Summer Internship Report
Duration:
6 weeks June 21 2010- August 2 2010
for the partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies University of Delhi Session: 2008-2011
Organisation:
Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship
Under the guidance of Mr. Pranay Gupta (Joint CEO, CIIE)
Submitted by
into Idicula 4916/08 BBS III M
Table of content
About the Organization:.......................................................................................................3 Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship................................................3 Some Initiatives taken by CIIE............................................................................................5 CLEANTECH INCUBATION............................................................................................7 HEALTH CARE INCUBATION........................................................................................8 Publication.........................................................................................................................10 Seed Funding.....................................................................................................................11 Incubatees..........................................................................................................................12 Method of Working and Reporting....................................................................................21 Tasks..................................................................................................................................22 #1 – Case Study.............................................................................................................22 The case study in attached below, some information have been not disclosed in order to honor the Confidentiality Agreement................................................................................22 Executive Summary...........................................................................................................22 Trends-...............................................................................................................................23 SERVICES:....................................................................................................................24 Students:.............................................................................................................................24 Organisation:......................................................................................................................24 Participation in building young talent pool....................................................................25 There are numerous organisations/blog that have been facilitating such services-.......26 Business overview:............................................................................................................27 Sales & Distribution:..........................................................................................................27 Marketing Strategies:.........................................................................................................27 Product Specification:........................................................................................................28 Flagship Program and the Brand....................................................................................28 This is the main product of the company.......................................................................28 Mentors Program:..........................................................................................................29 Top 20 students get a corporate mentor.........................................................................29 Company Visit:..............................................................................................................29 Company Visit for 10 students, every 6 months............................................................29 Business Risks...................................................................................................................29 Business Advantages.........................................................................................................30 Summary of financial and operating information..............................................................30 Analysis of present situation..............................................................................................32 Task #2...............................................................................................................................34 iWeekend :-....................................................................................................................34 Task # 3..............................................................................................................................34 Sector Report :-..............................................................................................................34 Task # 4..............................................................................................................................35 Power of Ideas :.............................................................................................................35
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About the Organization:
Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship CIIE is an initiative by IIM Ahmedabad to foster innovationdriven entrepreneurship through incubation, research and dissemination of knowledge. CIIE invests more than capital: it comprehensively helps companies get off the ground through mentorship, access to expertise, professional training, and best practices. Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship was setup at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) with support from Gujarat Government and Department of Science and Technology (Government of India) to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in India. Experience and expertise at IIMA in the areas of management, innovation, technology networks along with entrepreneurship provide the necessary impetus and intellectual basis for this initiative. They comprise of faculty, alumni and students of IIMA, mentors and service providers from the industry spanning a variety of functional areas, sectoral domains and geographies and are passionately committed to helping disruptive innovations and aspiring entrepreneurs succeed commercially. They enable most of what may be required by entrepreneurs through seed-funding, incubation, mentoring, training, knowledge dissemination and best practice research. It’s a young organization which keeps innovating itself inn ways to proliferate the spirit of entrepreneurship across India. The organization is situated in IIM Ahmedabad
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Some Initiatives taken by CIIE
iAccelerator is an incubator of internet & mobile startups in India. They are looking for brilliant individuals and teams who want to make a dent in the universe and do so profitably. iAccelerator is proud to have committed partners across the country in Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Our partners play an instrumental role in selecting startups to co-invest in and providing invaluable mentorship, living and working space for the startups. Along with the partners, They invest up to 5 Lakh in each company we work with. Some of the start-ups incubated by us through the iAccelerator program in the past include Innoz, Beevolve, Hashcube, iBloom, Audech and Redanyway among other.
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CLEANTECH INCUBATION
Renewable Energy Search is an endeavor by CIIE (IIM Ahmedabad) and MNRE (Government of India) to identify, encourage and incubate entrepreneurial ideas aimed at solving the energy crisis through use of new clean energy technology an business models. The 2009 edition of Renewable Energy Search got over recently and promising solutions were identified for incubation. Most of these are very early stage and typically in product development/piloting phase. The start-ups resulting from the RE Search 2009 include Arihant Energy, Aspiration Energy, VisViva, Ecolibrium Energy, EEPLA IndoGerman Energy, Sunairpower and IRTEX. The 2010 edition of Renewable Energy Search shall be launched shortly
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HEALTH CARE INCUBATION
The Piramal Foundation invests in innovative solutions to some of our nation’s most pressing challenges. Through its initiatives, the foundation aims to inspire emerging leaders to actively engage in developing relevant, cost-effective, and replicable solutions to the nation’s developmental challenge. The Piramal Prize is a partnership between Piramal Foundation and Centre for Innovation, Incubation, and Entrepreneurship at IIM Ahmedabad to enable bold entrepreneurial ideas with potential to reduce the burden of disease across India. The award recognizes high-impact models that propose innovative solutions which directly or indirectly address India’s healthcare crisis. Entries may include, but are not limited to, innovations in service delivery, technology applications, health-related products, or mechanisms to address public health necessities such as potable water. The Piramal Prize is awarded in 2 categories: 1. Emerging Ventures Disruptive ventures in existence for less than three years. Entries may be in the start up/ idea/ growth stages, ideally with a prototype/pilot project completed or underway. The prize winner in this category will receive structured funding of INR 10,00,000/-, and additional support including office space, operational support, mentoring, and access to additional financing.
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2. Established Organizations For Enterprises with a proven ability to reduce the burden of disease. Nominees may be not-for-profit or for-profit, but should present measurable impact on healthcare in large scale. The winning organization will receive a cash prize of INR 10,00,000/-
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Publication CIIE carries out extensive academic research in the area of innovation, incubation and entrepreneurship - often published in the form of articles, research working papers and books. We aim at making the best practices available to aspiring entrepreneurs, innovators and policy makers. Stay Hungry Stay Foolish Conceptualized and initiated by CIIE, Stay Hungry Stay Foolish is a snapshot of journeys of 25 IIMA alumni across various batches, who chose the road less travelled. The book succinctly captures the ups and downs faced by an entrepreneur on a day-to-day basis and has been a bestseller - with around 200,000 copies sold and translated into several Indian languages. Rashmi Bansal authored the book. The writing and initial printing cost was borne by Wadhwani Foundation. Eklavya Foundation has been instrumental in publishing and printing of the book.
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Seed Funding CIIE directly manages incubation funds in excess of Rs 10 crores investing in seed-stage start-ups across technology sectors. The following table summarizes the investments made by CIIE so far across its various seed-funds Name Sector Deal Size Portfolio Companies Vmukti, CEON, ANTS, Whirlybird, Aura Biosense, Gridbots, IdeaForge, Hashcube, Innoz, IRTEX, iBloom Visviva, Sunairpower, Aspiration Energy, Arihant, EEPLA iBloom
< Rs TDB Fund Technology 25 lacs TIDE Fund RE Search 09 Fund IT < Rs 25 lacs
< Rs Renewable 25 Energy lacs
< Rs DST Fund Technology 50 lacs MSME Fund SME
< Rs -TBA8 lacs
We have recently set up a SEBI registered Venture Fund and hope to shortly launch incubation funds focussed on the cleantech, telecom and social business sectors.
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Incubatees
Alfa Imaging Alfa Images aims at commercializing a unique technology for Online Quality Control of Motion Picture Film Processing.http://www.alfaimages.com/
ANTS Ceramics ANTS Ceramics is a venture by IIT faculty and graduates to manufacture high-end ceramic components for industrial application.http://www.antsceramics.com
Arihant Energy
Arihant Energy is developing a vertical axis wind technology for low wind-speeds.
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Aspiration Energy Aspiration Energy is a Chennai-based enterprise working towards creating innovative solutions for making solar energy more affordable and accessible.http://www.aspirationenergy.com
Aura Herbal Aura Herbalwear is a manufacturer of green eco-friendly textile and uses a patented technology developed by the companyhttp://www.auraherbalwear.com
Biosense Biosense is a healthcare start-up currently developing a noninvasive device for measurement of haemoglobin levels in human body.http://www.biosense.in
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CEON Solutions CEON is an education ERP software companyhttp://www.ceon.in
Creative Riot Software Creative Riot is a software startup working towards commercializing its energy management software for computer networks.http://www.creativeriot.com
EEPLA EEPLA is developing a unique design of wind turbine aimed at low-wind regime.
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Exotic Technologies Exotic Technologies is a manufacturer of microprocessor controlled medical device for monitoring of intravenous fluid flow (Inflo)
Global Tech Globaltech is an embedded systems development company based out of Ahmedabadhttp://www.thegt.com/
Gridbots Gridbots is an ariticial intelligence start-up which manufactures a suite of educational and industrial robotics products
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http://www.gridbots.com
Hashcube HashCube is a social gaming company. The company makes learning fun by offering games based on logical reasoning and concentration on Facebook, Myspace, Orkut and Friendster.http://www.hashcube.com/
iBloom iBloom is developing the HelloExpert platform to give and take quick advice onlinehttp://www.helloexpert.com/
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ideaForge ideaForge develops and produces Unmanned Aerial Systems and Alternative Energy products that offer unmatched usability in their respective fields due to our user-centric innovationshttp://www.ideaforge.co.in
Indo German Energy Indo German is developing a vertical axis accelerated wind turbine.http://www.indogermanenergy.com/
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Innoz Technologies Innoz is an innovative and exciting company working on rich mobile and web applications with applications like Tranz and SMSgyanhttp://www.innoz.in/
IRTEX IRTEX is an electronic information and reservation system focussed on the the road freight industry.http://www.irtex.in
Mantis Technologies Mantis Technologies is a leading online ticketing company for bus industry.http://www.travelyaari.com
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Pegasus Pegasus is a LED-lighting solution company co-founded by an IIMA alumni.http://www.pegasus-semiconductor.com
Save The Environment STE uses a low cost patented technology for filtration of arsenic and other micro-organisms from underground water and makes it potable.
Sketching Device Being commercialized by Axis Eduservices Private Limited, the device is aimed at facilitating faster learning for kids, especially with visual impairment.
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Sunairpower Sunairpower is developing a wind-turbine generator for telecom applicationshttp://www.sunairpower.co.in
Visviva Visviva is a young renewable energy enterprise trying to solve the biomass supply chain issues in the Indian markethttp://www.visvivaindia.com/
VMukti VMukti is an open-source, cloud-based high definition video conferencing and webcasting solution focussed on serving the educational industryhttp://www.vmukti.com
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Method of Working and Reporting Center for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship, IIM-A selected 20 interns from across India, we were assigned tasks, which were to be completed in the given deadline, some tasks required us to work in teams. Tasks included Case Study analysis, Business plan development etc. We had Mr.Karam Lakshman, the Manager of iAccelerator program who guided us through out the tenure of the program. We had Mr. Pranay the Joint CEO of CIIE who we had to report to on a regular basis.
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Tasks #1 – Case Study We were a group of four people and were asked to do a case study analysis for lets intern.com a company incubated by CIIE. We were to analyze the business Model and suggest changes if required, whether these changes were accepted or not, was upto the company. The case study in attached below, some information have been not disclosed in order to honor the Confidentiality Agreement. Executive Summary letsintern.com is an online platform for providing guidance to students and companies seeking for internships and hiring interns respectively. It is simple, clutter - free website which allows students and companies to register free of cost, browse through and choose interns and internships they like. Currently, there is a beta version running which was launched on March 17, 2010. The company is targeting the 10 million students who graduate every year and lacs of SMBs spread across the country. The business model proposed by the company clearly states the avenues of income. First, being the registration fee per intern which will be charged from the companies when and only if letsintern.com finds them a suitable intern. Secondly, income would be generated through the advertisements to be flashed on the website. The company proposes to take up other initiatives like Mentors program (an initiative where highly experienced people will guide students), Company visit program (where students will visit companies on a biyearly basis to get a industry flavor) and Guest Lecture Sign-Up program (a voluntary paid program with some of the most renowned personalities giving lectures).
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The team is led by Mayank Batheja and Rishabh Gupta, both are Delhi University alumni. Mayank has served as Vice-President of Talent Management, AIESEC-India. He takes care of the human resource aspect of the business. Rishabh is a marketing topper from TAPMI and has worked with big names like Reliance Big Entertainment, INX Network and Network 18 in the past. He handles the Marketing aspect of the business. Apart from the two, the letsintern.com team also has a programmer, who would like to be anonymous as he is working else-where and supports them post office hours. He is not a partner in the firm, but none the less a member of the organization The company has already invested about a lakh, the money came out from their personal funds, the cost incurred includes expenditure on company registration, logo design, website design and posters. Now, within 3 months since the launch, the company has made a breakeven and intends to raise a crore more. The company proposes to raise money through the sale of company stakes and by putting back the earned revenue from the current client base. This will help in achieving objective of technological enhancement, Heavy Marketing expenditure, Building Infrastructure. TrendsThe work stature is huge, despite having established job-site players. India is still waiting for its trendsetter in internships portal market. India has a huge population in colleges, jobs are scarce and practical skills are highly in demand. India is also a very competitive education-job market and hence students are looking for Internships. The Indian education industry has more than 10 million graduates passing out each year with lacs of SMBs spread across India. Such colligates and others have an aspiration of perusing a quality internship around the global (summer and winter breaks precisely). To cater to the need of this mass there are numerous online internship portal and blogs. The organisations involve themselves in generating opportunity of
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internship for the youth and providing the market (Corporate, NGO and Education) with potential youth. These organisations are primary depended on the networking, database (created or obtained) and servicing quality. SERVICES: Students: o Area-wise differentiation between internships o Profile according to the intern requirement o Guest Lecturer’s in the college. o Industry Mentor to intern(s) specific to the specialisation o Career Simulations o Expert’s of field talking about the field. o Middle Management professionals sharing their career path o Meeting with professionals in the given industry o Resume Building and Interview Preparation for candidates/interns Organisation: Designing a comprehensive internship module through our proven 5 step process Process: A proper procedure isfollowed. Firstly, the company submits the job description, then it specifies the pre-selection criteria for the internship, then once the student is accepted as an intern a post placement evaluation is done for future references. The whole drill makes their database way more enriched then others in
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competition. Process Wishes to deliver a good student experience along with great value to the company.) Interns from more than 200 colleges across discipline(s) Participation in building young talent pool Guest Lecturer - A senior management person with more than 5 years of experience in domain to guest lecture once in 3 months Mentor Program - Middle Management professionals volunteer to mentor 2 students for a year. Designing Industry Simulations for students Employer Branding across colleges The organisation focuses on rendering its primary and secondary services to the youth from grade of college students and pass outs. The Indian education market is very different and big, but if we consider aspirations from the top 15 cities of the country. It will result in targeting about 3, 00,000 online for internship. These organisations in process of facilitating internship give key priority to the processes of marketing (virtual or pier-to-pier) and invest heavily on advertisements to encourage the target audience to take these services. Owing to which the channels of social media, print and electronic media have gain quite importance and have greatly helped them to get good business. The market of such service is also growing with a steady pace, as the competition in the market (both in education and trade) has tremendously increased. This has also resulted in increment of such organisation and also the opportunity that is offered. Also with the passage of time the organisation has also diversified into rendering services for varies disciplines. Companies and start-ups have started realizing the value of interns in various ways and hence the time is right. India has started achieving success with job-portals i.e. now the internship companies are also 500 Crs company. The global scenario is huge both Europe and USA have established players
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(www.eurointernships.com and Internships.com). eurointernships.com is a website providing with the links to various internet information service providers. The website is more like a blog with gateways to various other websites. Internships.com is an appealing website dealing in the business from a long time and on a global basis. The company is operating from California. There are numerous organisations/blog that have been facilitating such services1. www.indianinternship.com: indianinternship.com boasts of 3612 unique visitor per day. It not providing a user friendly search engine for the users is the disadvantage it faces. 2. www.hellointern.com: one of the pioneer website that realised the market for providing internship to the students. It is in operation from three years. 3. www.10internship.in: a blog like website, based in Chennai. However it does offer search option to the users. The drawback being the searching is not flexible. 4. www.internsindia.com: internshipindia is similar to most of the websites operating in this industry. The major drawback of this company like many others in the industry is that it is a blog like website and does not offer extensive search opportunities to the users. 5. www.twenty19.com: It works on a similar concept and is one of the major competitors to letsintern.com. Like letsintern.com it is also in nascent stage having completed only two months of its operation.
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Business overview: Internship- A Service: The term internship refers to a stage / phase during which an individual gets the opportunity to experience his / her industry of interest before entering into it full time and opting for it as his / her future career field. Internships are ideal for understanding the way a particular industry functions and what it would be like to work in that scenario. Often, individuals who intern with Companies are able to gain valuable insights into their own personalities and skills. Such an experience puts them in a better situation to decide whether they are suited for a particular role / industry or not. Sales & Distribution: In order to increase the number of students registering on the website the company is trying to make nationwide relations in various colleges and institutes. As an initiative letsintern.com has started selecting “Campus ambassadors” in colleges who acts as a spokesperson. These ambassadors are acknowledged with a certificate for the services they render to the company. The company is in talks for tie tie-ups with more than 70 odd colleges. The company has also successfully placed student interns in various companies like CIIE, IIM – Ahmedabad, UCD (International NGO), Mentormpact (Start up) , Mantra Solutions (marketing firm), Paul Mitchell, Little Talkatives (Start up), Radio One, Trine (Tech Company). Some big names like TNS India (Market research firm) and FCUK (Fashion Brand) are looking for a tie up with letsintern.com Marketing Strategies: Over and above the aggressive sales initiatives undertaken by the company, it also carries out various marketing initiatives: • The company has made its presence on various social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Orkut.
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The company boasts of 1200 likes on its Facebook page in only third month of its operation more than any of its competitors. These 1200 likes are as good as reaching to approximately 60000 people. • The company also sponsors various college events to make the brand known to its target market. • On Public Relation front, letsintern.com has received media coverage from Times of India, Alootechie and Your Story. Product Specification: Flagship Program and the Brand This is the main product of the company • The website has user friendly search option. • Website deals with all sectors and functions. • Opportunities for part time internship post college hours are also available. • Internship Durations Range from 1 month to 1 year.
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Registration is free of cost at www.letsintern.com The company also desires to start other programs:
Guest Lecture Sign-up In this program: • Professionals with over five years of experience deliver guest lectures. • The company would organize 1 Lecture every month. • Guest lecture can be chosen from across sectors/verticals • College can give their preference among 4 Sectors/Verticals • There are at Least 8 unique guest lecturers.
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• Program Cost (Annual Fees) of Rs. 20,000/Mentors Program: Top 20 students get a corporate mentor • The eligibility of the mentor would be a professional with more than 2 years of experience. • Top 20 students of a particular college can be a part of this program. • Mentors would be from chosen sectors/verticals which are relevant to the group of students taking this program. • There would be 1 mentor per 2 students. • The students can interact with the mentor once in two months. • The mentors would suggest names of books to read, websites to follow, small projects, discussion of ideas. • Program Cost (Annual Fees) of Rs. 10,000/Company Visit: Company Visit for 10 students, every 6 months • The company also desires to organize Company Visit every 6 months for 5 to 10 students. • This would help the students to get an industry exposure • The students would be able to gain immense knowledge while interacting with middle management / Dept. heads of various functions. Business Risks • The industry that letsintern.com is operating in has low entry barrier thus making it critical to move fast, build brand and service barriers.
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• The company is relying heavily on companies for revenue. Now in economically hard times, like recession the companies will not be willing to take interns or see database causing whole model to collapse at the very instant. This is what actually happened to the monster.com in recession. • Possibility of being taken over by existing job portals. However this can generate tremendous value and exit route. • Internship being a seasonal market is active only twice a year, once in summers from May to July and the other in winter solely in the month ofDecember. • Indian students are not ready to skip their colleges for internships due to which they have to drop some really good internship. Business Advantages • National & International collaborations for Expansion & Diversification, through MoU’s/Training Program. • Domain names suffixing the word “let’s” are already booked which probably could result in making the brand “Lets” even more accesible ( ‘letsJob’, ‘letsKnow’, ‘letsBSmart’ and so on). Summary of financial and operating information letsintern.com provides students with apt internships and caters the companies by providing them students with suitable profiles. It provides the below listed services: • A platform for students and companies so that: • The students can find the ideal internship in accordance to his/her requirements. • The company can find some of the best minds of the country.
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letsintern.com is keeping no stones unturned to establish tie-ups with various universities and colleges across India. It is also trying to gather more and more companies in its profile to make this business model a success. It also plans to expand its base to 15 cities from the current 6 cities in second year and to 20 cities in the third year of its operation. The company generates revenue by charging companies and NGO’s for the successful internships provided to them. They would charge Rs. 500 for the promotional period from the companies and then Rs. 2500 afterwards. NGO’s would be charged Rs. 250 for the interns provided to them. From the second year the company would earn additional revenue by providing companies an access to the database . The revenue streams proposed by the company include: • Charging the organization which have got interns through letsintern.com • Organizing events and promotions at various colleges • Advertisement on the letsintern.com • Once the internship is provided, the student is asked two more questions :• Would you like to work for an NGO? • Are you interested in the events and promotion sector ? In this way company is maintaining three buckets of database and thus making money by providing interns to NGO’s and Events & Promotion organizations as well In future the company also proposes to generate revenue from: • Mentors Program • Organization Visit Program
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• Guest Lecture Sign-up The major expenses incurred are in marketing, technology improvement and staff salary.
Analysis of present situation Only into three months of its operation, 500+ students have already registered to letsintern.com with 2000 unique visitors per day. letsintern.com can also boast about its 1200 likes on Facebook page as compared to hellointern.com which has only 500 likes in spite of being in market for three years. letsintern.com has successfully placed 25 interns from 15 different colleges in companies or organisations like CIIE, IIM – Ahmedabad, UCD (International NGO), Mentormpact (Start up) , Mantra Solutions (marketing firm), Paul Mitchell, Little Talkatives (Start up), Radio One, Trine (Tech Company). Some big names like TNS India (Market research firm) and FCUK (Fashion Brand) have already tied up with letsintern.com for recruiting interns. The company is in talks with more than 70 colleges to tie up with them.
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Task #2 iWeekend :Here we were asked to come up with a new and innovative idea and build a business model around it. Covering all important aspects of business including SWOT analysis, product value, feasibility, revenue generation, marketing and pricing strategy. My Idea was called Band-It, which was a music promotion site, which helped people interact and gave a platform to young talent, Somewhat similar to myspace. Task # 3 Sector Report :In this task we were asked to study and assess the current scenario of different sectors allotted to us. I worked on the Financial sector of India. I basically analyzed the basic structure of the financial sector and the main factors affecting the framework, the main aim of this exercise was to make us aware of that industry which would help us in the future task.
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Task # 4 Power of Ideas : The Power of Ideas is the intellectual property of The Economic Times, India's leading financial daily. In a unique three-way public-private-academic partnership, The Economic Times has joined hands with the Department of Science and Technology (Govt of India) and the Indian Institute of Ahmedabad's CIIE (Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship) to create a formidable force that can champion the cause of entrepreneurial culture in India. It leverages on the Government's remit to encourage innovation and IIM-A's demonstrated experience in mentoring and incubating start-ups. The Power of Ideas encourages anyone and everyone with an idea to realize his entrepreneurial dream. Ideas will be polished and nurtured with personalized guidance from mentors and then incubated at IIM Ahmedabad, before being presented to the largest gathering of investors, besides some receiving an assured seed funding, courtesy the Department of Science of Technology, Government of India. Here we got around 20 thousand ideas from people, we basically helped in the evaluation process of some of the ideas on certain criteria’s.
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doc_829724421.doc
Duration:
6 weeks June 21 2010- August 2 2010
for the partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies University of Delhi Session: 2008-2011
Organisation:
Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship
Under the guidance of Mr. Pranay Gupta (Joint CEO, CIIE)
Submitted by
into Idicula 4916/08 BBS III MTable of content
About the Organization:.......................................................................................................3 Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship................................................3 Some Initiatives taken by CIIE............................................................................................5 CLEANTECH INCUBATION............................................................................................7 HEALTH CARE INCUBATION........................................................................................8 Publication.........................................................................................................................10 Seed Funding.....................................................................................................................11 Incubatees..........................................................................................................................12 Method of Working and Reporting....................................................................................21 Tasks..................................................................................................................................22 #1 – Case Study.............................................................................................................22 The case study in attached below, some information have been not disclosed in order to honor the Confidentiality Agreement................................................................................22 Executive Summary...........................................................................................................22 Trends-...............................................................................................................................23 SERVICES:....................................................................................................................24 Students:.............................................................................................................................24 Organisation:......................................................................................................................24 Participation in building young talent pool....................................................................25 There are numerous organisations/blog that have been facilitating such services-.......26 Business overview:............................................................................................................27 Sales & Distribution:..........................................................................................................27 Marketing Strategies:.........................................................................................................27 Product Specification:........................................................................................................28 Flagship Program and the Brand....................................................................................28 This is the main product of the company.......................................................................28 Mentors Program:..........................................................................................................29 Top 20 students get a corporate mentor.........................................................................29 Company Visit:..............................................................................................................29 Company Visit for 10 students, every 6 months............................................................29 Business Risks...................................................................................................................29 Business Advantages.........................................................................................................30 Summary of financial and operating information..............................................................30 Analysis of present situation..............................................................................................32 Task #2...............................................................................................................................34 iWeekend :-....................................................................................................................34 Task # 3..............................................................................................................................34 Sector Report :-..............................................................................................................34 Task # 4..............................................................................................................................35 Power of Ideas :.............................................................................................................35
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About the Organization:
Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship CIIE is an initiative by IIM Ahmedabad to foster innovationdriven entrepreneurship through incubation, research and dissemination of knowledge. CIIE invests more than capital: it comprehensively helps companies get off the ground through mentorship, access to expertise, professional training, and best practices. Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship was setup at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) with support from Gujarat Government and Department of Science and Technology (Government of India) to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in India. Experience and expertise at IIMA in the areas of management, innovation, technology networks along with entrepreneurship provide the necessary impetus and intellectual basis for this initiative. They comprise of faculty, alumni and students of IIMA, mentors and service providers from the industry spanning a variety of functional areas, sectoral domains and geographies and are passionately committed to helping disruptive innovations and aspiring entrepreneurs succeed commercially. They enable most of what may be required by entrepreneurs through seed-funding, incubation, mentoring, training, knowledge dissemination and best practice research. It’s a young organization which keeps innovating itself inn ways to proliferate the spirit of entrepreneurship across India. The organization is situated in IIM Ahmedabad
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Some Initiatives taken by CIIE
iAccelerator is an incubator of internet & mobile startups in India. They are looking for brilliant individuals and teams who want to make a dent in the universe and do so profitably. iAccelerator is proud to have committed partners across the country in Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Our partners play an instrumental role in selecting startups to co-invest in and providing invaluable mentorship, living and working space for the startups. Along with the partners, They invest up to 5 Lakh in each company we work with. Some of the start-ups incubated by us through the iAccelerator program in the past include Innoz, Beevolve, Hashcube, iBloom, Audech and Redanyway among other.
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CLEANTECH INCUBATION
Renewable Energy Search is an endeavor by CIIE (IIM Ahmedabad) and MNRE (Government of India) to identify, encourage and incubate entrepreneurial ideas aimed at solving the energy crisis through use of new clean energy technology an business models. The 2009 edition of Renewable Energy Search got over recently and promising solutions were identified for incubation. Most of these are very early stage and typically in product development/piloting phase. The start-ups resulting from the RE Search 2009 include Arihant Energy, Aspiration Energy, VisViva, Ecolibrium Energy, EEPLA IndoGerman Energy, Sunairpower and IRTEX. The 2010 edition of Renewable Energy Search shall be launched shortly
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HEALTH CARE INCUBATION
The Piramal Foundation invests in innovative solutions to some of our nation’s most pressing challenges. Through its initiatives, the foundation aims to inspire emerging leaders to actively engage in developing relevant, cost-effective, and replicable solutions to the nation’s developmental challenge. The Piramal Prize is a partnership between Piramal Foundation and Centre for Innovation, Incubation, and Entrepreneurship at IIM Ahmedabad to enable bold entrepreneurial ideas with potential to reduce the burden of disease across India. The award recognizes high-impact models that propose innovative solutions which directly or indirectly address India’s healthcare crisis. Entries may include, but are not limited to, innovations in service delivery, technology applications, health-related products, or mechanisms to address public health necessities such as potable water. The Piramal Prize is awarded in 2 categories: 1. Emerging Ventures Disruptive ventures in existence for less than three years. Entries may be in the start up/ idea/ growth stages, ideally with a prototype/pilot project completed or underway. The prize winner in this category will receive structured funding of INR 10,00,000/-, and additional support including office space, operational support, mentoring, and access to additional financing.
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2. Established Organizations For Enterprises with a proven ability to reduce the burden of disease. Nominees may be not-for-profit or for-profit, but should present measurable impact on healthcare in large scale. The winning organization will receive a cash prize of INR 10,00,000/-
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Publication CIIE carries out extensive academic research in the area of innovation, incubation and entrepreneurship - often published in the form of articles, research working papers and books. We aim at making the best practices available to aspiring entrepreneurs, innovators and policy makers. Stay Hungry Stay Foolish Conceptualized and initiated by CIIE, Stay Hungry Stay Foolish is a snapshot of journeys of 25 IIMA alumni across various batches, who chose the road less travelled. The book succinctly captures the ups and downs faced by an entrepreneur on a day-to-day basis and has been a bestseller - with around 200,000 copies sold and translated into several Indian languages. Rashmi Bansal authored the book. The writing and initial printing cost was borne by Wadhwani Foundation. Eklavya Foundation has been instrumental in publishing and printing of the book.
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Seed Funding CIIE directly manages incubation funds in excess of Rs 10 crores investing in seed-stage start-ups across technology sectors. The following table summarizes the investments made by CIIE so far across its various seed-funds Name Sector Deal Size Portfolio Companies Vmukti, CEON, ANTS, Whirlybird, Aura Biosense, Gridbots, IdeaForge, Hashcube, Innoz, IRTEX, iBloom Visviva, Sunairpower, Aspiration Energy, Arihant, EEPLA iBloom
< Rs TDB Fund Technology 25 lacs TIDE Fund RE Search 09 Fund IT < Rs 25 lacs
< Rs Renewable 25 Energy lacs
< Rs DST Fund Technology 50 lacs MSME Fund SME
< Rs -TBA8 lacs
We have recently set up a SEBI registered Venture Fund and hope to shortly launch incubation funds focussed on the cleantech, telecom and social business sectors.
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Incubatees
Alfa Imaging Alfa Images aims at commercializing a unique technology for Online Quality Control of Motion Picture Film Processing.http://www.alfaimages.com/
ANTS Ceramics ANTS Ceramics is a venture by IIT faculty and graduates to manufacture high-end ceramic components for industrial application.http://www.antsceramics.com
Arihant Energy
Arihant Energy is developing a vertical axis wind technology for low wind-speeds.
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Aspiration Energy Aspiration Energy is a Chennai-based enterprise working towards creating innovative solutions for making solar energy more affordable and accessible.http://www.aspirationenergy.com
Aura Herbal Aura Herbalwear is a manufacturer of green eco-friendly textile and uses a patented technology developed by the companyhttp://www.auraherbalwear.com
Biosense Biosense is a healthcare start-up currently developing a noninvasive device for measurement of haemoglobin levels in human body.http://www.biosense.in
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CEON Solutions CEON is an education ERP software companyhttp://www.ceon.in
Creative Riot Software Creative Riot is a software startup working towards commercializing its energy management software for computer networks.http://www.creativeriot.com
EEPLA EEPLA is developing a unique design of wind turbine aimed at low-wind regime.
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Exotic Technologies Exotic Technologies is a manufacturer of microprocessor controlled medical device for monitoring of intravenous fluid flow (Inflo)
Global Tech Globaltech is an embedded systems development company based out of Ahmedabadhttp://www.thegt.com/
Gridbots Gridbots is an ariticial intelligence start-up which manufactures a suite of educational and industrial robotics products
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http://www.gridbots.com
Hashcube HashCube is a social gaming company. The company makes learning fun by offering games based on logical reasoning and concentration on Facebook, Myspace, Orkut and Friendster.http://www.hashcube.com/
iBloom iBloom is developing the HelloExpert platform to give and take quick advice onlinehttp://www.helloexpert.com/
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ideaForge ideaForge develops and produces Unmanned Aerial Systems and Alternative Energy products that offer unmatched usability in their respective fields due to our user-centric innovationshttp://www.ideaforge.co.in
Indo German Energy Indo German is developing a vertical axis accelerated wind turbine.http://www.indogermanenergy.com/
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Innoz Technologies Innoz is an innovative and exciting company working on rich mobile and web applications with applications like Tranz and SMSgyanhttp://www.innoz.in/
IRTEX IRTEX is an electronic information and reservation system focussed on the the road freight industry.http://www.irtex.in
Mantis Technologies Mantis Technologies is a leading online ticketing company for bus industry.http://www.travelyaari.com
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Pegasus Pegasus is a LED-lighting solution company co-founded by an IIMA alumni.http://www.pegasus-semiconductor.com
Save The Environment STE uses a low cost patented technology for filtration of arsenic and other micro-organisms from underground water and makes it potable.
Sketching Device Being commercialized by Axis Eduservices Private Limited, the device is aimed at facilitating faster learning for kids, especially with visual impairment.
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Sunairpower Sunairpower is developing a wind-turbine generator for telecom applicationshttp://www.sunairpower.co.in
Visviva Visviva is a young renewable energy enterprise trying to solve the biomass supply chain issues in the Indian markethttp://www.visvivaindia.com/
VMukti VMukti is an open-source, cloud-based high definition video conferencing and webcasting solution focussed on serving the educational industryhttp://www.vmukti.com
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Method of Working and Reporting Center for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship, IIM-A selected 20 interns from across India, we were assigned tasks, which were to be completed in the given deadline, some tasks required us to work in teams. Tasks included Case Study analysis, Business plan development etc. We had Mr.Karam Lakshman, the Manager of iAccelerator program who guided us through out the tenure of the program. We had Mr. Pranay the Joint CEO of CIIE who we had to report to on a regular basis.
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Tasks #1 – Case Study We were a group of four people and were asked to do a case study analysis for lets intern.com a company incubated by CIIE. We were to analyze the business Model and suggest changes if required, whether these changes were accepted or not, was upto the company. The case study in attached below, some information have been not disclosed in order to honor the Confidentiality Agreement. Executive Summary letsintern.com is an online platform for providing guidance to students and companies seeking for internships and hiring interns respectively. It is simple, clutter - free website which allows students and companies to register free of cost, browse through and choose interns and internships they like. Currently, there is a beta version running which was launched on March 17, 2010. The company is targeting the 10 million students who graduate every year and lacs of SMBs spread across the country. The business model proposed by the company clearly states the avenues of income. First, being the registration fee per intern which will be charged from the companies when and only if letsintern.com finds them a suitable intern. Secondly, income would be generated through the advertisements to be flashed on the website. The company proposes to take up other initiatives like Mentors program (an initiative where highly experienced people will guide students), Company visit program (where students will visit companies on a biyearly basis to get a industry flavor) and Guest Lecture Sign-Up program (a voluntary paid program with some of the most renowned personalities giving lectures).
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The team is led by Mayank Batheja and Rishabh Gupta, both are Delhi University alumni. Mayank has served as Vice-President of Talent Management, AIESEC-India. He takes care of the human resource aspect of the business. Rishabh is a marketing topper from TAPMI and has worked with big names like Reliance Big Entertainment, INX Network and Network 18 in the past. He handles the Marketing aspect of the business. Apart from the two, the letsintern.com team also has a programmer, who would like to be anonymous as he is working else-where and supports them post office hours. He is not a partner in the firm, but none the less a member of the organization The company has already invested about a lakh, the money came out from their personal funds, the cost incurred includes expenditure on company registration, logo design, website design and posters. Now, within 3 months since the launch, the company has made a breakeven and intends to raise a crore more. The company proposes to raise money through the sale of company stakes and by putting back the earned revenue from the current client base. This will help in achieving objective of technological enhancement, Heavy Marketing expenditure, Building Infrastructure. TrendsThe work stature is huge, despite having established job-site players. India is still waiting for its trendsetter in internships portal market. India has a huge population in colleges, jobs are scarce and practical skills are highly in demand. India is also a very competitive education-job market and hence students are looking for Internships. The Indian education industry has more than 10 million graduates passing out each year with lacs of SMBs spread across India. Such colligates and others have an aspiration of perusing a quality internship around the global (summer and winter breaks precisely). To cater to the need of this mass there are numerous online internship portal and blogs. The organisations involve themselves in generating opportunity of
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internship for the youth and providing the market (Corporate, NGO and Education) with potential youth. These organisations are primary depended on the networking, database (created or obtained) and servicing quality. SERVICES: Students: o Area-wise differentiation between internships o Profile according to the intern requirement o Guest Lecturer’s in the college. o Industry Mentor to intern(s) specific to the specialisation o Career Simulations o Expert’s of field talking about the field. o Middle Management professionals sharing their career path o Meeting with professionals in the given industry o Resume Building and Interview Preparation for candidates/interns Organisation: Designing a comprehensive internship module through our proven 5 step process Process: A proper procedure isfollowed. Firstly, the company submits the job description, then it specifies the pre-selection criteria for the internship, then once the student is accepted as an intern a post placement evaluation is done for future references. The whole drill makes their database way more enriched then others in
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competition. Process Wishes to deliver a good student experience along with great value to the company.) Interns from more than 200 colleges across discipline(s) Participation in building young talent pool Guest Lecturer - A senior management person with more than 5 years of experience in domain to guest lecture once in 3 months Mentor Program - Middle Management professionals volunteer to mentor 2 students for a year. Designing Industry Simulations for students Employer Branding across colleges The organisation focuses on rendering its primary and secondary services to the youth from grade of college students and pass outs. The Indian education market is very different and big, but if we consider aspirations from the top 15 cities of the country. It will result in targeting about 3, 00,000 online for internship. These organisations in process of facilitating internship give key priority to the processes of marketing (virtual or pier-to-pier) and invest heavily on advertisements to encourage the target audience to take these services. Owing to which the channels of social media, print and electronic media have gain quite importance and have greatly helped them to get good business. The market of such service is also growing with a steady pace, as the competition in the market (both in education and trade) has tremendously increased. This has also resulted in increment of such organisation and also the opportunity that is offered. Also with the passage of time the organisation has also diversified into rendering services for varies disciplines. Companies and start-ups have started realizing the value of interns in various ways and hence the time is right. India has started achieving success with job-portals i.e. now the internship companies are also 500 Crs company. The global scenario is huge both Europe and USA have established players
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(www.eurointernships.com and Internships.com). eurointernships.com is a website providing with the links to various internet information service providers. The website is more like a blog with gateways to various other websites. Internships.com is an appealing website dealing in the business from a long time and on a global basis. The company is operating from California. There are numerous organisations/blog that have been facilitating such services1. www.indianinternship.com: indianinternship.com boasts of 3612 unique visitor per day. It not providing a user friendly search engine for the users is the disadvantage it faces. 2. www.hellointern.com: one of the pioneer website that realised the market for providing internship to the students. It is in operation from three years. 3. www.10internship.in: a blog like website, based in Chennai. However it does offer search option to the users. The drawback being the searching is not flexible. 4. www.internsindia.com: internshipindia is similar to most of the websites operating in this industry. The major drawback of this company like many others in the industry is that it is a blog like website and does not offer extensive search opportunities to the users. 5. www.twenty19.com: It works on a similar concept and is one of the major competitors to letsintern.com. Like letsintern.com it is also in nascent stage having completed only two months of its operation.
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Business overview: Internship- A Service: The term internship refers to a stage / phase during which an individual gets the opportunity to experience his / her industry of interest before entering into it full time and opting for it as his / her future career field. Internships are ideal for understanding the way a particular industry functions and what it would be like to work in that scenario. Often, individuals who intern with Companies are able to gain valuable insights into their own personalities and skills. Such an experience puts them in a better situation to decide whether they are suited for a particular role / industry or not. Sales & Distribution: In order to increase the number of students registering on the website the company is trying to make nationwide relations in various colleges and institutes. As an initiative letsintern.com has started selecting “Campus ambassadors” in colleges who acts as a spokesperson. These ambassadors are acknowledged with a certificate for the services they render to the company. The company is in talks for tie tie-ups with more than 70 odd colleges. The company has also successfully placed student interns in various companies like CIIE, IIM – Ahmedabad, UCD (International NGO), Mentormpact (Start up) , Mantra Solutions (marketing firm), Paul Mitchell, Little Talkatives (Start up), Radio One, Trine (Tech Company). Some big names like TNS India (Market research firm) and FCUK (Fashion Brand) are looking for a tie up with letsintern.com Marketing Strategies: Over and above the aggressive sales initiatives undertaken by the company, it also carries out various marketing initiatives: • The company has made its presence on various social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Orkut.
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The company boasts of 1200 likes on its Facebook page in only third month of its operation more than any of its competitors. These 1200 likes are as good as reaching to approximately 60000 people. • The company also sponsors various college events to make the brand known to its target market. • On Public Relation front, letsintern.com has received media coverage from Times of India, Alootechie and Your Story. Product Specification: Flagship Program and the Brand This is the main product of the company • The website has user friendly search option. • Website deals with all sectors and functions. • Opportunities for part time internship post college hours are also available. • Internship Durations Range from 1 month to 1 year.
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Registration is free of cost at www.letsintern.com The company also desires to start other programs:
Guest Lecture Sign-up In this program: • Professionals with over five years of experience deliver guest lectures. • The company would organize 1 Lecture every month. • Guest lecture can be chosen from across sectors/verticals • College can give their preference among 4 Sectors/Verticals • There are at Least 8 unique guest lecturers.
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• Program Cost (Annual Fees) of Rs. 20,000/Mentors Program: Top 20 students get a corporate mentor • The eligibility of the mentor would be a professional with more than 2 years of experience. • Top 20 students of a particular college can be a part of this program. • Mentors would be from chosen sectors/verticals which are relevant to the group of students taking this program. • There would be 1 mentor per 2 students. • The students can interact with the mentor once in two months. • The mentors would suggest names of books to read, websites to follow, small projects, discussion of ideas. • Program Cost (Annual Fees) of Rs. 10,000/Company Visit: Company Visit for 10 students, every 6 months • The company also desires to organize Company Visit every 6 months for 5 to 10 students. • This would help the students to get an industry exposure • The students would be able to gain immense knowledge while interacting with middle management / Dept. heads of various functions. Business Risks • The industry that letsintern.com is operating in has low entry barrier thus making it critical to move fast, build brand and service barriers.
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• The company is relying heavily on companies for revenue. Now in economically hard times, like recession the companies will not be willing to take interns or see database causing whole model to collapse at the very instant. This is what actually happened to the monster.com in recession. • Possibility of being taken over by existing job portals. However this can generate tremendous value and exit route. • Internship being a seasonal market is active only twice a year, once in summers from May to July and the other in winter solely in the month ofDecember. • Indian students are not ready to skip their colleges for internships due to which they have to drop some really good internship. Business Advantages • National & International collaborations for Expansion & Diversification, through MoU’s/Training Program. • Domain names suffixing the word “let’s” are already booked which probably could result in making the brand “Lets” even more accesible ( ‘letsJob’, ‘letsKnow’, ‘letsBSmart’ and so on). Summary of financial and operating information letsintern.com provides students with apt internships and caters the companies by providing them students with suitable profiles. It provides the below listed services: • A platform for students and companies so that: • The students can find the ideal internship in accordance to his/her requirements. • The company can find some of the best minds of the country.
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letsintern.com is keeping no stones unturned to establish tie-ups with various universities and colleges across India. It is also trying to gather more and more companies in its profile to make this business model a success. It also plans to expand its base to 15 cities from the current 6 cities in second year and to 20 cities in the third year of its operation. The company generates revenue by charging companies and NGO’s for the successful internships provided to them. They would charge Rs. 500 for the promotional period from the companies and then Rs. 2500 afterwards. NGO’s would be charged Rs. 250 for the interns provided to them. From the second year the company would earn additional revenue by providing companies an access to the database . The revenue streams proposed by the company include: • Charging the organization which have got interns through letsintern.com • Organizing events and promotions at various colleges • Advertisement on the letsintern.com • Once the internship is provided, the student is asked two more questions :• Would you like to work for an NGO? • Are you interested in the events and promotion sector ? In this way company is maintaining three buckets of database and thus making money by providing interns to NGO’s and Events & Promotion organizations as well In future the company also proposes to generate revenue from: • Mentors Program • Organization Visit Program
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• Guest Lecture Sign-up The major expenses incurred are in marketing, technology improvement and staff salary.
Analysis of present situation Only into three months of its operation, 500+ students have already registered to letsintern.com with 2000 unique visitors per day. letsintern.com can also boast about its 1200 likes on Facebook page as compared to hellointern.com which has only 500 likes in spite of being in market for three years. letsintern.com has successfully placed 25 interns from 15 different colleges in companies or organisations like CIIE, IIM – Ahmedabad, UCD (International NGO), Mentormpact (Start up) , Mantra Solutions (marketing firm), Paul Mitchell, Little Talkatives (Start up), Radio One, Trine (Tech Company). Some big names like TNS India (Market research firm) and FCUK (Fashion Brand) have already tied up with letsintern.com for recruiting interns. The company is in talks with more than 70 colleges to tie up with them.
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Task #2 iWeekend :Here we were asked to come up with a new and innovative idea and build a business model around it. Covering all important aspects of business including SWOT analysis, product value, feasibility, revenue generation, marketing and pricing strategy. My Idea was called Band-It, which was a music promotion site, which helped people interact and gave a platform to young talent, Somewhat similar to myspace. Task # 3 Sector Report :In this task we were asked to study and assess the current scenario of different sectors allotted to us. I worked on the Financial sector of India. I basically analyzed the basic structure of the financial sector and the main factors affecting the framework, the main aim of this exercise was to make us aware of that industry which would help us in the future task.
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Task # 4 Power of Ideas : The Power of Ideas is the intellectual property of The Economic Times, India's leading financial daily. In a unique three-way public-private-academic partnership, The Economic Times has joined hands with the Department of Science and Technology (Govt of India) and the Indian Institute of Ahmedabad's CIIE (Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship) to create a formidable force that can champion the cause of entrepreneurial culture in India. It leverages on the Government's remit to encourage innovation and IIM-A's demonstrated experience in mentoring and incubating start-ups. The Power of Ideas encourages anyone and everyone with an idea to realize his entrepreneurial dream. Ideas will be polished and nurtured with personalized guidance from mentors and then incubated at IIM Ahmedabad, before being presented to the largest gathering of investors, besides some receiving an assured seed funding, courtesy the Department of Science of Technology, Government of India. Here we got around 20 thousand ideas from people, we basically helped in the evaluation process of some of the ideas on certain criteria’s.
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doc_829724421.doc