Sparks New Ventures

Sparks New Ventures is a program, conducted in association with BITSAA to help students create technology-based startups. It is offered as a business plan course and the main purpose is to not only study entrepreneurship but practice it. Student teams are expected to create a startup and write a business plan including all the essential aspects of creating a new venture. The program was launched in Fall 2009 and was an invaluable experience for truly aspiring entrepreneurs.

Salient Features:

• The course features guest lectures from prestigious entrepreneurs, investors and academicians with strong experience in creating and running startups.
• Each team is assigned an experienced entrepreneur mentor who guides them through the semester and beyond. Mentors include successful entrepreneurs and investors from top tier firms (DFJ, Sequoia, Helion, Nokia).
• The teams compete with each other and the best teams will be awarded seed funding to pursue their business idea after the completion of the course.
• Lectures provide introduction to concepts and tools essential to the entrepreneurial process, overview of the technology enterprise, and the role of the individual and team within high-impact ventures.
• Students study and implement various facets of a startup – product development, market research, technology viability, fund raising, competitive analysis, team formation, marketing & sales strategy.

Application Instructions:

• Write an essay in 500 words or less. Include
  
  
  1. Entrepreneurship goals (Why entrepreneurship?)
  2. Entrepreneurship efforts to date
  3. Describe 2 business ideas you would like to pursue. Describe problem, size of problem & solution. If applying as a team, 1 of the business ideas should be shared with the team.
  4. Your Name & Contact (email + phone), Team Name & Members (include primary contact)
• Applicants are encouraged to create a team of 3-5 members prior to applying.
• All applicants should submit individual applications.
• Use Microsoft Word for your submission. Please DO NOT submit Adobe PDF files.
• Students from all years and disciplines are encouraged to apply.
• Email your application to Dr. Arya Kumar (aryakum@gmail.com) and Abhinav Khushraj (akhushraj@bitsaa.org)
  

Lectures & Presentations – Pedagogy:

• Two guest speaker lectures each week on a startup topic
• Elevator pitch contest & three pitch-deck presentations
• Bi-weekly mentoring sessions with the assigned mentor
• Field-trip to New Delhi to meet with entrepreneurs and investors
  

Deadline

The deadline to apply for Sparks New Ventures is April 18, 2010 11:59 P.M.