IIM Bangalore and NMIMS Mumbai Walk Away With The Trophy Of Reliance T.U.P 7.0

“It was a miracle come true, beating 15,000+ students, 3-4 exhausting rounds and about 2-3 months of constant "mehnat". It was a dream come true.” - This is what the National Winners of The Ultimate Pitch 7.0 have to say. Here is an exclusive interview of the National Winners and Runner-Ups of the competition!

When Reliance Industries Limited came up with the idea of a strategic elevator pitch contest to inculcate a spirit of innovation and competitiveness amongst young B-Schoolers, The Ultimate Pitch was born! The thought behind the challenge was simple - 

Ideas are no one’s monopoly and even the simplest of ideas could spark something huge. 

It is this belief of Reliance that has made students fancy the competition so much! Because who would miss a chance to get mentored and see their ideas turn into reality. Maintaining its rich legacy of six seasons, The Ultimate Pitch 7.0 also catapulted students to think multi-dimensionally and live once in a lifetime experience.

The B-School competition witnessed a whole lot of amazing ideas, but only a few could win juries and audience hearts. 

Team Four Fineapples from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore wore the winning crown, Team Eutopia from SVKM's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) bagged the 1st runner-up title, and Team Panthers from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon walked away with the Popular Choice Award!

“We already had a startup idea in mind”

On bagging the second position, Team Eutopia said, “We were speechless and extremely proud that our idea was appreciated immensely and managed to create an impact.” 

The team added - 

The platform that T.U.P provides for innovators like us is extremely beneficial with a wide reach. This is the most sought-after corporate competition which challenges the entrepreneurial spirit. So we wanted to give it an honest attempt. The inception of our idea was triggered during the beginning of the pandemic that gave birth to the country’s struggle with healthcare infrastructure. Since then we have been working towards building our solution. 

Sharing their pitch idea, the winners of Reliance T.U.P 7.0 said - 

“The most challenging phase was getting a prototype ready”

In an exclusive interview, when asked about the preparation strategy, Team Fineapples said, “We worked on the problem for more than six months. Initially, we were aware of the Mechanical and Technical knowledge, but marrying them and creating a product out of it took some deliberation.”

They continued. “The most challenging phase was getting a prototype ready, making a video from scratch using Adobe Premiere Pro. Another challenging part was talking to farmers, educating them, and getting their feedback.”

Seeing eye to eye with Team Fineapples on the challenge while creating prototypes and reaching to the subject matter experts, Team Eutopia added, “Not being on campus and being able to work with the team had its own challenges. Being able to communicate only as boxes on screens was very tough. However, we overcame it with periodic updates and made sure that it was not just about work. We connected on a personal level and became a lot more comfortable.”

“Our strengths complemented each other”

The secret to winning a competition is choosing the right team!

Here is what the winning teams said about team diversity and complementary strengths -

Team Four Fineapples from IIM Bangalore

Team Four Fineapples come from a diverse background - Umesh is an Electronics Engineer with work experience in the Analytics & Consulting domain. He is the CTO and also interned in a product company. Madhusudan is the CEO of the company, he has previous work experience as a Senior Manager and interned in a consulting company. Latasha is the CA who specializes in Finance. Mansi has a good Finance and Marketing background.

The team quoted, “We worked initially using zoom calls and had given us Job Descriptions and profiles of CXOs to handle the work each one of us needs to do. We were lucky that we were called on campus and hence could sit together and work.”

Team Eutopia from NMIMS Mumbai

Besides hailing from 2 different cities Mumbai and Chennai and endorsing both Vada Pav and Dosa equally, they’re a dynamic duo, driven by their vision and passion of using technology to benefit the society.”

The team said, “We are mutually passionate about solving issues with the use of technology for the greater good of our society. We bonded over this very fact as we both are socially responsible. Individually also our strengths complemented each other and this helped us emerge victoriously.”

When asked about handling disagreements, the teams said -

“There were many instances when we did not agree with each other. But constructive discussions and debates along with effective communication wholeheartedly helped us resolve small conflicts as a team and arrive at a better solution.”

The students said that the periodic communication, workshops held by RIL, and exclusive mentorship provided helped them to a great extent. Even the virtual fair was totally a different experience. Not to forget to mention the jury's expertise and insightful feedback!

All in all, Reliance T.U.P Season 7 won the hearts and minds of students (once again)!

Hearty congratulations to all the position-holders of The Ultimate Pitch Season 7!

More from Unstop (formerly Dare2Compete)blog:

• MBA Placements 2022 Shifted Gears; Top B-Schools Had To Refuse Company Offers (as no one was left to get hired)
• Covid Impact On Offline MBA: Are Colleges Under Pressure To Prove Relevance?
• 20 Popular Behavioral Interview Questions With Answers 2022
• Over 18.7k Seats In IIT, NIT, And IIIT Remained Vacant In Last 2 Years: Why Can't These Institutes Find Eligible Candidates?
• Remembering Rahul Bajaj-The Man Who Transformed Bajaj Auto From ₹7.5 CR to ₹12,000 CR Company!