Entre � Entrepreneurship Club of IIM Ahmedabad

The Speaker Series Cell of the Entre Club is well known for dishing out some of the best talks on campus. Every year hundreds of PGP1s are introduced to the world of entrepreneurship by some of the most energetic and invigorating speakers on Campus.

How can anyone forget the session conducted by Prof. Sunil Handa every year? This event has attained a cult status of its own and has become a sort of “right of passage” for any would be entrepreneur from IIMA. This event attended by both the first and second year students has had an impact on many minds, motivating them to take the leap into entrepreneurship.

The speakers hosted by the cell are of diverse backgrounds from industry and academia. Their experiences are captivating and the learnings priceless. Here are some of the speakers to have graced the IIMA campus.

The diversity of the speaker sessions is exhibited by Prof Anil Gupta’s talk on Social Entreprenurship. Prof. Gupta, a Padam Shri awardee, is a prominent figure in Social Entrepreneurship in India. The talks focus primarily on the need for recognizing and rewarding grass root innovations. This session is of prime interest of those students who wish to chalk out a career in Social Entrepreneurship.

Last year, as part of "The Offbeat Entrepreneur Series", a talk was presented by Mr. Atul Karwal, , an IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, on "Motivating oneself in times of crisis". Atul Karwal, is first person from the All-India Services to scale Mt Everest. The talk also contrasted the challenges one faces in conquering the summit with that of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Mr. Karwal has also written a book on his experiences and learning in scaling the Mount Everest.

Dr. Pradip Khandwalla, an ex-director of IIMA and a big name in the field of Creativity and Entrepreneurship, was one of the eminent speakers last year. The talk was part of "The Offbeat Entrepreneur Series". It focused on the link between creativity and entrepreneurship. Prof. Khandwalla has written a number of books on creativity and has over a hundred publications to his name.

The Speaker Series Cell 2010-11 is just getting bigger and better. Going ahead, the Cell plans to conduct a series of talks with a broad theme based on the book “Stay Hungry Stay Foolish”. To kick off the event, it would host the famous author Rashmi Bansal. The event would feature eminent personalities from the book, who through sharing their experiences of struggles and victory would instill the spirit of entrepreneurship in the audience.