IIM-A to boost entrepreneurship

AHMEDABAD: In a bid to boost the entrepreneurial spirit of MBA students and prepare them for the associated challenges, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) will arrange for an interface on November 7. This will allow MBA students and budding entrepreneurs from across the country meet and discuss various aspects of entrepreneurship.
The event, 'Entrepreneurship Fair 2010', will be like a networking forum for students and start-ups, and will be organised by the placement committee of IIM-A.This initiative will also offer MBA students the chance to meet heads of start-ups and explore opportunities of internships.
Placement chairperson professor Saral Mukherjee said, "This initiative is aimed at establishing a national level talent source for startup firms. The start-ups will in turn benefit by employing MBA interns who will help implement projects in a span of 10 weeks."
"At the same time, the initiative also allows MBA students, who are planning to start their own venture, to take a peek into real-life challenges faced by start-ups," he added.
IIM-A has organised such interfaces even in the past. But this year, the event is being organised with support from the institute's Entrepreneurship Club and Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE). Unlike in the previous years, where participation was restricted to IIM-A students, this year the institute has invited all business schools in the country. Mukherjee said, "We want thousands of entrepreneurs to bloom."
The participating students will be encouraged to interact with heads of many firms and find out about the firm's many aspects, like its objective, the initial seed idea, the challenges faced, the current status, opportunities within the sector, future plans and so on.
"For the students, the event will be like an unparalleled forum which will give the opportunity to interact directly with entrepreneurs to understand how a potential business opportunity turns into a successful venture," said coordinator of Student Placement Committee at IIM-A Mansi Chitalia.