SAMANVAY - DoMS, IIT Madras

The DoMS, IIT Madras, was privileged to host Mr. Ramesh Narayanan, CEO, Adyar Ananda Bhavan - India, as a speaker at the Conclave Lecture Series event of our business fest ­– SAMANVAY - DoMS, IIT Madras – on 9th November 2024. Mr. Ramesh drew on his experience managing the A2B group and his own separate startups to present a unique take on growing successful startups. Connecting three significant business lessons to three relevant Indian traditions and mythology, he delivered a deeply insightful session. First, drawing on the story of Narada and Vishnu, he emphasized the need for the business pitch to be convincing both to yourself and others. He suggested presenting the pitch to your inner circle and gauging their responses to perfect it. Then, through the parable of Lord Muruga’s (Aarumugam) strategic division of his forces in the war, he highlighted the six most consequential departments needed for an organization. Mr. Ramesh further highlighted that the key requirement of a leader is the ability to assess people’s qualities and that a good leader must desist from the urge to micromanage others. Finally, through the example of Janaka rejecting the gift horse, he explained the importance of being mindful of burn rates while running an organization. Like Janaka, who rejected the horse based on the cost required to maintain it, he urged founders to be mindful of the long-term impact of business expenses and expansions on the burn rate of the organization. We thank Mr. Ramesh for sharing his insights and experiences and hope to continue our cordial relations with him and his organization through similar collaborations in the future. Placement Cell DoMS IIT-Madras Indian Institute of Technology, Madras #SAMANVAY2024 #conclave #lectureseries #a2b #businesspitch #startupjourney #doms #iitmadras

The DoMS, IIT Madras, was privileged to host Mr. Sumit Santhalia, Co-Founder, TechnoSport, as a speaker at the Conclave Lecture Series event of our business fest ­– SAMANVAY - DoMS, IIT Madras – on 9th November 2024. Mr. Sumit shared his insights into developing an active-wear brand that was suited to Indian customers and explained the advantages and disadvantages of learning the requisite skills on the job. Emphasizing the need to learn from one’s own mistakes and the importance of practical experience, he narrated the organization’s journey toward becoming a successful brand. He also spoke of the unique marketing challenges faced in identifying latent market needs for a unique product through educational marketing. Additionally, speaking on the difference in running a startup at various stages, he highlighted the need for agility and a core team with cross-functional capabilities in the 0 to 10 crore journey, and increased specialization, technology, and a more diverse product portfolio as the key attributes of the 10 to 100 crore journey of an organization. We thank Mr. Sumit for sharing his insights and experiences as a startup founder and hope to continue our cordial relations with him and his organization through similar collaborations in the future. Placement Cell DoMS IIT-Madras Indian Institute of Technology, Madras #SAMANVAY2024 #conclave #technosport #activewear #startupjourney #doms #iitmadras #lectureseries

The DoMS, IIT Madras, was privileged to host Mr. Anand Bharadwaj, Co-Founder of Sweet Karam Coffee, as a speaker at the Conclave Lecture Series event of our business fest ­– SAMANVAY - DoMS, IIT Madras – on 9th November 2024. Speaking on his experience growing a successful brand in the food and beverages space, Mr. Anand clarified that every business starts with a well-defined problem statement. He explained that his organization was conceived when the founders observed the low popularity and limited availability of quality South Indian snacks, especially outside of their home states. He further clarified the role of brands in popularizing food items through the example of Haldirams and aloo bhujjiya. He explained that taste, high-quality ingredients, and good packaging and branding have enabled Sweet Karam Coffee to succeed in part in its mission. Highlighting the decisions that helped the organization succeed while remaining lean, he emphasized the digital-first and D2C model that provided up-to-date customer information on product preference and purchasing patterns, and outsourced production through manufacturing partners that preserved local flavours and reduced infrastructure costs. He also spoke of new product development through collaboration with regular customers and by taking input from channel partners. We thank Mr. Anand for sharing his insights and experiences as a startup founder and hope to continue our cordial relations with him and his organization through similar collaborations in the future. Placement Cell DoMS IIT-Madras Indian Institute of Technology, Madras #SAMANVAY2024 #conclave #healthyfood #foodrevolution #healthysnacks #southflavour #d2c #doms #iitmadras #lectureseries

The DoMS, IIT Madras, was privileged to host Mr. Rajiv R. Menon, CECO, Ogilvy Sri Lanka as a speaker at the Conclave Lecture Series event of our business fest ­– SAMANVAY - DoMS, IIT Madras – on 10th November 2024. Highlighting how we live in an age where we are drowned in information, but starve for wisdom, Mr. Rajiv emphasized the importance of storytelling in standing out and connecting with customers. Using the example of Google’s search engine advertisements in India and France, he demonstrated how stories can enable brands to connect with customers on a personal and emotional level. He emphasized the need for authenticity in advertising and the importance of attending to finer details in making audiences connect with the people they see in ads. Delving into the crafting or creative process of developing an ad, he observed that ideas are often around us, and that the trick was in being open to these stimuli. Dismissing claims that budget and other constraints can hinder a campaign, he used the example of the “Masterpiece of abuse” campaign in Sri Lanka and showed the effectiveness of an idea that can connect emotionally with the audience. He emphasized that feelings can often persuade where facts fail, and observed that perhaps stories are just data with a soul. We thank Mr. Rajiv for delivering an insightful lecture on brand storytelling and encouraging the students of DoMS to have goals that gives them goosebumps: a mission that makes it impossible to sleep and irresistible to wake up. Sharing his ethos for obsessing in private to create greatness in public, we hope to continue our cordial relations with him and his organization through similar collaborations in the future. Placement Cell DoMS IIT-Madras Indian Institute of Technology, Madras #SAMANVAY2024 #datawithsoul #storytelling #brands #marketingcampaigns #advertising #conclave #lectureseries #iitmadras #doms

The DoMS, IIT Madras, was privileged to host Mr. ABHISHEK RATNA, Head of Compliance - India, S&P Global, and a DoMS alumnus, as a speaker at the Conclave Lecture Series event of our business fest ­– SAMANVAY - DoMS, IIT Madras – on 9th November 2024. Delivering a deeply insightful talk on achieving career success, Mr. Abhishek highlighted how not even a combination of hard work and smart work can assure career success. Emphasizing the importance of perception management in this context, he explained that we can control others’ perception through our behaviour. Quipping that perception determines how people talk about you when you are not in the room, he observed that managing others’ perception is a necessary pre-condition for career success. Clarifying the methods to manage perception, he identified performance, relationship management, and confidence as key tools. Highlighting relationship management as a key tool, he observed that your work does not speak for you, your relationships do. We thank Mr. Abhishek for delivering a motivating session that gave the audience the confidence to believe that achieving objective success is possible. We hope to continue our cordial relations with him and his organization through similar collaborations in the future. Placement Cell DoMS IIT-Madras Indian Institute of Technology, Madras #SAMANVAY2024 #perception #innerself #lectureseries #conclave #iitmadras #doms

The DoMS, IIT Madras, was privileged to host Mr. Anil Madan, Vice President, Newtimes Group of Companies, as a speaker at the Conclave Lecture Series event of our business fest ­– SAMANVAY - DoMS, IIT Madras – on 9th November 2024. Sharing his insights on Transformative Leadership: Harnessing inner work for outer success Mr. Anil apprised the audience of the need to work hard on ourselves to achieve career and life success. Highlighting how inner beliefs affect outcomes and performance, he provided examples of how various inner traits manifest outwardly as skills or weaknesses. He additionally spoke of the mismatch between the volume of stimulus we receive and the processing power we possess and highlighted the cognitive shortcuts or inner programs we rely on to address this mismatch. He explained that inner work helps us reassess and change this internal program to understand stimuli better. Observing that people have become too obsessed with “doing things” as a metric of productivity, he highlighted the need for self-reflection and mindfulness practices to help us do things well and recommended methods for self-initiated and practitioner-initiated inner work. We thank Mr. Anil for delivering an insightful lecture and hope to continue our cordial relations with him through similar collaborations in the future. Placement Cell DoMS IIT-Madras Indian Institute of Technology, Madras #SAMANVAY2024 #tranformation #leadership #conclave #lectureseries #speaker #iitmadras #doms

The DoMS, IIT Madras, was privileged to host Mr. Prashant Gupta, Founder, Caerus3 Advisors & Think-Tank, and Alchemist Entertainment, as a speaker at the Conclave Lecture Series event of our business fest ­– SAMANVAY - DoMS, IIT Madras – on 9th November 2024. Speaking on the Power of Networking, Mr. Prashant delighted the audience with his insights into the need for networking and methods to network effectively. He highlighted the role of networking in achieving career and business success through the quote “If you’re looking for an opportunity, you are actually looking for a person.” Drawing on examples from his own career, he demonstrated how effective networking, especially through Linkedin, can help in organically growing a business, and quipped that we should all be ‘looking for networks instead of work.’ Highlighting that effective networking requires authenticity, a willingness to give before we receive, consistency in efforts, and the discipline to follow up, he observed that our network is our real net worth. We thank Mr. Prashant for delivering an insightful lecture and hope to continue our cordial relations with him and his organization through similar collaborations in the future. Placement Cell DoMS IIT-Madras Indian Institute of Technology, Madras #SAMANVAY2024 #conclave #networking #advisors #lectureseries

The DoMS, IIT Madras, was privileged to host Mr. Chandrasekaran Vasudevan, CTO-Core Networks(Cloud Software & Service Market Area South East Asia, Oceania & India), Ericsson, as a speaker at the Conclave Lecture Series event of our business fest ­– SAMANVAY 2024 – on 10th November 2024. Mr. Chandrasekaran delivered a deeply insightful lecture on the topic "Developing a Distinctive Edge in a Competitive Market" using the example of the telecom industry and Ericsson. Tracing the massive changes that the telecom industry as a whole has witnessed during its journey from mobile telephones to mobile internet and later to an app economy, he clarified the huge capital and infrastructure investments that were necessary to facilitate these changes. He then proceeded to explicate the challenges faced by the industry, identifying limited profitability, low RoIC, and high capex requirements as the key pain points. He observed that network operators and telecommunication technology companies are struggling with profitability and growth despite the massive growth in internet-related industries due to difficulties in value extraction and appropriation. He identified being ready for growth, investing right, exiting legacy systems, and finding innovative methods for value creation and appropriation as the key aspects that can aid in developing a distinctive edge in the industry. Drawing from the experience of Ericsson, he highlighted the need to divest from non-core businesses, the importance of strategic acquisitions, and the challenges of traversing geopolitics. Identifying the need for technology leadership and IP investments, agility in changing the model of monetization, and strategic partnerships as necessary solutions, he recommended that as industry leaders we must be prepared to challenge our business models, leave our comfort zones, and relearn to develop a distinctive edge and thrive in competitive markets. We thank Mr. Chandrasekaran for delivering a truly engaging session and further hope to continue our cordial relations with him and his organization through similar collaborations in the future. SAMANVAY - DoMS, IIT Madras Placement Cell DoMS IIT-Madras #SAMANVAY2024 #telecom #ericsson #disruption #doms #iitmadras

The DoMS, IIT Madras, was privileged to host Mr. T M Narasimhan, MD-India, Motorola Mobility (a Lenovo Company), as a speaker at the Conclave Lecture Series event of our business fest ­– SAMANVAY 2024 – on 10th November 2024. Mr. Narasimhan mesmerized the audience with his insightful lecture on Building a Competitive Edge in the Mobile Industry. Sharing his humorously relatable experiences as a management student, he was quickly able to build a rapport with the audience. Through a brief poll of the audience, Mr. Narasimhan demonstrated the emerging trends in customer loyalty and preference for purchase channels among Indian consumers and established the baseline for the session. Dividing the session into the classic 4 Ps of marketing, he proceeded to clarify the strategies used to survive and succeed in the mobile industry in India. First charting the evolution of product trends and features in mobile phones across periods, he spoke about the difficulties of maintaining product differentiation in an increasingly crowded market space. He emphasized the constant need to match and exceed competitors’ features and the consequent shortness of the product lifecycle. Referring to the experiments in price, he highlighted the need to focus on affordability for wider market penetration and creating an appropriate price-value equation in the customers’ minds. Finally, taking the participants on a trip down memory lane through some old advertisements and promotional material, Mr. Narasimhan clarified the role and trends of promotion in the industry. Explaining the shift from celebrity endorsements and hoardings to technology influencers on social media, he observed that the industry bucks the trend of marketing rules by focusing extensively on features and performance statistics instead of building an emotional connection. He also observed that innovations in payment platforms and access to credit, through a UPI-based lending platform, could massively transform retail in India.  Summarizing the key requirements for success in this volatile market that sees 19 brands, he identified anticipation of latent market needs, cross-industry collaborations (Pantone & Motorola), capitalizing on new opportunities and trends, differentiating the customer experience, and investing ahead of the curve as the elements that could help build a competitive edge. We thank Mr. Narasimhan for delivering a truly engaging session where he clarified each of his observations with the help of examples from the industry. We further hope to continue our cordial relations with him and his organization through similar collaborations in the future. #SAMANVAY2024 #motorola #innovation #doms #iitmadras