The Unicorn Story – Business Conclave at XIM Bhubaneswar

‘Everyone can tell you the risk, an entrepreneur can see the reward’

On September 4, 2021, Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar hosted a one-of-a-kind event, “The Unicorn Story – a panel discussion on the emerging start-up landscape”. Eminent business leaders from three of India’s emerging unicorns graced the event with their presence.

Rahul Sharma, Co-Founder of Zetwerk, Vasant Shridhar, Co-Founder and CSO, Of Business, and Pooja Dudani, Director & Head, L&OD, Cars24 made up the prestigious panel for the event. The event was moderated by Prof. Dr. Sanjay Mohapatra of XIM Bhubaneswar. The discussion revolved around the journey of these dynamic leaders in achieving the ‘unicorn’ feat. The speakers shared their experiences about practices that ensure a start-up’s survival in its initial stages and the role and importance of technology in its growth.

Mr. Rahul Sharma started the discussion by sharing his insights on steps a start-up should take to continuously capture the non-existent markets and should understand the problems of its’ customers. It should never reach out to the customer without a solution to their problem. He reiterated that technology plays a major part in the growth of any business, but it is not the end game.

He was followed by Ms. Pooja Dudani, who shared her experience of working at start-ups Cars24. She stated that working for a start-up is a process of learning every single day and emphasized three factors: Culture, Talent, and Purpose, which propelled Cars24 from stealth mode to a unicorn. She not only supports technology but is rather bullish about it since she believes that without technology, it is impossible to attain scalability, sustainability, and agility, which hold utmost importance for the success of any organization.

Mr. Vasant Shridhar then concluded the discussion by stating 3 key parameters which one can approach while building an organization in the right way. The first uses personal insights & experiences in facing & solving the challenges. The second is to have a firm conviction in solving the problem. This is the north star that OfBusiness is focused on. The third is to build an organization with the right team. His opinion on the impact of technology was that businesses have existed before technology, but they wouldn’t be able to exhibit the scale, efficiency, or profitability technology-enabled businesses will.

The event came to a close with an engaging and interactive Q&A session with the audience, followed by insights from the Faculty Moderator Prof. Sanjay.  The students gained valuable inputs from the enriching and engaging discussion.