TiE Entrepreneurial Summit kicks off

BANGALORE, INDIA: TiE Entrepreneurial Summit 2008, Asia’s largest summit for entrepreneurs, commenced today.

The first day saw the release of the TiE-KPMG report on the entrepreneurial ecosystem by Pradip Kanakia, national head, markets, KPMG.

Azim H Premji, chairman, Wipro, during the inaugural address, said: "The 1,500 and odd turnout is in itself an indication of the enthusiasm entrepreneurs have and it speaks well for the future of India'. Integrity and unflinching commitment to values is what builds the backbone for a strong business.”

Pradeep Kar, president, TiE Bangalore & Chairman & managing director, Microland, said: "India in 1991 had moved from the Nehruvian philosophy of the state being an entrepreneur to the idea of private entrepreneurship resulting in accelerated industrial growth. Today, entrepreneurs are at the forefront of building a new India. An India that is prosperous, healthy, secure, peaceful and continues with a sustainable growth path.”

“TES 2008 has been enabled through the support of time, money and commitment of India’s best known entrepreneurs and business leaders: Azim Premji, C K Prahalad, Nandan Nilekani, Vijay Mallya, R Gopalakrishnan, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Captain Gopinath amongst several other Indian entrepreneurs who have spontaneously stepped forward to support the summit,” Kar added.

Nandan M Nilekani, co-chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited, said, “TES 2008 is the pre-eminent gathering of entrepreneurs in India. Businessmen in India have gone from being seen as 'dark and evil forces' in the seventies to 'the source of India's confidence' in this decade. India now has the most varied set of entrepreneurs large and small from diverse backgrounds. This entrepreneurial capital has been a critical ingredient in the cocktail of ideas propelling India to a better imagined future.”

TES 2008 brought in 135 speakers across 43 sessions, 13 stellar plenary sessions, 22 high-powered panel discussions and eight “My Story” sessions. The summit was complemented by 400 and odd entrepreneurs getting insight and direction into their plans in 70 hours of exclusive one-on-one and many-to-one mentoring through the gurus of entrepreneurship and exclusive networking opportunities right across the three days.

The two-day summit would host sessions by Dr Carl Schramm, president & CEO,  Kauffman Foundation, Scott Cook, Founder & Chairman of the Executive Committee of Intuit Inc, Dr. R K Pachauri, Director General, TERI, Som Mittal, President NASSCOM, S Gopalakrishnan, CEO & MD, Infosys Technologies Litd, a Plenary Panel Discussion on Microfinance – Empowering the next Million chaired by Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson & Founder, Arghyam, and the CNBC TV 18 Panel Discussion on `Igniting India’ featuring Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson & MD, Biocon India Ltd, Ramesh Ramanathan Co-Founder, Janaagraha, Capt G R Gopinath, CEO, Air Deccan.