Drona: Entrepreneur Mentorship and Advisory platform at IIM Lucknow

For a traveler, there are no roads. Roads are made by walking. This famous Spanish proverb tells it all and Abhiyan, the E cell of IIM Lucknow is supporting these lone travelers get their compass right.

Abhiyan has recently launched Drona - a platform for early stage startups and prospective entrepreneurs to seek expert advice and long term mentorship. The platform is being envisioned as a place for entrepreneurs to seek guidance for their strategic decisions, be it regarding raising finances, assessing market potential, marketing, driving operational excellence, assessing business risks or embracing business models.

Since January, Drona has been expanding its advisory network consisting of successful entrepreneurs, investors, academicians, and consultants catering to a broad range of sectors — IT & ITES, Knowledge Management, Technology Advertising, Logistics, Telecommunications, Media, Energy, Agribusiness, Food Processing, Health Care, Retail, Internet, Financial Services and Human Resource Management.

Most of the organizations supporting entrepreneurship have relied on events, Q&A, online portals etc to share knowledge and expertise with entrepreneurs. Drona would compliment these efforts by providing a long term perspective to entrepreneurial guidance by providing access to continuous support from the same mentor throughout the strategy formulation and implementation stages.

The importance of mentors cannot be over emphasized. To quote Mr. Adiya Mishra, co-founder of Headstart Network foundation, “An advisor is usually far ahead on the learning curve or on a different learning curve. Thus the biggest advantage for the entrepreneur is to benefit from the experience without having to spend the same amount of time and without making the same mistake.”

Entrepreneurs can now get answers for such questions as “I am interested in starting a floriculture business and need guidance in how to perform a feasibility study” or “I have started a small venture and would now want to expand it, I need guidance in funding the expansion” and the Drona platform will support them in getting expert advice and continuous mentoring. Being a long term relationship helps the mentors in better understanding the needs of the startup/entrepreneur rather than providing “generic” solutions and mentees benefit from the trusted relationship.

For further information, you may contact Abhiyan at [email protected], or call up Abhiyan at 91-9005372642