crore rupees for a particular startup. Secondly, we have business plan competitions including Ground Reality, Beyond Profit and the online Pitch Perfect.
   
   DS: All of these competitions have different stages or ratings. Ground reality is for promoting innovations and transitioning of ideation to MVP stage. Beyond Profits focuses upon social entrepreneurship based startups. This type includes startups working for the wellness of the environment like climate tech and agro tech. Pitch perfect is mainly towards the audience who are not available on the particular dates of the E-summit since as one might know that startups are often busy and have packed schedules. One thing we actually meticulously planned was that for every stage of the startup, we have something different. For example, if an app startup that isn’t in the ideation to MVP stage would be able to participate in business plan competitions. For startups which already have a good revenue can take part in Startup Expo and those looking for funds can participate in Pitcher’s Pilot. Anything above this level can take part in Networking Arena, which has sub-events for people to network with startup founders and the crowd of startup enthusiasts. The sub-events include the ice-breaking ones, discussion in investor’s conclaves, co-founder search and investor speed-dating and so on. Apart from that, we have the Internship Drive in which we contact quality startups and get them interns from different colleges, obviously prioritizing BITS as our biggest target.
   
9. With keeping the several startups, speaker panel and the internship drive in mind, how has E-cell ensured that the domain that we are looking for remains diverse and not just tech alone.
   
   SA : We have partnered with BITS Embryo to invite a diverse speaker panel which will be revealed very soon. All of them are famous who work in the startup ecosystem and the venture capital space which even include startups from BITSian network itself who used to work in the labs of campus itself to make it thus far as something more than major firms. There will also be bureaucrats who are attached to startups and have made contributions to them.
   
   DS : The best description about how exactly we’re not just tech focussed is to declare that the highest stipend of 1.25 lakhs in the internship drive is non-technical. Thus, the participants can expect internships from all domains.
   
   SA : If one takes a look at our internships portfolio, one can observe that no domain is dominating. Founder interns, project managers, crypto experts or even sales and distribution have existing roles here along with management training.
   
10. For an event such as this, departments don’t really help out a lot during the event. How does E-cell manage all the limbs of the E-summit together?
    
    DS : There’s not much to work with departments. However, we do need to work with LSD and DoPY. Our main workforce is our organizing committee which consists of various teams which are like departments of our own. There are teams for publicity, sponsorship, design, editorial, videography and more. Speaker research is handled by BITS Embryo as I had stated earlier. One of the essences of Launchpad is that it works like a startup itself, one gets to learn all kinds of things. Even a person in the design team gets to go out, network and outreach. One gets to interact more and diversify oneself.
    
    A : E-Cell or launchpad OC is a full flagged fest organizing body, even though we don’t take support from most of the departments the OC functions into small teams functioning as departments for us.
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11. What would be your message to the general body from your side and the Launchpad organization?
    
    DS : My message to the general body would be to come out and witness this. It is a celebration of entrepreneurship. It is for you guys. Just explore and talk to people. It will be a different experience. It’s not exactly like a fest but you’ll get to learn something and definitely take something out of it. We have ensured that we’ll have a lot of fun apart from networking. But all we want is you for you all to discover. So give us a chance. Let’s come there and watch and you will learn for sure.
    
12. Launchpad in 3 words?
    
    An entrepreneurial endeavor!