Here’s a chance for Indian children as young as 11 to learn how to start a company. The US-based Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) is set to launch its first programme in India in August as it looks to groom budding entrepreneurs between the ages of 11 and 18.
The 25-day course, with three-hour classes every Saturday, will be launched in Delhi and Mumbai with 30 students each. YEA seeks to prepare students to launch their own companies.
Mentoring and advising participants will be some of India Inc.’s best minds–Harsh Mariwala of Marico, Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Zia Mody of AZB & Partners, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon, Richard Rekhy of KPMG, Amit Kalyani of Bharat Forge, Amit Chandra of Bain Capital and Noshir Kaka of Mckinsey among others. They will also help with getting some of the ideas get funded.
“It will help in creating entrepreneurial mindset for youngsters,“ said Mariwala. “It will give them an understanding of how businesses operate and what it means to be an entrepreneur.“
Chandra said India is on the cusp of an entrepreneurship wave, making the idea timely.
“Increasingly, the youth want to learn skills and not just assimilate knowledge and more often than not take risks at a much earlier age,“ he said. “This programme is aimed at pro viding them experiential learning early on.“
“The 11-18 year olds of today are super smart, motivated, have access to the world in nanoseconds,” she said. “This programme will get them thinking out of the box and give them an opportunity to interact with speakers and mentors from the corporate world.“ Students will be picked on merit, based on online applications and interviews. The fee for . 60,000.the course is ` Each day’s session will see students generating business ideas, conducting market research, writing business plans and pitching them to a panel of investors for startup funding. By the end of course, students launch their own, real, companies. Most of the ideas will get funded by YEA.
“When you look at the whole effort of getting people to pursue startups and entrepreneurship, there is a hesitancy, a sense of being daunted by the unknown,“ said Mazumdar – Shaw. “If you want entrepreneurship to flourish, people like us, who have been there and done that, have to share stories with young people, be role models and inspire them.“
Entrepreneurship is a very effective way of creating exciting new jobs, she said. “When I started in 1978, I was a job seeker but by being an entrepreneur I have created 8,000 jobs“ Namita Thapar, founder of Incredible Ideas, has partnered with YEA to bring the programme to India.
During the course, students will engage with experts from consulting firms such as McKinsey and KPMG, domain experts in insurance, banking and finance from Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, entrepreneurs and executives from private equity and venture capital firms.
Source: The Economic Times
