There is good news for founders of Goan Start-ups, professionals, enthusiasts and students looking up to a bright future in the glowing story of Goa, where startup companies are said to have so far raised Rs 1100 Crores. Yet, there are questions in the minds and a way to find for the ultimate scale-up; thus, this new concept of a ‘Founders Club’ is billed as a move to catalyse collaboration and innovation.
The State ecosystem stakeholders; State, Incubators, Co-working Spaces, Academia & Industry Associations unveiled an exciting new initiative, ‘Founders Club’ – a series of monthly events at various venues aimed at synergising the local ecosystem. The inaugural episode of this programme was an enriching experience for over 100 participants in Panaji on Tuesday.
Industry veterans Gautam Raj of MRF, Kirit Maganlal of Magsons, Dr Sangam Kurade, founder of Dr Kurade’s Mushroom, Jack Sukhija of Panjim Inn, Lalit Saraswat of GCCI Start-up Committee, and DS Prashant, CEO of Startup & IT Promotion Cell, Government of Goa; guided the gathering in the first outing of the Founders Club at the GCCI premises.
Divulging the thinking behind the ‘Founders Club’ , DS Prashant explained that the incubators, co-working spaces and established startups among others, highlighted the need for such an approach.
“Their feedback was that, there should be a platform where everybody will come together at a consistent level and talk about the challenges and the problems,” said DS Prashant while emphasising that it’s time now to walk the talk.
“Now we should empower the startups to push themselves, to bring out the challenges on one platform and this can be answered by the stakeholders – which include government, and industry. While the government is the facilitator, (but) industry is the torchbearer for the ecosystem. On one side we have the industry looking for the startups while on the other, the Startups are looking to connect with the industry. This (Founders Club) is the platform to connect,” asserted DS Prashant.
Various founders asked questions related to constant need for innovation and employee retention challenge.
In a fresh perspective on innovation, Kirit Maganlal of Magsons shared his methodology of “outsourcing innovation”. The panelists shared various perspectives on the challenge of employee retention, saying that if the startup provides attractive working conditions, connects with their employees, focuses on multi-tasking capacities, share among them similar ambitions while recruitment; then the chances of the employees leaving the job will be lesser.
In a world where innovation is key, this initiative sets the stage for constructive conversations that can shape the trajectory of Goa’s entrepreneurial landscape.
