Chennai, here I come: Regional RoundTable makes its third stop today

At IIT-Madras IC & SR auditorium; registrations at 2 pmThe response so far has been nothing short of overwhelming. On May 6, on a hot summer afternoon, entrepreneurs had a field day at IIT-Delhi where the Regional RoundTable started off as part of the TechSparks 2011 campaign. This evening spread we have for startup entrepreneurs to help them become wiser, smarter, and greater has received a tremendous response. The Delhi RoundTable had Rahul Sharma, founder, Micromax, as the keynote speaker. And a panel discussion involving entrepreneurs and investors followed. It was great to hear good things from entrepreneurs who filled the Twitter stream with positive feedback.

On June 11, Pune was wet with rain. Still more than 350 entrepreneurs assembled at Persistence Systems auditorium to hear V.S.S. Mani, JustDial founder and Kailash and Sanjay Katkar, QuickHeal founders. The panel discussion again had eminent names. We were thrilled at the response. Braving the rain, we were happy to see entrepreneurs coming down to this evening of learning. This got our excitement pulsating and left our hearts filled with warmth and a great feeling. The feedback after the event was phenomenal. For a startup like us, these are small moments of feeling validated about being in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Today, we have arrived at Chennai, the intellectual capital of India. Known for its academic bent and traditionally conservative outlook, the city has not stayed behind in development. Technology adoption by community as well as startups has been amazing. Product companies are making Chennai proud. In fact, K.V. Ramani, who founded Future Software and was one of the founding members of NASSCOM, never thought different even if the going got a bit tougher. He stayed through his product for telecommunications and eventually had the last laugh. That spirit of making great products continues. Innovative ideas are tested and validated. Chennai does not lag behind when it comes to technology companies though it is more known for its manufacturing base and automotive components capabilities.

We endeavor to make the evening exciting for you with some fine stories told by some fine entrepreneurs. Prof. M.S. Ananth, IIT-M Director, will inaugurate the proceedings.

For agenda, see here. For free registrations, write to [email protected]. See you all at IC & SR auditorium, IIT-Madras, at 2 pm.

--Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy, chief evangelist