Serving Mobile on TechSparks Regional Round Table, Delhi

YourStory started with capturing stories of entrepreneurs of any breed. Today we have emerged as the single largest online platform for entrepreneurs in India. From last year, we went a step further in creating our own property, TechSparks, to help tech entrepreneurs get meaningful networking, investor interactions, and a wider scoping to increase their reach. We focused exclusively on product software startups as that was the segment we felt needed a bit of a push.This year we have expanded the scope of TechSparks into four domains -- Software Products, Cloud Computing, Mobile, Web 2.0. Instead of just one gala TechSparks event, we have sought to provide thought leadership through discussions at various cities. The Regional Round Tables will be held in Delhi, Cochin, Chennai and Mumbai. The grand finale will be at Bangalore, the silicon capital of India. The Regional Round Table kickstarts in Delhi on 7 May 2011 at the IIT-Delhi campus.

Rahul Sharma, Cofounder and Executive Director, Micromax will deliver the keynote address at the Regional Round Table, New Delhi. Micromax started making mobile phones only in 2008, but it was founded in 1991 by Rajesh Agarwal as a distributor of computer hardware for brands like Dell, HP and Sony. In 1999 three of his friends — Sumeet Arora, Rahul Sharma and Vikas Jain — joined him as equal partners in the business. As on 31 March 2010, Micromax claims to be the largest domestic handset company in India. With 700 million plus users of mobile in India, Micromax story is gutsy. In a span of two years, Micromax pushed Nokia from the pedestal and captured the mindshare of the Indian mobile customer. Whatever innovation was possible at Micromax was centred on the customer needs, latest development in mobile technology and affordable prices. Hiding in the trenches, the company emerged at the right time to glory. This is a perfect Indian tech story that needs to be told and we chose Micromax as it represents the aspirations of Indian tech entrepreneurs. A company that has taken on a global giant, focused on essentials and has grown to become one of the top mobile handset companies in India.

Out of the Garage and Into the Market with Rahul Sharma will be the theme of the keynote. Indian tech entrepreneurs are not short on innovation. Amazon Kindle was supposed to be designed in India. We have several innovators doing pathbreaking work. Where do they lack? Our tryst with entrepreneurs has shown that Indian tech entrepreneurs are weak on go to market strategies. If there one company that has successfully executed its go to market plan, it is Micromax. Their supply chain is supposed to be phenomenal. So tech entrepreneurs will be enormously benefited from what Rahul Sharmavi has got to share with us. Micromax is one tech eagle that has done a Jonathan Livingstone seagull. Not afraid to take on Nokia. Gutsy. Right? A perfect start to TechSparks 2011.

If you have any queries for Rahul Sharma, please post them in comments. We will make sure those are posed to him during the Q&A.

--Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy, chief evangelist, YourStory