MATS Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship organised a panel discussion for the fresh batch of students as part of the orientation session on 16th July 2022. The panel members consisted of first-generation entrepreneurs and start-up founders like Ms. Kanchan Dwivedi – Founder of Loangini, Ms. Sonali Jha – Founder and Director of Cunomial Technologies, and Ms. Ayushi Rungta – Founder of OpenOffers. Professor Prakash Nimbalkar was the Panel Moderator during the program.

The focus of the event was to bring to the fore the challenges and opportunities an entrepreneur faces as he/she traverses the journey. The session started with each of the panellists sharing their journey over the years. All three panellists come from diverse backgrounds such as defence services, research, and the corporate sector.

The discussion covered the stages from the germination of the idea to the execution. It highlighted the cruciality of family and friends' support during the initial tenure. The panel delved into the area of choosing between a job and a start-up and the factors one needs to consider before taking the decision. The panel members also shared their inputs on the challenges they faced in the initial years of their start-up journeys and shared what kept them motivated during early challenging days. Ms. Kanchan shared her journey from being in Indian Air Force to a short stint with Infosys and later starting Loangini. She focused on providing support to the lower income group and low salaries employees with short-term loans.

Towards the end, the forum was open for questions from students and the panel members concluded with the note that management students should focus not only on identifying customer problems and creating a business with the solution, but they should also explore if the solution has any social impact on a broader level.