Microsoft ThinkNext comes to India for the First Time

I don’t drink (alcohol), and thanks to my generous gait, I should avoid cheese. So, what do I do when I get invited to a meetup of entrepreneurs, technology leaders and investors over Wine and Cheese? I sign up :)

I got an invite to be part of Microsoft ThinkNext, which initially started as an informal meetup of technology enthusiasts, hackers (in a good way) and entrepreneurs in Israel to discuss various aspects of the technology and business not just restricted to Microsoft. It soon grew into something that people looked forward attending, and is almost a monthly event.

Microsoft, Bangalore has taken the initiative to bring ThinkNext to India, and I was indeed glad to be part of the first event. There was representation from a wide range of startups (RFID, 3D Animation, Workflow Automation, Tablets that assist K-12 learning, 4G/LTE (That’s me!) to offer you a sample). Representatives of Angel networks and Venture Capitalists were around too! Microsoft also had invited some seriously senior personnel to the event. They shared some deep insights on Microsoft technologies like Azure, Windows Phone etc.

The format was unconference-like in a way that there was no specific agenda. It was fun to interact with entrepreneurs, geeks, technology evangelists and the atmosphere was totally informal. However, there were a couple of quick takes from Microsoft team on BizSpark, further editions of ThinkNext, themes for the next editions etc. (They all sound VERY exciting!)

There was some good food to go along too– So, if you missed attending this or did not get an invite, catch up some friend and Microsoft and make sure you get an invite next time. See you next month at ThinkNext! (I hope the next even has a theme of curd-rice and pickle instead of Wine and Cheese.)