Well, Some of you would be surprised that after three months, we finally got the papers signed by IIT Delhi to host the event in their campus. I guess the timing has been eerie that the institution is on their break and though they in principle agreed to host it, we had to wait for it get it done officially.

And hence, It can be announced now that the venue for Proto.in July ’08 would be The Indian Institute of Technology – Delhi.

Special thanks goes to Dr. Anil Wali of FITT who has been our valourous supporter and our voice within the administration to make this happen. The team in Delhi which is on the ground has been phenomenal so far. There is due credit for them in this as well.

The most often asked question is as to what the brief agenda of the event is going to be. Here it goes:

DAY ONE:
Fastrack Sessions.
Theme: Today Most Startups are well versed with the art of how to pitch to a VC, or measure the pulse of the market to understand what the valuation of their company would possibly be to play the game. But perhaps we’ve forgotten something along the way. Building products people want. Pricing them according to measures of need, demand and affordability. And most of how do sell your product to be it customers or enterprises and make money. Call it art, or call it science. We’d like to unveil that myth for good.

Proto.in Alumni Dinner. All the Proto.in Alumni from the first ever Proto.in, to the current one, will be getting together for an invite only dinner. We are really looking forward to this one.

DAY TWO:
Startup Showcase: The highlight of the Proto.in gathering. Shortlisted from a total nominated list of about 100, 15 startups that do have the potential to turn the tides of the game, will be taking the stage for their six minutes of fame, demonstrating to the audience what their vision is, and how it looks, works and solves problems in the real world.

Quiz: Post lunch, the event will take on a more informal unconference tone where we are looking to get the 500+ expected audience to interact with each other, via Quizes, Contests etc.

BoF Discussions: We want to hear from the audience of entrepreneurs what are some of the current problems they face, some of the insights that they have in running a company, and lets learn from each other. We are firm believers that the future is already here, it just exists in bits and pieces – except that we are talking about knowledge and experience being shattered. The point of these discussions is to hopefully bring them together to create a collective conscience. If thats too much, we’ll make it simple. Learn from someone who has been through what you are going through right now.

Dinner: We’d love to accommodate the entire audience, but I am not sure if that is going to be possible. Hence the companies that took the stage, our partners, the investors and prominent guests of the meet will get together for dinner in the evening. For those who represent VC firms, it is highly recommended to stay for it and take the last flight out, or fly out the next day morning. We will also be having a panel where folks from NASSCOM, IAMAI, NEN and some of our partners would debate and discuss what they are working on, and focused on. We strongly believe that its crucial to build an inclusive environment and as part of that absolutely necessary for everyone to understand the visions of these organizations. Apart from all those talks, I know that the team here at Proto.in is looking forward to unwinding with these entrepreneurs, and wind up the day.

So that’s pretty much the gist. We have some fabulous things in mind for the winners of the quiz competition. There will also be a liveblogging contest which will a “desirable” prize attached to it. So if you do have a laptop collecting dust in the corner, you might want to get it up to running and get it healthy. The team is working very hard to ensure that the Wifi stays up and are also making some backup, incase the network congestion goes quite high. In all cases, we should be able to manage.

Even as the shortlist of companies will be made before this weekend is over (If you have Nominated, you will get a mail before tomorrow evening), the sponsors getting finalized, the amazing number of investor firms, corporates and prominent speakers getting lined up, we cant help noticing that this is going to be one helluva meet. Look forward to seeing you all there.

If you haven’t registered yet, I believe we are in the last tens of tickets available online. Register now, at www.proto.in/register We wont be accommodate past the limit by any chance.

Hope to see you all there.

Regards,
Vijay Anand, And the Fabulous Team ever.
Proto.in