There are other Startup events – right?
There are startup events and more startup events – each of these are designed to serve a particular purpose, and not all of them are same.

Some are meant to demo your product to VCs, some are meant to network with VCs, some are meant to hear successful entrepreneurs and some others are purely designed to educate you about stuff that you’d need in your venture.

The TiE Mumbai Smashup is none of these.

So Why do we need one more?
From our own experiences we know that we learn best from the experiences of our peers i.e. other startups. Startups don’t always need a 30,000 ft overview, they need contemporary experiences from ground-zero.

What do you do when you meet other startup founder? We ask the challenges they are facing and what they are doing about it. Listening to their ideas, their strategies, sharing our own and getting some candid feedback gives more on-the-ground-actionable-inputs than the general gyan that been-there-done-that-founders could provide.

Who is it for?
Smashup is designed for you – startup founders and those who are looking at taking a plunge.

It’s also a good place for those looking to work with startups – professionals or students alike – to checkout the hot startups.

So What is Smashup?
Smashup - For the startups + By the startups : is a place for you to come together on a Saturday with 300+ other startups and just be yourself.

Spend the morning at Smashup Chambers. Talk freely about topics ranging from validating idea and defining an MVP, boot strapping essentials, getting initial customer, getting mentors & advisers etc

Get into the auditorium and pitch your startup. Listen to some awesome startup tales. These aren’t run of the mill stuff – these are some awesome startup tales that you can relate to and learn from. Go up on the stage and sshare your own tales if you so wish.

Get yourself heard, seen by potential partners, founding team members, mentors and investors.

Convinced?
Head to http://www.tiesmashup.org & signup

Get up bright and early on 6-Apr-2013 and come over to IIT-B, Powai, Mumbai

Still not convinced?
go to our facebook events page
http://www.facebook.com/events/596076470420626/
And ask why – wait for past smashers to share their experiences

Off course, you could always pick up the phone and give a call – we’d be happy to help you decide, whether you invest your Saturday with other startups or in a movie theater.

Cheers!!

Later we joined GSF Accelerator Program (in NCR) and pivoted. Things are great so far people and investors are loving the way we evolved. Yesterday we have been covered by TheNextWeb and Techcrunch.

Thank you SmashUp

Ashwani Gaur at #TiESmashup

We had fun at TiE SmashUp last year. We met some amazing folks who have played a key role in helping us reach where we stand today. We’d be taking names because we’re bold, it’s harmless and we like people.

A few memorable incidents-

• Bumping into Sudarshan Narayan (Co-founder, Hatch) at the event. It was startup love at first sight and after a few coffee dates, we got professionally married. Hatch currently invests in and mentors Hammer & Mop, helping us fly higher than ever before.
• Bumping into Sameer ‘Morpheus’ Guglani. This dear man is the first Angel we’ve met at the start of our startup story, when our idea was a little more than a Morpheus Application Form. His first few tips helped us chart a new direction.
• Bumping into none other than Alok ‘Rodinhood’ Kejriwal in the washroom. He recognized me as the ‘Mops’ fellow. “Come and meet me outside after you’re done with your susu..“, he’d said. And we’d briefly discussed how application of appropriate technology in our non-tech business will be crucial to scaling up- something that had not struck me before.
• Bumping into Nibhrant Shah (CEO, Themis). A casual discussion over lunch led to multiple meets after the event and we proudly declare ourselves as buddies. We have exchanged some really good referrals with Nibhrant and it’s really good to know him.
• Bumping into Tabrez (CEO, PreCared) who connected us to our pest control associate that lead to a few really good things related to business.
• Bumping into Abhishek (Founder, Luxury Limo) was really great. We did a small promotional campaign with him which helped us sample cleanups amongst his clientele leading to acquisition of a very happy bunch!

Sushrut Munje

Apart from all the bumps, the short Pitching Sessions threw up some unexpected awesomeness. Our venture was pretty young then and quick opinions of established investors and entrepreneurs helped us gain a holistic perspective. From planning recruitment to positioning, we realized we had to think things through again.

The Panel Discussion was hilarious and valuable. The wisdom of the Internet condensed into 4 entities speaking on stage was something young startup folks like us could lap up. We look forward to the lapping and clapping again.

SmashUp clearly told us that entrepreneurs are not alone
but they need to help themselves first.

It was Smashup 1.0 where I met Prasad Bhide. He had an idea and I had methods. The days that followed we worked together. Today Aaji Care-at-Home Services LLP is a well-known name in Powai Area. Check our story on www.desiretofly.in/training & www.aajicare.in

Puneet Srivastava at #TiESmashup

Prasad’s Story:

They say Well begun is half done. A good start in anything is very important for the successful completion of the same. If we begin badly, we may face unnecessary complications in the middle of the work. We may even have to undo till then. This causes an unnecessary waste of time and energy, besides discouraging us.
I think I was able to kick start well because I met somebody during last Smashup in 2012 at IIT Mumbai. He is mentor, friend and start-up soldier who helped me shape my social venture. Last Smash-up event gave me lot of insight about entrepreneurship but more importantly it gave me Start-up Soldier called Puneet Srivastava. I met Puneet in smash-up networking event and I called him later to see how we can work together and was able to connect with him quickly. He is somebody who can get his hand dirty with you. He worked with me on every small & big decision during my initial start-up phase to take my organization where we can start driving without his mentoring. My company name is Aaji Care-at-Home Services and officially I kick started on 15th August 2012. My company vision is “To provide world class non-medical Care services to families with patient, seniors, disabled or kids through trained care assistants. We currently have 20 people strength and hoping to take it to 50 by end of our first year.

We’re giving away 10 free tickets of Smashup 3.0 until 15 March 2013

Here’s a contest especially for our loyal smashers, who have attended a previous edition of Smashup.

Tell us about the impact of your last visit at Smashup . Your smashup story could be anything that could inspire, educate or simply be a good read (over lunch) for other startups.

• Someone you met and created magic with later
• A lesson learnt and remembered
• Something you ate and still cherish
• New friends/foes made

Post your Smashup story  on facebook/blog and share the link latest by 23:59 Hrs on 15 March, 2013 and win a free ticket to Smashup 3.0

Key judging factors:

1. Passion
   Your entry will be judged on the basis of the spirit and emotion that comes out of the story. There needs to be some passion within.
2. Popularity
   Feel free to post your entry on your blog / as a facebook note / facebook status and share the link as your entry in the form below. If your entry resonates with others on social networks- we’ll come to know of its popularity.
3. Prose
   Since we’re talking about story telling, its very important that you structure your story well. Not that entrepreneurs are expected to be Ayn Rand but then we’re all meant to be story tellers.

What if I don’t win and miss the early bird pricing as well?

Well, we’ve got a perfect solution for you- its called rebate! If you win a free ticket and have already bought one, we’ll refund the amount. However, make sure that you make the best use of the early bird deadline as there are a bunch of other  ’money-cant-buy’  goodies attached to the first date (find out what)

Here’s the form

Click here if you can’t view the form below.