There already exist several business-themed reality shows for like ‘shark tank’ outside India and we ourselves are in a critical need of our own version to boast of.
Quite a lot of us have been impressed with TVF’s ‘Pitchers’. But it’s still fictional at the end of the day. Not every startup just stumbles onto the right path by a push from destiny’s hand.
So how do you ensure that deserving startups ideas get their share of widespread exposure? Through proper media coverage, of course.
The Government is working on exactly those lines with an unlikely planner in the form of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
DIPP wants the show to air on India’s national broadcast channel Doordarshan.
And there are apparently no plans to stop there. If the show turns out to be a success then we might even have a future channel dedicated solely to startups and entrepreneurial ideas.
A senior DIPP official said, “We will hire an agency to scout for startups and investors to feature on the show. Actual funding will be provided to the winner of the show.”
Despite the looming fears that the current craze of startups in India might die out soon, the department still holds the belief that there still exists a wide scope in the entrepreneur-land.
The ‘desi’ version of the startup reality shows is speculated to follow the conventional judging system. The aspiring entrepreneurs will pitch their ideas to the judges which will be followed by intense interrogation and grilling by each judge. (Not another Raghu or Rajeev for god’s sake)
The judges will subsequently decide on whether the business idea is worthy of investment.
The main objective of the startups will be to find solutions to the problems faced by industry and ministries and make an effort to transcend beyond mere technology to a social level.
As well as being a great platform for potential startups, such a show would also go a long way in education the general public on the basic entrepreneurial world.
DIPP is also planning to organize a Grand Challenge competition for innovative startups and entrepreneurs at the national Startup Fest in Hyderabad next month.
The show is sure to increase the already growing number of potential startups and with such wide media coverage, all those latent entrepreneurs who might not have had the means or feasibility to ever dream big finally have a platform which could provide tangibility to all those brilliant ideas which never had the sources to fly.
Whether or not Doordarshan is the best host for such a show is a different question. The time when DD was one of the top channels in India seems like a millennium ago.
I personally do not even know a single person who tunes into Doordarshan. The youth is the easiest to influence and mould. If you broadcast such a show on a channel which barely any of the young minds watch, it is unlikely to soar.
Nonetheless with the show on the brink of launch, the entrepreneurial world might be in for quite a big shakedown if the cards are played right.
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