During today’s roundtable, we spoke with three entrepreneurs. Before I get into the details of those discussions, let me alert you to an upcoming contest. On November 1st, at iLEAD in Kolkata, India, 10 companies will be selected to pitch their businesses during the Kolkata 1M/1M Pitch-Fest Competition. The six entrepreneurs who present the most promising businesses will each win one-year scholarships to the 1M/1M premium program thanks to local corporate sponsors. You can find more details here, the application deadline is October 20th.
Avaz
Today, we started the entrepreneur presentations with Ajit Narayanan from Chennai, India, pitching Avaz, an learning app for Autism. Ajit started his journey with a device-based solution for the Indian market, which won him many awards. Subsequently, he joined the 1M/1M program, and has morphed towards an app strategy. Today, the app is ready, and the reviews are strong. Ajit stopped by to discuss prioritization of various market opportunities, programs, deal structures, etc., for the US, India and Europe.
Quality Sleep Solutions
Next Ernest Diaz from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, pitched Quality Sleep Solutions, a string of sleep clinics that is already generating significant revenue. Ernest sees various opportunities in growing his business, especially with an e-commerce component that effectively builds on the customer relationships established through his physical clinics.
Ujjeewan Healthcare
Then Manish Saraf from West Bengal, India, pitched Ujjeewan Healthcare, a primary care solution for small towns in India. Manish has a couple of pilot centers in Raniganj and Durgapur, West Bengal. He needs to fully flesh out the operating model as well as the business model of those pilot centers. This would help determine his options for scaling, financing, etc.
You can listen to the recording of today’s roundtable here.
As always, I would very much like to hear about your business, so let me invite you to come and pitch at one of our free 1M/1M public roundtables. We will be holding future roundtables, most at 8:00 a.m. PDT, on:
-Thursday, October 11, 144th 1M/1M Roundtable, Register Here.
-Thursday, October 18, 145th 1M/1M Roundtable, Register Here.
-Thursday, November 1, Kolkata 1M/1M Pitch-Fest, Register Here.
-Thursday, November 8, 147th 1M/1M Roundtable, Register Here.
-Thursday, November 15, 148th 1M/1M Roundtable, Register Here.
-Thursday, November 29, 149th 1M/1M Roundtable, Register Here.
If you want a deeper relationship with me, you are very welcome to join the 1M/1M premium program. If you have any questions about the program, please, first study the website, especially What to expect from the 1M/1M premium program and the FAQs. If you have additional questions, please email me, and I would be very happy to respond. Please note that I work exclusively with 1M/1M entrepreneurs.
I also invite you to join the 1M/1M mailing list for the ease and convenience of getting updates. This way we can stay in touch, and it will help you to decide if 1M/1M is a program for you.
Sramana Mitra is the founder of the One Million by One Million (1M/1M) initiative, an educational, business development and incubation program that aims to help one million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond. She is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategy consultant, she writes the blog Sramana Mitra On Strategy, and is author of the Entrepreneur Journeys book series and Vision India 2020. From 2008 to 2010, Mitra was a columnist for Forbes. As an entrepreneur CEO, she ran three companies: DAIS, Intarka, and Uuma. Sramana has a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.