Indian Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam successfully conducted annual flagship business conclave Vriddhi 3.0

Visakhapatnam: Indian Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam successfully conducted day one of its annual flagship business conclave Vriddhi 3.0, an innovative and synergistic platform in virtual mode, on January 29th, 2022. The event witnessed well-known experts from diverse industries across the country discuss the theme, “Entrepreneurship in a Developing Nation – Is Faster Technology Adoption the Way Ahead.”
The event commenced with an inaugural address by Professor Sushil Kumar, Assistant Professor, entrepreneurship and strategy, IIM Vishakhapatnam. It was followed by a thought-provoking panel discussion on the role of technology adoption in the emerging entrepreneur ecosystems.
Mr. Arnav Sharma, alum & President of SAC, IIM Visakhapatnam 2019 batch, moderated the discussion. He led the foundation by deconstructing the topic, to that of emerging entrepreneur ecosystems in developing nations, how technology has played a vital role in pioneering these business models, and the tech adoption by both entrepreneurs and the customers.
The first speaker Mr. Vivek Jawani talked about how the average span of the companies in fortune-500 companies had dropped significantly. He also spoke about the two factors that startups require to succeed, which are resiliency and agility. His view was that ones with the brightest ideas will flourish, but those who understand the consumers’ needs will grow further.
The second speaker was Mr. Kaustubh Fule. He started the discussion with the disruptions in 2014 in the mobile phone market and that in 2016 with Jio helping up with internet penetration & further about the UPI introduction in the same year. He emphasized on how internet penetration has helped create great opportunities for startups to generate value. An interesting note from him was” Do not shy away from outsourcing your key ingredient and focus on short-term gains”.
The third speaker was Mr. Kartik Dhokai. His view was that entrepreneurs are those who solve consumer needs as well as monetize their ideas. He talked about the consumer’s requirement that is shifting daily, and how AI/ML had helped him retain customers at his workplace. He also talked about the entrepreneurial ecosystem that is evolving in our country and gave the example of pashushala.com in this context, to emphasize on how startups are bringing value to the consumers and technological disruption into the particular (agriculture) sector. A key takeaway from him was that product-market fit is not a destination, but a journey where we need to add elements on the way.
The fourth speaker was Mr. Amitabh Chaturvedi. He talked about institutional support in growing the entrepreneurial ecosystem. He talked about the fresh ideas that are coming up, focusing on sustainability. He also shared his views that the manufacturing industry still lag in terms of technological upgradation. He highlighted how tech adoption depends on the ease of adoption & the necessity of adoption.
The first keynote session for the first day of Vriddhi was addressed by hon’ble Union minister of state for finance Dr. Bhagwat Karad. He enlightened us on “Strategies for businesses to thrive in a post-pandemic world”. He gave the mantra of “Reform, Perform, Transform” which the entrepreneurs should imbibe o be successful. In his closing notes, he emphasized the importance of digitalization and motivated the IIMV students to innovate and bring more local products and contribute to Make in India.

The second keynote session for the first day of Vriddhi was addressed by Mr.Pradeep Kashyap, Founder of MART, TEDx Speaker. he guided us through the leanings from his 50 years of experience. Some of them were
1. Don’t think short term
2. The way to find yourself – is to lose yourself in the service of others
3. Humility is the trademark for success
In his speech, he emphasized the importance of the behavior of a leader and talked about MART’s business model to tackle poverty by helping in serving tiny villages. It was interesting to hear about several projects and campaigns with HUL, Colgate, and other big MNCs.
“Pioneers are always ridiculed” as he quotes from his personal experience, gave a lot of encouragement to the students of IIMV, and conveyed the message of never to give up in life.
With such wonderful remarks, we are set to pave our way to the next day of Vriddhi 3.0.