From a routine college life to a kickass life of a Student Entrepreneur
In midst of a startup bustle in Bangalore, Silicon Valley of India lies a college called T-John College of Engineering. Just like any other engineering student, my life was occupied with classes, canteens and hanging out with friends in those low waists jeans and stylish bags. I was in my third year of Electronics and Communication Engineering when I deeply felt the need to change the course of my life and career.
My life was boring. I was repeating the same thing everyday. Same set of lectures, homework, exams, peer pressure and a rat race which I was being pulled into. This was in repeat mode like forever. :(
Every year seniors would say this feeling is normal, it happens, it would be better next year, but nothing changed till the day I took the decision to startup.
I had a strong feeling to do something different, something not everyone would give a try. I found it exciting to manage my team and work with them to conduct programs, build websites and small apps. It was then I read about start-ups. Felt it was interesting to start a new journey as an entrepreneur.
The pure motivation that led me to do a startup was the excitement that I could do what I love the most and have the freedom to explore.
But three questions struck me immediately ?
a) How to build a startup in college and with whom?
b) Who will guide me on my ideas?
c) Can I manage this while studying in college?
Luckily, I came across SV.CO (Startup Village Collective) — answer to all my questions in life
Iquickly formed a team with my college friends and set sail to build a healthcare startup. It was called Ayushma, a healthcare assistant. We were on a mission to solve healthcare issues and chose markets like Students, Village where healthcare is not focused much.
This is how a campus startup experience can change your life in college
1) From being lost in thoughts to finding meaning in what I am doing
Today, everything I do is making sense to me. I know why I am coding for, I know why I am building an app, I know why I have to build ppt’s. None of my work goes into closets or drives anymore.
2)My classrooms changed to be the best place to design product.
I used to leave the class right after it was done but now I find peace in sitting with my team and designing the app in a classroom.
There is immense energy in classrooms when you are doing what you love.
3) From just textbooks to reading more on start-ups, design, new products and investments online
Students generally don’t read much online except random trolls and videos of movie actors. I spend more time reading about design, startup founders and philosophy of life. (They give me a dopamine rush just like you get from trolls)
4) Evenings are for mentorship sessions at SV.CO
My evenings are generally spent together with my team watching SV.CO online sessions, completing the assigned targets and updating our progress to key mentors in Startup Village Collective.
5) From doing individual assignments to working in a team in college
It’s the team that made our dream a reality. Everyone is great in a specific field and good in others. We shared our task among ourselves and coordinated together to build the product. If I was not able to do some task, it was taken up by my team. It was a great learning experience for all of us.
Startup Journey has more problems than pleasures. These problems can drain you completely
a) Attendance issues almost led me to suspension. My parents, teachers, friends and family were all pouncing on me like never before. I heard 1000 voices in my dreams. It was scary
b) Testing our app in the market was becoming very difficult and we were losing motivation. Hospitals were not agreeing to try our product.
c) Social Life: When all your friends were hanging around , watching movies my team and me were preparing for our upcoming event at SV.CO. Its tough to maintain focus but that’s how companies are built. With focus, love and care. :)
Patience and focus lead us to good results. It’s time to pitch at Facebook HQ in Silicon Valley, USA.
All the hardwork paid off when we pitched at Facebook HQ in Silicon Valley. I was super nervous but was the most awesome moment ever. Spent time in streets of valley, sitting at coffee shops and coding. Lived life of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur.
When you come back from United States, You are loved more than ever before, ever before. I was all over the media, college banners and facebook posts. Those 1000 voices were now praising me in real :D
The Startup journey is a learning curve; it will teach you everything by making your dreams into a reality. The key skills I picked up in this startup journey were leadership, organization and teamwork
I am in my final year of engineering with a lot of time to spare for my product development. I want to try out more product experiments and build a successful startup.
From college streets to Silicon Valley streets. I wish to see my product in Silicon valley soon, it kind of a dream now.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
