I attended Startup Lunch Delhi 2 today as a candidate, not as a startup. The event is mainly about connecting startups and people who want to work for startups.
In a word, the experience there was simply wow. I met numerous startups and their founders who shared information about what their company is really about and what kind of candidates they were looking for. Following are some of the points I noted:
- 95% if the startups were technology startups, with exceptions being Zice and iDiscovery. Is it because of a bias that only technology companies are aware of this event or is it because there aren’t really many non-tech startups in the first place?
- More than 5 startups talked about changing the world, which of course is good.
- Interacting with so many startups, a candidate can really get spoilt for choice. Any thumb rule on what to do when one gets so many options to choose from?
- One more thing I noticed is that interacting with startups increases the fire in your belly. I really began to think: if they can, why can’t I. Next time, I promise that I will be there as a startup, not as a candidate.
- There is such a thing as free lunch after all!
An idea of an event struck me there. If startups can meet potential candidates in an event, why can’t people find co-founders for their startups in a similar event. In this event, people would exhibit their ideas and find the right people and mentors to kick-start their startup. Avinash expressed his concern that people might not be willing to reveal their ideas at the concept stage. But I think such an event would be a tremendous opportunity to get feedback, find co-founders, mentors and heck (who knows) even customers. How do you find the idea of this event? Any takers? ...
