The India Conference at Harvard held on February 17^th and 18^th at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School was a smashing success. The theme of the conference was ‘India Rising’. The event was organized by Indian /Indian American students in various schools at Harvard University. The event was attended by over 900 people from all over the country and students from all universities in and around Boston.

The co-chairs of the event were Ananya Chhaochhari, Taniya Bajaj, Ishaan Poddar and Shruti Agrawal. Day 2 of the conference focussed on business, real estate, consumer markets and soft power of Bollywood.

“Every business goes through ups and downs. Investing in family is most important,” said Abhinav Shashank, Co-Founder and CEO, Innovaccer. Besides that, culture is the key for success not just the products. It is necessary to back your engineers for them to be innovative.

“Start with user problem not with technology. What is the problem you are trying to solve?” - Swapnil Jain, Co-Founder and CEO, Observe.ai.

“Efficiency with capital is the key as it controls ownership. Consumers look at Value for Money. India is made up of non-uniform markets with Tier 2 rich (Chandigarh) and Urban Poor (Bangalore) and as such you can’t work with uniform single price point.” said Aanath Narayanan, Founder and CEO, Mensa Brands. Most of the sales still happen at brick and mortar stores but all the branding takes place on-line through community building. Organic sales build trust but once it is broken it is hard to get it back.

One should look at where is the probability of higher success for you rather and chase that market rather than look at the overall pros and cons. – Azhar Iqubal.

Given the reach and power of Bollywood, Karshma Kapoor preferred to call it the Hard Power of Bollywood rather than Soft Power of Bollywood.

Deepa Malik, Padma Shri Khel Ratna Arjuna Awardee, focused on to achieve one needs to step out of their comfort zone and learn to push boundaries. However, be kind to others, help others and be courageous. Look at your Ability Against Disability.

Radhika Gupa, MD and CEO, Edelweiss Mutual Fund, said, “Not to take what is happening in India for granted. Be comfortable with change. Always look at what lies ahead, don’t look at what you are leaving behind. Entrepreneurship is glorified a lot. It is fantastic but it is not for everyone. Just because you do not start a business does not mean you are not creating value, which should be a goal.”

Also, there is a bigger glass ceiling in our hear than in reality. Find sisterhood. The level of aspiration of India is unbelievable. However, education has not kept up with the current needs and we need to do more.