NASSCOM Product Conclave 2010: Signalling the Future

Inaugural edition of Product Conclave 2009

The Startup Nation: the Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle by Dan Senor and Saul Singer talks about Israel’s economic prosperity. The website http://www.startupnationbook.com/ gives a glimpse of what it is: “START-UP NATION addresses the trillion dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only 60 years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state

of war since its founding, with no natural resources—produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? How is it that Israel has, per person, attracted over twice as much venture capital investment as the US and thirty times more than Europe?

Israel has more companies on the tech-oriented NASDAQ stock exchange than any country outside the US—more than all of Europe, India, and China combined. Nor is Israeli innovation limited to computers, security, and communications; the Jewish state leads the world in medical device patents, and is a strong global player in cleantech and biotech.”

Taking a leaf out of Israel, Dr. Orna Berry, Venture Partner, Gemini Israel Fund, was invited last year to give a glimpse of the Startup Nation towards the end of the Product Conclave 2009. The inaugural edition of the NASSCOM Product Conclave in 2009 focused upon how a product business can be built and brainstormed on why M&A activity is not happening (say, like in Israel) and what could possibly kickoff that cycle of small startups getting acquired by big multinational product companies. Guy Kawasaki first gave an account of what it takes to be an entrepreneur in the 2.0 era and followed it up with a workshop on marketing the next day. Naeem Zafar’s session was well received as he talked about writing a business plan. Marketing, telecom, and engineering dominated the panel discussions while Krishna/Arjuna mentor sessions, startup jobs, and SaaS business models gave entrepreneurs a glimpse of possibilities. The entire theme was on why product companies are capable of growing and what is needed to grow them in India.

Product Conclave 2010

Product companies are taking off now in India. An enabling ecosystem, easy availability of funds, early adopters, and a host of other developments are inspiring product tech entrepreneurs to try their hand at making a product business successful. If Druva could address a crucial need of laptop backups and set itself on a trailblazing path to success, if OrangeScape can take leadership position in cloud-based PaaS offering, if redbus.in can sell bus tickets online and can hit astonishing revenues, and if such promising companies are now emerging out of India, what can be done to transfer this spirit of Druva, OrangeScape, and redBus to the whole community? (These three are only indicative examples; there is so much activity in this space.) With product entrepreneurs now looking for possible business building tools, the second edition of the Product Conclave this year promises to bring a host of speakers, panel discussion, workshops, and unconferences to dwell upon “Lean Startups to Cloud Adoption.”

Day 1 is dedicated to building a lean startup. Using a step-by-step approach right from bootstrapping using services/consulting to create flywheel effect, creating passionate users, to getting to plan B, scaling without missteps, and demystifying lean startup myths, the day promises to bring in conversations around lean startups. This is the great opportunity for you to learn some business building tricks from experts who have been there, done that or who have watched others doing it closely and have thereby accumulated enough wisdom to share it with you.

Day 2 is for answering an ambitious question: what would it take for India to adopt a leadership position in cloud. If someone says India is not for early adopters, it is good enough to say that is history. The rate of cloud adoption is hitting a critical point and big companies buying enterprise software on a pay-per-use basis from product startups is just happening. How can you build an ecosystem to help product companies and what kind of mass products can be developed for an average Indian are two interesting topics that fill your day. Open-source GTM or cloud models for disruption is another session for your to ponder about. Parallel tracks are also planned for answering those eternal FAQs that often arise in startups (workshops on writing a busines plan and becoming a CEO from a founder). Unconference sessions on college level sensitization about product technology and possibly on marketing have also been planned to give a 360-degree perspective on what it takes to develop an enabling environment.

Register now!

Register before September 30 to avail early bird discounts. YourStory community will receive concessions at NASSCOM member rates for this conclave. Write to us [email protected] with your name, company details, no. of delegates, contact details to help us recommend you for special prices.

We will soon announce a contest for free passes and registrations at 50% discount.

–By Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy, chief evangelist, YourStory.in