My talk at BITS Pilani Goa Campus' ACT Conference yesterday.

1. Hello, BITS.
Sorry for pulling you guys away from DC++.
Will try making it worthwhile.

2. Who am I?
And why I’m gonna take up half an hour of your time.

3. I’m Gokul.
2009B1A2568H. Yes, I’m still a student.
Also, probably the most under-­‐‑qualified speaker here.

4. I founded Likewyss.
Trying to help people find good content.

5. I’m from Neyveli, TN.
Staying in Chennai. Living in airports.

6. I spoke at VIT, recently.
www.bit.ly/VIT-­‐‑Talk-­‐‑Slides

7. ‘lite-­‐‑ra’preneurship (n.);
The art of making it as a BITSian student entrepreneur.

8. Who should listen?
Students. Professors. CEL Core Group folks.

9. Students.
What do you need to build a startup?
And how to exploit BITS for it.

10. Requirement #1.
People.

11. Amazing alumni network.
Phanindra Sama, Rishabh Kaul and Lucky Murari to name a few.

12. Free advice; becer investor access.
Ask for money, you get advice. Ask for advice, you get money.

13. Investor psychology.
More likely to invest in chums their entrepreneurs refer.

14. Co-­‐‑founder dating.
Colleges are the best hubs for finding success-­‐‑hungry people.

15. Requirement #1.1.
Balls.

16. I mean, eye-­‐‑balls.
10,000 students at BITS. Active community online.
High virality coefficient.

17. Requirement #2.
Time.

18. No acendance. Yay.
12 — 14 hours of work per day is nominal in the early stages.

19. Requirement #3.
Space.

20. Library is your first HQ.
And your hostel room, your remote workspace.

21. My typical day at BITS.
8:00 Wake up
8:30 Breakfast
9:00 - 12:00 Working at library
12:00 - 12:30 Lunch
12:30 - 2:00 Academic crap
2:00 - 5:00 Lab, of some sort. Wretched things.
5:00 - 6:00 Break
6:00 - 9:00 Working at library
9:00 - 10:00 Dinner and Walk
10:00 - 1:00 Having fun

22. Professors.
A few words for you to help groom the next Mark Zuckerberg.

23. Let them be.
Encourage them to find their passion and work towards it.

24. Bunking classes is not a crime.
There is good reason behind the zero-­‐‑percent acendance policy.

25. Marks do not reflect capability.
Not everyone wants to be a ten-­‐‑pointer, and there’s life beyond grades.

26. Placements are not the end of the world.
We entrepreneurs prefer the other side of the table, actually.

27. These are super-­‐‑intelligent kids.
They’ll figure out what this whole life thing is about.

28. Knowledge obtained within the walls of a classroom may help them score well in
tut-­‐‑tests but wisdom amassed outside it is what prepares them for the compre
called life.

29. Things you should know.
But that they never tell you.

30. Starting up is a lonely journey.
Find a co-­‐‑founder to share the pains … and gains (if any).

31. Startups are emotional roller-­‐‑coasters.
One day you’re on top of the world, next day your database is hacked.

32. Networking events are a waste of time.
This includes all kinds of Speed Dating events, workshops, what-­‐‑not!

33. Passion is over-­‐‑rated.
Doing what you love involves doing a lot of what you hate, too.

34. So are buzzword products.
Build one more online fashion store. I dare you, I double dare you.

35. It does not happen like in The Social Network.
Or any other Aaron Sorkin movie for that sake.

36. You should know a li#le bit of everything.
Design. Development. Marketing. Finance. Sales. Legalities.

37. But, you’ll always be unsure.
Don’t be afraid. No CEO really knows what to do. Go by your gut.

38. And, an MBA doesn’t help either.
It ‘maybe’ useful to run a big corporation, but definitely not a startup.

39. Nobody is going to steal your idea.
And nobody sure as hell is going to sign an NDA.

40. Don’t be emotionally acached.
If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. Period.

41. Give it your best.
And start today.

42. Thank you, everyone.
It was a pleasure being here. Hope it was Likewyss.

43. Always love to talk.
!
Phone: +91 -­‐‑ 99430 90073
(unless you are a credit card agent)
!
Email: hello@gokul.im
(unless you are a Nigerian prince with a billion dollars)
!
Twicer: @_gokulsridhar
(No ‘Hey! Look what this girl is doing. hcp://stupid.url'ʹ, please)