IMI Kolkata conducted the ‘CXO Symposium 3.0’ on the morning of 21st August 2021. The conclave which revolved around the topic “Entrepreneurship and Business Growth: Thriving in Turbulent Times” comprised of our eminent panelists, Mr. Santanu Chattopadhyay, Chief Operating Officer, Roche, Mr. Samir Sabnis, Managing Director, ACOEM India, Mr. Satish Lakkaraju, Chief Commercial Officer, Agility Logistics Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Hitesh Varma, Chief Operating Officer, Morpho Hotels and Resorts India Pvt. Ltd, Ms. Aanchal Saini, Chief Executive Officer, Flyrobe and Mr. Avinash Ratta, CEO and Managing Director, Grainvelocity, and Dr. Sachin Modgil, Chairperson, Alumni Relations, Assistant Professor, IMI Kolkata, who was also the moderator of the discussion.
“Entrepreneurship is a business which creates value for the customer but there is a huge risk taking involved on the entrepreneur’s part. Entrepreneurship is the antecedent of growth.” With this introduction, Dr. Sachin Modgil opened the floor for discussion for the panelists. Mr. Santanu Chattopadhyay from Roche addressed the students on the need for a blended combination of physical and virtual based services for the healthcare and hospital sector post the Covid-19 era. Modern day healthcare entrepreneurs are changing the landscape of how the medical community takes care of our healthcare system. “The journey for entrepreneurship is exciting with risks but also very personally rewarding”, said Mr. Avinash Ratta from Grainvelocity who advised that it is determination and consistent hard work that shall turn the core strengths of students into varied sources of revenue in our lives.
(From left to right): Mr. Samir Sabnis, Managing Director, ACOEM India; Dr. Sachin Modgil, Chairperson, Alumni Relations, Assistant Professor, IMI Kolkata; Mr. Avinash Ratta, CEO and Managing Director, Grainvelocity; Mr. Hitesh Varma, Chief Operating Officer, Morpho Hotels; Mr. Santanu Chattopadhyay, Chief Operating Officer, Roche; Mr. Samir Sabnis, Managing Director, ACOEM India; Ms. Aanchal Saini, Chief Executive Officer, Flyrobe.
Mr. Hitesh Verma from Morpho Hotels showered the students with optimism as he reminded the audience that even though every aspect of hospitality too has moved to a contactless mode, there is still space for customer interaction, staycations, etc. The technology front over the past one year and a half going absolutely virtual has played an important role in the hospitality industry. Mr. Samir Sabnis, Managing Director, ACOEM India said explained how entrepreneurship does not mean everything must be made/innovated from scratch but instead it can also mean modifying/tweaking the current technology to be able to cater to the new market as per their expectations. “Buy basic, rent icons”, is the motto Ms. Aanchal Saini, Chief Executive Officer, Flyrobe swears by. She spoke on the role of technology in fashion. She stated an important fact that, though Flyrobe may seem as a women’s brand but 55 percent of their revenues are from men’s categories. Sustainability and being environmentally conscious are the two main drivers of their business model.
Students in the Symposium
“If it’s my parents today, tomorrow it can be someone else’s parent.” Mr. Satish Lakkaraju, Chief Commercial Officer, Agility Logistics Pvt. Ltd. shared a snippet from his life of how he came into the supply chain and last mile delivery operations being a corporate lawyer by profession. Having lost both his parents due to the lack of a proper storage system for injections, he understood the value of medical equipment and injections being stored at certain temperatures. Therefore, he came up with the innovation of temperature controlled medical boxes which would not only keep the medicines safe but would also provide detailed information on the damaged ones in case there is some delay in transporting them.
Overall, the insightful session enabled the young minds to understand the various innovations and intricacies of different business models giving the budding entrepreneurs some food for thought. The summit was concluded with a vote of thanks offered to all the eminent panelists by Dr. Sachin Modgil.
