Ensemble Valhalla 2023, the annual flagship festival of India’s oldest educational institution, XLRI Jamshedpur, took place over 3 days from the 3rd-5th of November 2023, at the Jamshedpur campus. The event saw a participation of more than 15 business school contingents, with the students competing in business case competitions, sports, and cultural activities. There was a special performance by the renowned band Indian Ocean organized by the college for the participants. One of the major highlights of the festival was the Idea Summit, in which multiple panel discussions organized featuring entrepreneurs who have appeared on Shark Tank, female entrepreneurs who have made a mark for themselves in the corporate world, and popular social media content creators.
The Idea Summit featured an in-person fireside chat with Sumedh Patodia, the Co-Owner & Team Director of Kolkata Thunderbolts, and the director of the Patodia Family Office, moderated by one of the students from the Entrepreneurship Cell of XLRI Jamshedpur. This was the second year in a row that Sumedh was invited to participate in a fireside chat styled discussion during Ensemble Valhalla at XLRI Jamshedpur. Candid and sagacious as ever, Sumedh shed some light on his journey from studying abroad, becoming an investment banker, pursuing his MBA at the prestigious IIM Ahmedabad, and later not joining his high paying management consultant job to become an entrepreneur and carry forward his family legacy.
Sumedh urged the students who flocked in hundreds for the event to focus on relationship building and developing their inner confidence while they are still in the educational realm. He gave the students a quick “Pancha-tantra” 5-principle lesson on how to run a business and aspire to grow exponentially. He drew from his experience of running a sports organization, a D2C apparel brand, a production studio, a financial services entity, and the overarching portfolio of investments made through his family office. Sumedh displayed an astute grasp of domain knowledge across multiple sectors, and left the audience in awe with his humbleness and candor.
On the closing remark of the discussion, upon being asked about his biggest takeaway from his MBA experience, Sumedh won the hearts of all present by naming his now fiancée as his biggest takeaway from the world-renowned IIM Ahmedabad who he met as a batchmate during his MBA.
Kolkata Thunderbolts also organized a business marketing case competition for Prime Volleyball League as part of this festival, which saw a participation of more than 150 teams from across the multiple colleges. The students presented numerous innovative and inventive marketing strategies that the management of Kolkata Thunderbolts has taken under advisement to present to the league’s CEO, Mr. Joy Bhattacharjya, on behalf of the respective students.
