View from the Sidelines by Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy
Chennai, the South India’s jewel, was home to many firsts. It was the first city of modern India. Industries started in Chennai first. It was the home to illustrious legends of Indian industry. Still manufacturing industry has a strong presence in Chennai -- the Murugappa group, The Simpsons, Ashok Leyland, TVS group stand testimony to the long tradition of industrial activity. With globalization, car makers have set up manufacturing facilities around Chennai, dubbed the “Detroit of India.” Easy availability of quality engineering talent has enabled Chennai to perch its position as one of the hot destination for the automobile sector.
The startup community is very vibrant. But, in my view, two people have achieved a cult status and have distinct characteristics that make them superstars. Kiruba Shankar, CEO of Business Blogging, is a believer in the wisdom of the crowds. His unrelenting focus to connect to achievers across domains and diverse disciplines has resulted in tangible products -- Cerebrate, TEDx, Kiruba.tv. Using these three media effectively, he has ensured that knowledge is effectively shared and inspiration is delivered to the receptive audience. His Twitter follower count -- 56,305 as I write this piece -- is indicative of the popularity he enjoys. He associates himself with all the major events that further enhances his stature. TEDxChennai is slated for October 10, 2010 (10.10.10). His ability to crowdsource the organizer group and to create enough momentum around this event is a demonstration of execution of his vision. Kiruba is widely popular because of his distinct vision -- podcast with achievers (Kiruba.tv), congregation of achievers (Cerebrate) and showcasing achievers through an inspirational capsule of 18 minutes (TEDxChennai). Visit www.tedxchennai.com for updates about TEDxChennai, which has come to generate a huge buzz.
Vijay Anand, the startup guy, is the focal point of entrepreneurial spirit in Chennai. His wisdom about startups throws interesting insights. His latest venture, the Startup Centre, is a trending topic among entrepreneurs now. What would have happened if Einstein and Leonorda da Vinci met and created something extraordinary? The tech obsession in Vijay led him to initiate proto.in but now his intention to create a melting point of ideas has led him to The Startup Centre. Techies (the left brain predominant) and the creatives (the right brain predominant) can create an outstanding product that defies conventions is the underlying theme of the Startup Centre. http://busroutes.in/chennai/ -- take a look at this site. A student came to Chennai to study engineering. He was amazed to find the government bus links to every corner of the city. But no one, including the Metropolitan Transport Corporation, which runs the bus services, was able to map the city’s bus routes. He ran even up to the highest authority in the Tamil Nadu government only to find him in a loop. He was directed to X to get the map, who asked him to go to Y, from where he was led to Z, who again pointed to X. He took the task upon himself and created the bus route maps. Type in any from and to points and you are sure to get the required route map and the bus to take in busroutes.in/chennai site. The innovator is Arun Ganesh, who is now with the National Institute of Design, Bangalore. During his four years in Chennai from 2005 to 2009, when he studied engineering, he never took private transport (because driving sucks in traffic! -- the tag line for busroutes.in). Probably when Arun was a summer intern at IIT Madras, he met Vijay Anand. This engineering guy who found a simple, yet powerful solution to transport in a city through public transport inspired Vijay to found the Startup Centre. Simple solution for a seemingly simple problem but you need people like Arun Ganesh to see it! Perhaps, Vijay is hoping that many Arun Ganeshs emerge out of the Startup Centre.
