View from the sidelines by Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy
The magic year 2010 is drawing to a close. This was YourStory’s second year in business. YourStory graduated from just online coverage—of entrepreneurs and their wares, of events and celebrations, and of expert talk and capturing trends—to offline events. TechSparks 2010 heralded a new chapter in YourStory’s journey. From just talking about entrepreneurs, we embarked upon identifying the top product tech startups in the country. The entrepreneurs got to network with investors, spread their stories to media, and meet fellow techies who have been there and done that, or simply starting a journey. Guidewire Group’s G Score was the highlight of the selection process. Microsoft and Canaan Partners lent their support in addition to several other small contributors such as OrangeScape.After TechSparks in August, Sociopreneurship India 2010 took place in November. Another hot sector chased by the educated class, willing to give up lucrative jobs in favor of social good, naturally caught our attention. Social entrepreneurship is a buzz word in the entrepreneurial space today. As we see, business models are evolving and social good with bottom line growth is knotted to create a viable and sustainable business. The 15 social startups we identified spanned across different sectors. The eminent jury and the panel added to the knowledge quotient.
The year saw recognition coming to us from different ecosystem players. NASSCOM awarded Shradha Sharma, our founder, with Ecosystem Evangelist Award for this year at NASSCOM Product Conclave. Our engagement with NASSCOM is a proud association. As this industry body enables the spirit of entrepreneurship by bringing together the industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors, as well as lobbying with the government for policies favorable for the sector’s growth, we partnered NASSCOM for their EMERGEOUT Conclaves and Product Conclave this year. Needless to say, we were enriched and NASSCOM was able to see our contributions in the right spirit.
The second recognition came to Shradha as Villgro’s Journalist of the Year at its Unconvention. Villgro hosts Unconvention annually to celebrate social entrepreneurship. The highlight of this event is Villgro’s inclusive outlook. All players, even those on the fringe such as the media, are recognized by an award annually. We are delighted that we were chosen for this award.
We also had the opportunity to partner several events of relevance to entrepreneurs. We continue our commitment to the entrepreneurial stories by bringing to limelight several unknown entrepreneurs doing their work in hinterlands. Our network of investors occasionally helps us to connect prospective entrepreneurs for a possible investment. We have had small beginnings but we are now proud of where we are.
As we reflect on the year that is just going to pass us by, we thank all of you—entrepreneurs, investors, experts, friends, partners, well wishers, and all those who were associated with us in one way or the other. For us, this journey is the reward.
