BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE

TiE Atlanta, the global, not-for-profit organization created for advancement of entrepreneurship celebrated its 10th year of commencement in the city with style at the fabulous Fox Theatre on the 13th of September. The Key Note Speaker Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Anchor, CNN added color and glamour to this sold out event. 

Dr. Gupta talked about his experience covering the Tsunami, Earthquakes and the war. In the face of devastation, Gupta said he experienced humanity at it glorious best when he turned around once after reporting only to have the locals offer him crackers. Describing himself as a non- entrepreneur, he expressed ardent admiration of entrepreneurs. The combination of being a media and medical person he said was exciting and intoxicating. “It feels like you are always running towards where everyone is running from” he added. He touched upon the fact that more money and attention should be focused on prevention as well as healthcare. “A Sense of Purpose gives will to live” he rightly said. He talked about how much India had changed since the past 20 years. He also talked about being Indian and carrying an Indian name in a powerful and the most visible fields in the world, the media. He refused to change his name and is proud of the fact that he is part of the media not in spite of being Indian, but because he is Indian. A father of two girls, with a third baby on the way, Dr. Gupta said he makes his kids learn one Hindi word a day.

The festivities kicked off earlier, with a melodious renderence of American and Indian National Anthems. In his welcome speech, Nandan Sheth, President 2008 talked about the various accomplishments of TiE in general, and the Atlanta Chapter in particular. He also stated that in a short time of its existence, the Atlanta chapter has become one the largest and most respected business networking forums that is committed to fostering, promoting and advancing entrepreneurship in the local and global community. The goals for 2008 were set to continue to grow the quality, diversity and size of TiE Atlanta’s membership, Attract world-class speakers to share their expertise to assist growth of its members. “With close to 400 members and 35 charter Members (Mentors) our group has over 60 growth companies owned or managed by its members. These companies are collectively valued at over a $1 BL and employ hundreds of Georgia residents” he added.

The vibrant dance performances by the Silent Killers group provided ample entertainment to the entrepreneurs at regular intervals. In his address, TiE global CEO, Suren Dutia said that since its inception in 1992, TiE had come a long way and was no longer limited to just IT field, but had branched into hospitality and health services fields also. TiE is adding a new chapter in Tokyo, Japan he added. 

The delicious moment of the gala arrived with dinner accompanied by more entertainment from the Silent Killers group. Food was followed by an Awards Ceremony in recognition of TiE’s successful entrepreneurs. Sanjay Bhatia founder and CEO of IZENDA Consulting Software Solutions, walked away with the award for Emerging Entrepreneur, Ashish Bahl, Founder and CEO of Harbor Payments received the award for The Most Significant Deal and Vir Nanda, Co-founder IIIrd Millennium, 2005 President of TiE amongst other achievements was honored with the Lifetime Service to Community Award. Internal Awards for their outstanding contribution throughout the year included Ambassador of the Year Award conferred to Kiran Lingam, Executive Team Leadership Award conferred to Ashish Thakur and Executive Team Leadership Award conferred to Kirit Patel.

The gala concluded with an array of desserts and performance from Silent Killers group that had this secret society of entrepreneurs dancing away the night to famous bollywood tunes. 

IndUS Entrepreneurs or TiE brings talent, ideas, enterprising individuals together to foster entrepreneurship and provides a networking platform for its members. TiE promotes a unique mentoring program to meet the need for unbiased guidance and counsel through its charter members to its members. TiE is currently spread over 49 chapters in 11 countries with over 12,000 members and more than 1,800 charter members.