This session is designed around entrepreneurial groundwork i.e.  'How to come up with Business Ideas, Evaluate and Validate them' to benefit budding entrepreneurs and early stage startups. It is useful for people considering launching a new venture.

The topic will be covered through frameworks such as Effectuation (way of thinking that serves entrepreneurs in the processes of opportunity identification and new venture creation), 3x3x3 (a perspective), minimum success criteria and Lean Startup (a methodology for developing businesses and products).

Additionally, Darshan will share avenues and communities that can help aspiring entrepreneurs launch and scale up new ventures. 

He will also share a few examples and learnings from his personal experiences in the startup ecosystem.

Discussion Leader: Darshan Doshi

Darshan is passionate about launching and scaling new ventures. He is Director – Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at FLAME University (Pune), Director at JumpShift Development Limited and Advisor at Wadhwani Foundation – National Entrepreneurship Network. Recently, he was the head of programs at Jio-GenNext the startup initiative of Reliance Industries Limited. Previously he led digital services at JumpShift, a New Zealand based leadership development startup where he developed and commercialized an online learning platform Adeption across US, Australia and New Zealand.

Darshan has previously managed and expanded a fertilizer and engineering business across India. He also led strategic projects for a $3bn chemical company at W.R. Grace (Boston) as a part of the Marketing Leadership Program. Darshan graduated from Babson College (Boston) with honors and has been active in the US & Indian startup communities in various roles. As an angel investor, he has made few investments where he actively mentors the startup founders.

Darshan was part of the Babson College incubator program and also worked at MassChallenge, one of the largest startup accelerators in the US. He won the Babson College Next Big Idea competition, pitched his startup to billionaires Mark Cuban & Daymond John at Babson Shark Tank and was part of the Startup Chile accelerator program. Darshan ranked 3^rd in chemical engineering at University of Pune, India and was the co-founder of D’FUSION, an all-India chemical engineering symposium. Darshan is also an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad.

Darshan is an active TiE Charter Member and recently chaired the 2018 TiE Healthcare Summit in Pune, and a member at Pune International Centre. He was the co-chair of The Lean Startup Challenge, a six-week competition in Boston, and President of NetImpact Pune chapter, a global NPO that uses business skills to solve local social problems.