Find your mentor early: Dheeraj Gupta at IIT Bombay E Summit 2020

The 15th Entrepreneurship summit by E-cell of IIT Bombay opened on 1st Feb with a variety of scintillating speakers. Asia’s largest college body promoting entrepreneurship, the E-cell at IIT Bombay organises its flagship Entrepreneurship summit by gathering some of the biggest stalwarts in the industry, to share their countless ideas and expedite innovative start-ups to empower the Indian youth – as their webpage affirms.

Dheeraj Gupta, founder and MD of Jumboking spoke at the ‘Innovation conclave’ at the E-summit 2020. Jumboking is India’s largest homegrown Quick Service Restaurant chain (QSR) that serves the widest range of vegetarian burgers across its 115 stores.

Addressing a keen audience, Gupta emphasised the importance of focus and discipline to build steady, long-term Make in India brands. He spoke highly of finding a mentor before starting up. He encouraged prospective entrepreneurs to read books by Al Ries and Jack Trout’, such as ‘Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on It’ and ‘Positioning- The Battle for your mind.’

Speaking candidly on the journey of creating the brand Jumboking, Gupta shared, “My classmates laughed at my take to opt for the entrepreneurship route while they chose professional careers. But initial struggle is the fire through which every entrepreneur has to walk before finding success.”

Gupta’s talk was followed by a question and answer session, with eager young minds wanting to know how to balance between a single -product focus and multi-product focus or the logic behind several lines of business in large conglomerates.