lifeislikeabucket: Power of Youth

I first came into contact with the Power of Youth team while I was in Edinburgh in June for TED Global. A turbaned man of Indian decent came out of the Scottish mist with two glasses and proceeded to teach me the intricacies of consuming and appreciating single malt whiskey. Turns out his name was Gurjit and we hit it off immediately. He was a serial entrepreneur involved in a number of ventures all over the world and told me he was scouting for an entrepreneurs gathering called Power of Youth. It was started by a couple of friends of his and the next event was in October in New Delhi India. We met the following day for a more sober recount of our discussions and I signed up thinking it would be a great thing to do on the way home from my European sojourn.

As it turns out I came home early for the NZ Tourism Awards so had to double back to get to Delhi. I was familiar with the 9-hour flight to Bangkok but the trip to India was further again and after a short transit in Melbourne I landed on the outskirts of Delhi. Was slightly nervous given it was my first time on the subcontinent. My driver Devandra was there to greet me though, and take me to meet the other delegates at a local restaurant to enjoy the first of some piping hot vegetarian curries.

Power of Youth was started by a couple of young English upstarts Adam Purvis and Alex Tounge-Young. Initially a youth gathering leveraging off a link between the European Commission and the Chinese Government, the POY summit takes places annually at different locations around the globe, with focus on the 'BRICS' (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) collection of developing economies. Having already held events in Beijing and Cape Town, along with an additional Scottish installment, the vast empire of India was on the agenda for 2013. The goals were to help values-led entrepreneurs succeed, to network, have fun and also to harness collective abilities to achieve some legacy from the summit.

My initial day I spent a day having a look around Delhi with Gurjit, trying to shake the jet lag. He showed us around a community Sheik temple where free lunches were offered to the poor and needy. We also visited a Hindu temple was interesting contrast, there are hundreds of numerous religions, languages and in this spares, diverse country, often changing village to village. We enjoyed some spicy vegetarian curry and did some shopping. I couldn't help but get a fresh squeezed OJ from a street vendor but stayed well clear of any food that was cooked locally. We made our way to the yoga retreat we were staying at - Zorba the Buddah - which was a slice of tranquil paradise nestled in the Delhi jungle.

The conference began with some icebreaker games games to get to know other delegates. I had probably come from furthest afield but there were others from Scotland, South African, Bulgaria and Lithuania. Half the attendees were Indian and had interesting stories and backgrounds, along with being smart and charming. Between them they ran hotels, app development, restaurants, even a jewel trader. One young delegate with a big future Rohin was launching an educational tablet he had been working on for the past 2 years. One Scottish character Andrew had been part of the POY network and ran a design agency in Glasgow. His friend Jen - a summer school programs for American kids. I befriended a Dutchy - Roger who had set up his own boutique online servicing website servicing from his base in Amsterdam, while Tom from Cheltenham ran a social media marketing company. Everyone was friendly, driven, ambitious and engaged for a big week of personal development, networking and a few casual beers as well.

I enjoyed a session learning about India as a potential market for entrepreneurs to invest in. We learnt about how India is the third largest economy in the world and by next year will have the largest population of English speakers in the world. When 400 million people speak your language it becomes theirs'! Two growing markets of note include the rural market and the youth market. The average population age is 25 (ten years younger that the US) and they are hungry for western-led products from smart phones to music festivals. Although a lively democracy with a free and lively media, there are a number of challenges to working in India however. Poor governance, creaky infrastructure and corruption all require some careful consideration when entering this exciting and dynamic market place. We discussed the emerging sectors in health care, telecommunications and entertainment. The opportunities really lie in the ' base of the pyramid' - providing products with lower margins to a large market. For example the Tata Car – the countries biggest selling car which retails for around USD$2000. Or the Micromax mobile phone which competes with Apple and Samsung and only needs to be charged once every 30 days.

After a couple of days bonding and bouncing ideas in the retreat, Thursday was off site to a central park complete with 500 year old temples. Then it was free time in the afternoon so local man-about-town Gautam Ghai took us to the infamous Haus Khas Village, a popular hospitality center in Delhi. We enjoyed Tibetan / Butanese food at Yeti before we watched the golden sun go down over the ruins. The birds flew over head through the dusty heat as the magic of India captivated us all.

One of the goals of the conference was to create a legacy or achievement for the group to leave behind. I joined the Indian focused group and we decided to work on a series of quarterly dinners that could connect the POY network with up-and-coming entrepreneurs. The other group focused on setting up infrastructure and systems for POY that we could all benefit from. In essence a network of like minded people and tools that we could access and tap into during the year.

The last day was free time so my Dutch friend Roger and I did a final day of sight seeing. We visited the Indian Gate and a couple of reknown markets. Couldn’t believe how much hassle I got from the local hustlers. One man followed me for 30 mins before I finally bought some fake Ray Bans just to get him off my back. Was great for books I bought some famous self-help and Indian literature books for one euro each. We enjoyed a couple of bottles of Kingfisher for the tuk tuk ride drive back through the dusty streets to Zorba the Buddha.

Overall it was an inspiring week in Delhi. I decided to pass up the chance to keep exploring the country and headed back to NZ to bookend what has been a memorable year. After a busy sabbatical I have had enough travel and have work to attend to, plans to make and goals to achieve. I left inspired and comfortable with my role as an entrepreneur. A great network of business peers to keep in touch with to bounce ideas within our creative and dynamic business lives. And a number of new friends to keep in touch with a visit from Kashmir to Bangalor. I'm planning my next trip already...

Namaste.