Insights - Mr Ajit Balakrishnan,
CEO and Founder Rediff.com and Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIM Calcutta
Ajit talked about the life cycle of a start‐up. A discussion on angel investors, venture capitalists and buy‐out funds also followed. Ajit then interacted with students addressing concerns of various students. The discussion drifted on his journey, the way he started up and the conceptualization of Rediff.com
The session was an eye opener right in the beginning of the academic session and has set the tone for a very enthusiastic year.
Media & Entertainment - Mr. Mani Ratnam
9th September 2007 saw critically acclaimed director Mani Ratnam, deliver a guest lecture about opportunities and challenges for people aspiring to make a cut in the entertainment industry. When it comes to the entertainment industry, with over 2 decades of experience in the field and an unrelated educational background (Mr. Ratnam has an MBA degree from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and worked as a management consultant before he decided to follow his ambition of weaving celluloid magic), Mr. Ratnam was a natural choice for talking about the industry, which appears distant and unrealistic as a career option for most B-School students. Given his distinctive filmmaking style and unique ability to speak to B-school students in their language, the talk was a crowd puller and the event witnessed an attendance of close to 150. The talk was a great eye-opener, especially for those aspiring to make a mark in the highly competitive film industry.