l to r: Mr Dangayach, Prof Basant, Rashmi Bansal, Shanker Maruwada, Sunil Handa

Stay Hungry Stay Foolish was first released on June 29, 2008 at the first ever IIMA Entrepreneur’s Conference. However the initial run of 1000 copies was for private circulation only.

The amazing response to the book prompted its commercial release in late August. And the first public event around Stay Hungry was at Crossword in Ahmedabad (Mithakali) on Sept 20 2008.
Apart from me and Prof Rakesh Basant, three of the entrepreneurs in the book (Mr Dangayach, Shanker Maruwada and Sunil Handa) were present. In IIM lingo students might jokingly refer to them as ‘exhibits’. The entrepreneurs shared their experiences and insights as well as tackled questions from the audience.

coverage in Ahmedabad Mirror, Sep 21, 2008

One young man brought up an oft-asked question:”Why have you featured only IIM Ahmedabad graduates?” After all, he said, they would probably be successful anyways… To which Prof Basant replied:”These grads were successful as entrepreneurs not because of the IIM degree but DESPITE it.” After all, there is a huge opportunity cost which prevents most IIM grads from taking risks. And the institute may have some courses in entrepreneurship but you are hardly prepared to handle the nitty gritties that come with running one’s own business!

The event was covered by Ahmedabad Mirror (above )as well as DNA. All in all, a very good interaction – thanks to Gaurav Shah and his team at Crossword for all their support!

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