 |
|
 |
Everything you need to know about TATA NEN Hottest Startups is here.
Still have a query? Please email us at info[at]hotteststartups.in |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1. |
|
What is the TATA NEN Hottest Startups? |
| |
It is India's first ever people's choice awards for startups. TATA NEN Hottest Startups will identify, showcase and support the highest-potential young companies in India. The open voting process, combined with expert review, provides a chance for everyone to help choose the winners.
The Awards are brought to you by TATA & NEN.
Major partners are Helion Ventures, Seedfund, HT Mint (Official Print Media Partner), and Wadhwani Foundation; Special Partners include TATA Consultancy Services and The Gateway Hotel, and 25 Knowledge & Associate Partners representing the entire entrepreneurial community, and beyond, have joined to make the Awards a success. > About Hottest Startups |
| 2. |
|
How does the Awards competition work? |
| |
People are invited to nominate hot startups. Each nomination will be reviewed and rated by two expert judges. The number of public votes and experts' ratings together determines the 30 shortlisted startups. The 30 shortlisted startups then campaign for votes in the final round. Ultimately, the five companies from the shortlist with the most final-round votes become the 5 TATA NEN Hottest Startups 2008 Winners. > Competition structure |
|
|
|
|
| Nominations and Nominated Startups |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 4. |
|
Where is the information posted on my startup? |
| |
Each nominated startup gets a full profile page on the Hottest Startups site. The page has complete information on the nominee including entrepreneur's details, business basics, how the business makes money, figures on turnover, profits, employees, customers and why the startup is considered a hot young company. All this information informs the public voting process! > View & vote for startups |
| 5. |
|
What benefits do Winners get? |
| |
The Awards are designed to boost significantly the growth of the short-listed companies, and even more so that of the 5 Winners by providing publicity, business development support and access to funding. The support will be provided by IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, Microsoft, TATA Consultancy Services, TATA Group and NEN. Subject to fit, winners will get introduced to angels or VCs; and/or connected to industry experts; and get access to specially designed business training, mentoring, educational programs and incubation support.
> Benefits for winners |
| 6. |
|
How do the winning startups get chosen? |
| |
There are two phases to the competition. In phase one, the 30 companies that are ranked highest, based on both the highest number of public votes and highest expert rating at midnight India time on November 5, 2008, are "shortlisted" and move into the next phase of competition.
In phase two, the ultimate winning companies are the 5 startups with most votes at midnight India time on December 22, 2008. > How winners are chosen |
| 7. |
|
How are the Phase 1 rankings determined? |
| |
- Each Nominee receives an "Expert-based ranking" ranked based on their Expert rating alone. So for example, Company XYZ might have received an Expert Rating of 9, putting them in #2 spot for Expert ratings.
- Each Nominee also receives a ranking based on the number of votes. E.g. Company XYZ might have received 100 votes, placing them #4 in terms of number of votes received.
- To get the overall ranking, we weight the Experts and Voting equally: the Overall ranking equals the average of the two separate rankings. E.g. Company XYZ's overall ranking is the average of #2 (from Experts) and #4 (from Votes) = (2+4)/2 = 3. Company's ranking therefore is #3.
|
| 8. |
|
What if there's a tie in Rankings? |
| |
If there is a tie in the overall rankings between two or more Nominees, the Nominee with the higher Expert Rating will be ranked ahead of the other Nominee. If the two Nominees have the same Expert Rating, the Nominee with the larger number of votes will be ranked higher. If the two Nominees are exactly tied in both number of votes and Expert rating, they will be tied in their Overall Ranking.
> View all ranking |
| 9. |
|
How can I get more votes for my startup? |
| |
You can get your friends, family, customers, employees and investors to vote for you anytime! On your public profile page, which you can find via the view & vote section, you can email 5 friends & family at a time directly through the site.
You can also download the Nominee Marketing Kit. This kit contains a Hottest Logo, a draft press release you can adapt for your company, and an email template that you can send out to your database, requesting that people vote for you. > Search for your startup |
|
|
|
|
| 10. |
|
Who can nominate a startup? |
| |
Anyone can nominate a startup. Download the nomination form in excel or pdf and get started. To check if the startup has already been nominated or not, write to info@hotteststartups.in or check the all nominees page. > Nominate online |
| 12. |
|
Who actually fills in the answers to the questions on the Nomination Form? |
| |
The Nomination form should be in the words of the entrepreneur. Therefore, either the entrepreneur can fill in the form or the Nominator can interview the entrepreneur to extract the desired information, and then fill in the form using the responses from the entrepreneur.
Nominators should not paraphrase or summarize the entrepreneur's responses, or create answers of their own, to the questions in the Nomination form. > Download Nominator's Kit |
|
|
|
|
| 13. |
|
What does "Vote here for this startup" mean? |
| |
This is the action to cast your vote online. You must register/login to the Hottest Startups website in order to vote online for startups. Registration is free. You can also see a tally of all the startups you've voted on, the ones still to vote and your nominated startups. > Register/ login now |
| 14. |
|
How do I vote? |
| |
To vote online for a startup, visit the startup's profile page, and click  in the Vote here for this startup section.
If you prefer to vote by SMS, please note the process below:
Phase II SMS Voting Process
Example:
If a voter named Ajay Kumar wants to vote for "ABC Company", which has the company code 18, then he must send the following message to 56767:
HSU 18 Ajay Kumar ABC Company TataNENHottestStartups
So in general that means the voter types:
HSU<space>[company code]<space>[voter first name]<space>[voter last name]<space>[name of company]<space>TataNENHottestStartups
Remember, the message must be sent to 56767.
Notes:
- Minor spelling errors will not automatically disqualify the SMS vote.
- SMS votes that include all the information listed above shall still be subject to audit.
- SMS votes that do not include all the information listed above shall not be considered genuine.
|
|
|
|
|
| Experts' Reviews and Ratings |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 16. |
|
What is an Expert Rating? |
| |
Each Nomination is reviewed by two Experts - one an industry expert, the other a generalist. The Experts review the startup and the reviews are posted with the Nomination, and they also each proving a numerical rating for the companies. The scale is 1 - 10, where 10 is the best.
The overall Expert Rating for a Nominee will be the average of the scores given by two Experts.
> Expert guidelines for rating |
| 17. |
|
What if the Experts disagree? |
| |
If the difference in Expert Ratings provided by the two Experts is five points or more, NEN will have a third Expert review the startup. The Overall Rating in this case would be the average of the three ratings. |
| 19. |
|
Who are the Experts? |
| |
Experts Panel comprises seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals with deep industry knowledge. Over 170+ judges are contributing their time, effort and expertise for the TATA NEN Hottest Startups program.
The Experts' names will not be mentioned along with their reviews that are posted online. However, the Experts will be recognized in the Experts Panel with their photograph and a brief profile.
> View Expert Panel |
| 20. |
|
Does NEN change the Expert Review or Rating? |
| |
NEN does not change the content or the rating provided by an Expert. However, if upon receiving the review, NEN determines that the Expert comments are not in the spirit of TATA NEN Hottest Startups, either by not being thorough or thoughtful, NEN reserves the right to turn to a third Expert for review and rating and discard the review of the initial Expert. |
| 21. |
|
Can a Nominee appeal to change its Expert Rating? |
| |
Ratings, once assigned, are not open to negotiation. However, if during the Expert Review process, the Expert needs additional information to form his or her Rating, NEN will forward the Expert's questions to the Nominee, and then forward the Nominee's responses to the Expert. |
|
|
|
|
| 22. |
|
Who are the Partners for this program? |
| |
NEN and TATA have come together to lead this first-of-its-kind effort to showcase and support young high potential startups in India.
Major Partners include Seedfund, Helion Ventures and HT Mint.
Microsoft, IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Bangalore will provide support as Knowledge Partners.
In addition, all the entrepreneurial communities of India have come on board as well. Media Partners include Business Gyan, Cool Avenues, DARE, MBA Universe, Pagalguy, SmartTechie.
Associate Partners are India Interacts, Indian Angel Network, Indian Student Businesses, Kickstart, Mumbai Angels, Open Coffee Club Bangalore, Open Coffee Club Chennai, Proto, Startups.in, TiE, WATBlog, Webyantra, and VentureWoods. > Details on partners |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
