Comments on: Proto.in Edition 6: Poor Pitch

By: vikas shah

vikas shah — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:47:28 +0000

Hi Snigdha,
We want to launch a magazine on entrepreneurship .Would you like to help us in strategising.

By: Freeworld

Freeworld — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:52:33 +0000

Ha Ha… Sudhir reminded me of Sajid Khan… trying his wits to outwit the audience… Mobile Phones ringing on the podium…People walking up and down the stage all the time..maybe the proto.in team should watch the event all over again…

and CS…I don’t think most of the finalist were from Pune.. but i could be wrong…

By: CS

CS — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:01:15 +0000

I Agree with Sasi. There some things that should have been taken care of
1. There was no one to one interaction between the VC’s and Promoters.
2. The Quality of startup’s is still questionable, also why were most of the finalist’s from Pune ?
3. Pathetic arrangement at the reception, Hoards of people at the reception and no one to manage.
4. VC’s should be given preference because… They are the ones who are going to put in their money in the startup’s that Proto.in selects. The more investment’s the bigger the platform.
5. Suhir… on your website.. you talk about VC participation and also your presentation spoke about it being a platform for VC’s and Promoters getting on the same platform.
6. with Due respect Sudhir…The anchoring and the presentation also showed lack of coordination.

However, inspite of all these..I will still try to attend the next event.

By: Snigdha Sengupta

Snigdha Sengupta — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:07:39 +0000

Hi All, Thanks for your comments.

By: Kishore

Kishore — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:02:23 +0000

nikhil,

i agree with Sasi. When few media guys at the forum can demand (and were provided)for preferential treatment instead of standing in Q. The guys at the reception made a mess, unable to sort between vcs, general public and entrepreneurs (media guys got special badges as they didnt stand in line).
In how many of these startups, would u invest YOUR MONEY?

By: Nikhil

Nikhil — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:42:35 +0000

Sasi,

disagree with you on the quality of startups. I thought that companies selected for his showcase were quite good, and as a collective, fewer disappointments than at previous or other startup showcases.

Secondly, why should there be a separate line for VCs and entrepreneurs?

By: Sudhir

Sudhir — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:54:04 +0000

Hi Sasi,

I write on behalf of Proto.in. Ravi Narayanan is a VC and he is a part of the panel. So is Sushanto who heads SINE – the IIT Mumbai incubator.

We don’t think entrepreneurs and VC’s need separate queues — like we have said many times before this is not an entrepreneur meets VC pitch forum.

On the other issues – light, latop fixing – we were a little handicapped due to a variety of reasons. Write in to us on contact@proto.in or sudhir@proto.in, we’d like to have you over to perhaps help us address some of these issues.

By: Sasi

Sasi — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:03:26 +0000

I totally agree with Snigdha. The showcase event was disappointing as they failed to address key issues in a time bound and precise manner. The arrangements like sound, setting up ppt etc took way too long. There were beelines near registrations and no separate lines for VCs and entrepreneurs. Overall, I’m disappointed and would think over to attend the next edition. The quality of start ups were also below par. Organizers need to revisit the method of short listing the companies. I believe there is no VC on the panel.

By: Nikhil

Nikhil — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:29:31 +0000

Completely agree that most of the 6 minute showcases did not address key business questions – very little on potential/existing clients, alternate revenue streams, competition.

Which is why I felt that the Q&A should have been longer, to make up for that. Even during the Q&A, at least in one instance, the answers received were incomplete. TouchMagix did a great demo, but how much time was spent on the business case?

By: Santosh

Santosh — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:09:03 +0000

Ravi …oops sorry for misreading your comment.. thanks for the clarification…About getting better, definitely agree there is always scope for improvement in the preparation and the pitches. Personally looking back to the lead up and the video of our actual pitch I can see several areas where we could have done things a bit differently and involved the audience a bit more… We are wiser for the experience.