By Valsala Menon
Entrepreneurship is an experiment and demands an attitude shift- opines Vijay Anand, founder of the Startup Centre and organizer of In50hrs. If you are wondering what In50hrs is all about, it is an amazing way to prototype ideas and bring them to life; and that too in just 50 hours, or say, over a weekend.
An idea means a lot for an aspiring entrepreneur, because everything happens over an idea. In50hrs is an ongoing event that brings people together, not just to discuss their ideas, but also to collaborate over a weekend, and actually make a prototype of these ideas.
Simply stated, In50hrs is essentially an idea-to-prototype platform for aspiring entrepreneurs, students, anyone and everyone with great ideas, developers, product designers and others to come together and get to work on some ideas that will help solve real problems and also get to work on building working prototypes over a weekend. These prototypes are brought under a demo panel consisting of peers and a jury panel to assess and weigh its feasibility in the long run.
In50hrs came into being on March of 2011 when Vijay Anand, Dorai Thodla, and Suresh Sambandham, along with some others of the Chennai start up scenario got together to bring into existence a community effort to promote and encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to get together and help build their prototypes from their brilliant ideas. It is vital to educate people how to prototype and connect with entrepreneurs in the community to give back, so that the next crop of entrepreneurs are learning from their peers. In50hrs nudges people to act rather than just sit lamely on their ideas, and also get to learn a skill or two along the way- affirms Vijay Anand.
Now, why is prototyping of ideas so important? It is, because, for a country like India, with a billion in population, there are less than 600 startups emerging each year. If this statistic continues, technology entrepreneurship and power of the knowledge economy will always remain a distant pipe dream. Hence, our countrys product eco system needs a jumpstart, very badly. In50hrs is spread out nationwide and grows only with the support of communities. This community driven platform has continued to grow both with corporate sponsorship and also with the help and support of those communities that have benefited from the services of In50hrs.
What keeps the team at In50hrs excited and going? When a team of students who have opted for computer science as their major come in to pitch an idea, they are taught how to code and show a prototype of their idea within a weekend. Same way, what was just a tiny seedling of a thought in the mind of a social worker, finds company and excitement among developers and they pitch in to build a system that enables corporates to give away food to orphanages and shelters. .We are all the more thrilled when we see young students find confidence in building and launching a product and in the process, going global. We are thrilled when we see young students find confidence in building, and launching a product, and going global. We feel extremely gratified and fulfilled to watch people walk in as strangers, have fun, learn a skill set, build awesome prototypes and leave as friends, all in the span of just 50 hrs- asserts Vijay Anand.
In50hrs would always remain a pipe dream if not for the support and help of young mentors who are entrepreneurs early in the cycle of their startups. They decide to spend a weekend out of their busy schedules mentoring and aiding these aspiring entrepreneurs to build prototypes out of their ideas, and help them find direction. When these mentors find an avenue to give back early in their cycle,thats what contributes to the growth of our ecosystem and makes it simply great- affirms Vijay Anand.
Valsala Menon: A writer by profession, a journalist by intuition and an author by passion. Has worked with several start-ups and acclaimed magazines and dailies and has explored several beats of writing. Formerly Associate editor, Ability Foundation, Adyar, and also Associate editor, Eves Times, a citizen centric magazine. Regular contributor to the Chicken Soup series, with work published in many. Currently penning down her first novel, she is always game for challenges in the literary space. Drop a mail : valsala.menon7@gmail.com