Hyderabad, June 2022: TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) Hyderabad Chapter, a local unit of TiE Global along with Embassy of Israel in India organized two events in the city at HICC on Tuesday night. They include Open Mic and Leadership Series.

Mr Tal Catran was the anchor speaker for the signature event of the TiE Hyderabad Open Mic along with the celebrated entrepreneurs. Tal is an Accelerators guru from Israel, a startup ecosystem builder, an international keynote speaker, moderator and a panelist, TEDx speaker, Mentor and Coach of Businesses and CEOs.

Speaking on the occasion he said Israel is the startup nation. The startups there too face the same problems as you. It is tough for them, just like you. They are as smart as you are. They are as educated as you are. And they continue their journey unperturbed.

Startups are problem solvers. Their mantra is to solve problems. Where there is a problem, they offer a solution. They invent things. All they need is someone to believe in them, Tal added.

Innovative products, business models are the important foundations of any promising startup. Steady flow of funds is also a must to turn those ideas into reality. Securing funding is the crucial thing for the progress of startups. But, not all startups need money. It is a common practice to blame the lack of funding for failures of startups. But, most startups don’t necessarily need funds. All they need is more customer insights. Some startups have to meet their initial funding by themselves. It is a myth that startups cannot progress without external funding. There are many who made it big, Tal Catran said. He is a frequent traveler to India. He calls India, his second home. He is well aware of the local startup ecosystem.

Every start up faces tough challenges like these and many, but they make it big by finding ways and means to overcome such challenges, he told 100 plus gathering from the startup community.

Suresh Raju, President TiE Hyderabad gave opening remarks at the Leadership series. We have partnered with Israel’s Startup Nation Central through a memorandum of understanding. We aim to organize three cohorts on Agriculture, Energy and Water in collaboration with them. With this partnership we access each others’ Technology and Mentors for common good, he added.

Tal built 19 plus accelerators in over 9 years. He is a globetrotter. He is a prominent figure in the global innovation ecosystem. He addressed TiE Charter Members and others at the Leadership Series which was followed by the TiE OpnMic event. Tal founded 19 startup accelerators since 2012 in both Israel and abroad. For years he hosted more than 1,000 startups into his startup accelerators.

Drawing a parallel between two countries—Israel and India, while on a fireside chat with Mr. Bhat Dittakavi, Board Director at TiE Hyderabad, Tal said it is not about size. It is about quality. We are a ten million population nation, but, highly quality conscious, right from top to bottom. We have been a fighting nation since we were established in 1948. We are surrounded by many enemies. So we became self-reliant. Though small, we are a strong nation of 8000 plus startups. 4.5% of GDP is pumped into the ecosystem. We are the best at what we do, he told his audience.

Referring to India he said you are the software house of the world. You have been providing quality service. You are known in the world. You are so many, and you must be everywhere. If you have come together, no one is going to stop you. We are so little (in terms of population), but we are everywhere. R&D Mindset of us makes Israel what it is, he said.

Every Municipality and hospital has an innovation manager and an innovation hub. We have given birth to 7 unicorns in one month. On the total tally of unicorns, we are right behind you, he said.

The few celebrated entrepreneurs of Hyderabad spoke at TiE Mice. They include Vamsi Udayagiri, Co-Founder of Hesa Global; Pallav Bajjuri, Founder of IPX; Santhoshi Buddhiraju, Co-founder of co-founded Autocracy Machinery; G. Harinadha Reddy of Medbuzz and Amarnath Sarangula. Founding Director at Cornex Agri Products Private Limited

TiE Hyderabad’s Open Mic is a platform for networking Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship Enablers. Held on the last working day of every month, this is attended by a curated list of 80+ founders along with a few Serial Entrepreneurs. Since its launch, TiE Open Mic – 2019, has conducted 18 Editions, with 380+ Speakers addressed & Networked with 1800+ Founders. At Every Open Mic Edition, selected startups are invited to talk about their venture stories (3-5 mins) along with an Anchor Speaker who shares the Entrepreneurial Journey which inspires & motivates the audience.