Fireside Chat On Entrepreneurship - In Conversation With Devaiah Bopanna and Anjana Kamath

In the ‘Fireside Chat On Entrepreneurship’, we talked to two entrepreneurs from our alma-mater, Devaiah Bopanna and Anjana Kamath, on the 18th of October, 2020. Hosted by Suhas Motwani, the discussion touched upon their life at BMS back in the day, their journeys and their experiences as entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship - From Idea to Business

“To win without risk is to triumph without glory”. Entrepreneurs risk a lot in the conquest of making a tangible difference to the world. The journey, though tumultuous, is immensely gratifying, and the learnings, monumental. And the rewards for building on your own ideas can be boundless.

The Speakers Journey

Devaiah on the beginning of his career path

  • His foray into engineering wasn’t what he intended, and he decided to change his career path during early days of his engineering.
  • Backed his prodigious skill of writing, did a couple of internships at creative agencies, and joined Ogilvy after graduation.
  • Persevered to continue in his field despite hardships like the 2008 recession, and the impacted market.

    • Anjana on her foray into entrepreneurship during her engineering days

  • Anjana credits her parents, who are business people, to sparking the entrepreneurial thought.
  • She chose to work on an idea suggested by her father, and took it up as her final year project, and wanted to develop it into a startup.
  • The idea for the essential oil business came from a real-life need for better quality of edible oil.
  • Finding investors who believe in the product is imperative, and focussing on building the idea takes higher precedence over funding. Bootstrapping makes you serious about your venture.
  • Getting the right network to hone and mentor the business is beneficial. Anjana credits her stint at DLabs, ISB to giving her exposure to building the right networks, and optimizing her operations.
  • Getting accredited by the Government of India as a startup provides a medley of benefits, and they can be helpful in reducing legal and regulatory workload.

    • Insights into Entrepreneurship

    Access to information, and knowledge is readily available. The efficiency of knowledge assimilation has increased, and utilize videos, tutorials, podcasts to maximize your learning curve.
    Figure out what you want to do by doing. Practise. Consistent practise is essential to achieving mastery.
    Doing research about your industry, career path and job trajectories will help you when you eventually switch jobs or careers
    Work hard on your career, along with the skills. Network with relevant people, take informed, well-researched decisions
    Networking can be very impactful, do start ASAP if you already haven’t.
    Do not force yourself to do something out of FOMO
    Introspect regularly, without fail
    It’s never too late to do what you’re passionate about. You’re never short of time to switch careers.
    Do a risk vs reward analysis before major career switches.

    Wrap Up

    The event covered these salient points, and also touched upon the time Devaiah and Anjana spent at BMSCE, and their cherished moments from that time period.
    And that’s a wrap on the first Fireside Chat event by BMSCE Alumni Club. Who are we, and why are we doing this?

    We’re just a bunch of people from different walks of life with one common factor - BMSCE. Folks from different industries, geographies, career paths, etc. put under a single umbrella, with the objective of connecting with fellow alumni, expanding our networks, giving back to our community and supporting our cause.

    Do you think you can contribute to your tribe, bring something new to the table, or just have a good time with your fellow BMSians, join us!

    Link to event video

    • Wanna join the Club?

    You got to be from BMSCE though 😃