TechSparks Twitter Chat #tsparks : Scaling Indian Product TechStartups

After creating large scale impact through vastly successful editions in 2011 and 2010, TechSparks™, the largest nation-wide discovery platform for product Technology Startups, is back again this year in a bigger and better avatar.TechSparks™, an initiative undertaken by YourStory.in, India’s leading online platform for startups and entrepreneurs, is aimed at bridging the gap between the potential of product technology companies in India and the opportunities for them to scale, by bringing together the entire technology ecosystem involving investors, experienced entrepreneurs, developers, corporates and the media.

The theme of TechSparks™ 2012 is “The Smartest Way to Scale Your Startup”, focused on creating all that is required for the rapid growth of technology ventures. This theme will be taken forward at the regional rounds of TechSparks™ 2012, to be conducted in five cities – New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad between May and July 2012.

As part of TechSparks, we are organizing a Twitter based virtual forum, a first of its kind initiative in the Indian startup ecosystem. To participate in the Twitter chat all you have to do is have a Twitter account and follow the hashtag #tsparks on Twitter. The Twitter chat will discuss various issues about 'Scaling Indian Product Tech Startups'.

Panelists joining us for the session:

Soumitra Sharma: Soumitra Sharma is part of the Investments Team at IDG Ventures India, a US$ 150 million venture capital fund focused on investing in Indian technology and technology-enabled businesses @soumitra_sharma

Aditya Kulkarni: A technologist and blogger with over a decade of experience with software products. Most recently, he was a Product Manager at Google, managing some of their enterprise products @adityapk 

Suresh Sambandam : Founder & CEO, OrangeScape - Platform as a Service @sureshsambandam

Kira M. Newman: A Tech Cocktail writer interested in startups, innovation, and new trends. In 2012, she returned from a 6-month whirlwind tour of Asia, where she met tons of welcoming, inspiring, and infectiously passionate entrepreneurs. @KiraMNewman

Vinnie Lauria: Founding Partner at Golden Gate Ventures; Mentor at The Founder Institute; Mentor at Joyful Frog Digital Incubator; Mentor at i/o ventures; Founder at SiliconValley NewTech Meetup. @vlauria

When: May 23 2012, 7:30PM IST

How a Twitter Chat works:

• Panelists, participants and moderators follow and take part in the conversations by tracking and using a particular hashtag ( The moderator uses the hashtag while asking the questions, the panelists and participants will answer and use the hashtag while doing so)
• Tools like http://tweetchat.com/ OR http://tweetgrid.com/ can be used.
• Moderator @yourstorydotin will tweet key questions pertaining to this topic. ( For example: Q1: What are the barriers/challenges to scale of Indian product startups #tsparks )
• Each question will be discussed through responses from the panelists and participants ( For example: A1: Lack of product support groups #tsparks )
• Through these conversations the moderator, panelists and participants will discuss, debate and bring forth various perspectives and resources related to the topic.

If you want more info about the Twitter chat feel free to contact us at vallabh(at)yourstory.in