How does the Proto.in selection process work? Vijay Anand, serial entrepreneur and key visionary behind Proto.in, the unique startup showcase that was born in Chennai in 2007 and goes national this year, spells out the selection process at the Proto.in blog. Anand has prior experience in bootstrapping companies and building them into successful businesses in Canada. He currently works with TeNet at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, where he oversees technology developments as an architect and also mentors bootstrapped companies as well as established companies with strategic positioning. Read Anand’s re-produced post on how startups are picked at Proto.in
Proto.in De-mystified
By Vijay Anand
We are almost done with the finalists. This edition has been trickier to shortlist because of two reasons. For one, I am experimenting with a new way of shortlisting these candidates. And two, we got quite a bit of good companies this time, and going from 19 to 15 is where the problem is right now. I really wish there was unlimited time, energy, mentors and space to showcase these companies at times.
By now most of the companies that did nominate would have heard back from us. If you haven’t gotten any response from us, do get in touch with us immediately. We did find one case of a nomination filing that had hidden itself away in the SPAM folder, so I am ensuring that it hasn’t happened twice.
So the information is the same. You will be seeing 15 companies being showcased at this edition and I am quite excited to say that some of them have some fabulous patents and years of industry depth and understanding in what they are doing. This event will be one not to miss.
How does the selection process work?
Coming back to the brief hint that I made about the selection process, folks within the team would tell you that I’ve always been against the idea of a single committee of people evaluating companies. When we meet companies that are as diverse as Internet, mobile, telecom, software, enterprise, animation and food processing (yep, we have one company on that space), the fixed panel model really doesn’t work. The selection has always been a case where a pool of people are accessed for their expertise on the sector. Given that Proto.in has connections in most verticals from semiconductor fabrication to people who’ve built businesses in the Internet space to people who do keep an eye on the next wave or trend, it is essentially utilizing them in the right mix where the magic comes in.
This process has been working so far, and thanks to the bigger pool of companies who have been at Proto.in before, there is a portfolio being created which is becoming even more resourceful when it comes to validating some of the market hypothesis for these emerging companies – which is the most crucial help a startup could get.
Let me explain it in simpler terms. The selection process is quite simple. For every company, once we understand the vertical, a set of folks who are closely associated with that sector, and companies who can be potential clients for them are put in touch with the company and asked to converse. We sit and listen to the conversation. What we expect is not a perfect company, but for a team and product that listens, and evolves quickly on its feet and makes use of the opportunity to cash-in on some of these introductions and potential partnerships. I am seeing a slew of very happy ‘non-accepted’ companies this time, because even if they weren’t ready to go on stage (which is the only reason we hold back a company) the validation of customers and mentors gives a jolt of advice and direction that compares to none other.
Truth be told, I’m very pleased with the outcome that we’ve been trying out. I’m very glad that the role that Proto.in had determined to play for these companies – in giving them a spark of life – comes in much earlier into the game itself, which is beneficial for everyone.
I’ve been getting questions on the nomination and selection process for quite sometime now. I hope this gives some clarity on the situation.
Photo Courtesy: Vijay Anand
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