TATA First Dot, powered by NEN A background

TATA First Dot, Powered by NEN is Indias first national platform for student startups. A unique initiative which promotes, mentors and showcases Indias most dynamic and youngest entrepreneurs, TATA First Dot runs by the collaborative efforts of TATA Group and the NEN Trust. Structure of TATA First Dot The program consists of multiple strands. It is a combination of four components workshops, competition and showcase, conference and award ceremony, and subsequent support to winners in terms of a leadership summit, mentoring and ongoing support from the community. The program is open to students whove already started their ventures, and students who have a solid plan, but are yet to start. While the competition is open only to those students whove already started their ventures, students with a plan but are yet to start, can attend only the workshop, and the conference and award ceremony. 1. TATA First Dot Workshops, October 06 November 15, 2012 The TATA First Dot Workshops are designed to help build the knowledge of student entrepreneurs and others who are aspiring to get started soon. The objectives of these workshops include: A better understanding of what investors look for in a successful start-up Understanding the concept of business models that work for both the enterprise as well as the investor Learning how to construct a business plan that will work for them Business plan templates and choosing the right one Guidelines for participating in the TATA First Dot, powered by NEN competition The workshop is not a prerequisite to enter the competition, but designed to be helpful to the students in the long run. 15 workshops across 15 cities, will be organized between October 06 and November 15 and over 400 young students will benefit directly from it. 2. TATA First Dot National Competition and Peoples Choice Competition: The competition to find the Top 5 student ventures runs at the national level, and operates on two levels simultaneously. All student ventures participating in the program will be eligible for the two competition strains. i. TATA First Dot National Competition: A panel of eminent judges will judge the shortlisted ventures in terms of marketing opportunity, business model, distinctive

competence, investment obtained and potential, track record and growth potential to choose the Top 5 ventures. ii. TATA First Dot Peoples Choice Competition: The profiles of all the shortlisted student ventures will be featured on the website and opened to public voting for one month, from November 19th to December 30th. The five entrants with the most number of votes will win the coveted competition. This open access mode of competition provides all the nominated student ventures with the opportunity to get publicity for their companies. Here the entrepreneurs can market their companies to friends, families and customers in order to get the word out. Over a 100,000 people are expected to actively participate in this activity. 3. TATA First Dot National Conference and Award Ceremony, January 20 and 21, Chennai: The TATA First Dot Conference and award ceremony is designed to enable recognition, access to knowledge, mentoring and networking for student entrepreneurs. Additionally, it is designed to inspire and build the knowledge, skills and networks of hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs. Several sessions have been planned over the course of two days. The TATA First Dot National Conference will convey the message to the entrepreneurs about what makes entrepreneurs click and what it takes to build a successful high growth company. The best mentors in the eco-system will mentor the student entrepreneurs. The winners of the competition will be felicitated and awarded at the award ceremony. There will be un-conferences, on-the-spot challenges, and much more to learn and share. More than 650 aspiring students and student entrepreneurs are expected to participate from across the country. 4. Ongoing Mentoring and Support for winning TATA First Dotters Support to the student entrepreneurs does not end with the culmination of the event itself. The 25 TATA First Dotters to emerge out of the program become a member of a privileged group of young entrepreneurs, and will receive with ongoing support for their ventures. Support to them will include: Ongoing mentoring for four months at least one session every month through the NEN-Wadhwani Mentor Platform Work with the assigned mentors and report impact of mentoring