Thirty ISB students skip placement process

Opt to strike out on their own, see opportunities in travel, education.

As many as 30 students of Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB), seem to be bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and are likely to skip the ongoing placement drive. Most of them are eyeing opportunities in areas like travel, education and use of clean technologies.

“About 20 to 30 students will not sit for placements. They are focused on their own projects,” said Krishna Tanuku, Director of Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at ISB. He said while some might turn to entrepreneurship, others might opt to aid their family businesses.

At least 100 students have submitted business proposals for evaluation and the institute will complete the evaluation in a month. The placement season that began last month will continue till March-end.
 

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
Year	Total  strength	Who participated	Who did not participate	Total  offers
2010	570.00	Process  is on	25 to 30	Placement  process is on
2009	437.00	428.00	9	401
2008	421.00	418.00	3	657
2007	416.00	414.00	2	584
2006	345.00	327.00	18	442

“The number of students wanting to take entrepreneurship is comparable with last year. But, the depth of spadework for the ventures has increased this year,” said Tanuku, adding there were some students, despite being qualified for overseas offers, who stayed out of the placements.

Vipul, an ISB student who skipped the placement drive, is working on a concept to promote weekend travel. As people are increasingly looking at unwinding during weekends, without travelling too far or spending too much, he said his team was working out the details of “good places close by across South”. His venture would tie up with niche properties and tourism and leisure spots, and offer end-users a suite of services, including reservation, cabs, guidance, ticketing and more. He expects his venture to generate revenues through the tie-ups.

“We want to be in most parts of the country in one year,” said Vipul. He claimed that his venture was not capital-or labour intensive but technology-driven. He is now looking for funding.

Another student who opted out of the placement drive, and wants to promote a venture on green building and energy efficiency, is Arun Shenoy. “The market for energy efficiency products and services will increase in the decade to come,” he said. Shenoy added that he had worked with a partner earlier before joining ISB. “We realised that one of us should have the exposure of studying at a B-school. This will help to interact with more students and companies, who could be our clients in the long run, and also to understand their perspectives.”

The venture will offer consulting, contracting and project finance for achieving energy efficiency. He would not look for debt funding from government bodies. He said, “Job or entrepreneurship, there is always a risk...I can always come back to the corporate fold whenever I want to.”