#ETStartupAwards Quick thread on The Economic Times Startup Awards as many in the industry may want to know the process we follow.. Past jury members, and nominees would be aware, but as the awards get older and bigger, I found the need to put this note out.. 1/n
The process begins approx 4 mnths before the jury meeting. 1st by compiling nominations we get from the ecosystem comprising more than 100 founders, investors,industry groups & key stakeholders.They submit multiple nominations online for all 8 categories, this year it was 9...2/n
Once the ecosystem shortlists are in, which takes upto 15-20 days, we filter this data for duplication etc. After which, companies/ individuals are mailed and asked to submit online, information which will go into the blackbook for the jury...3/n
While most nominees share company data, through an online form, a few of opt out. This data set is later passed on to our knowledge partner @tracxn which filters and ranks these shortlists as per info available & sends it back to ET editorial..4/n
By now it’s 2 months into the process. Now the ET editorial starts sifting through the shortlists & trims the longlist to top 5 nominees. We go back to the companies and seek more info for the jury blackbook. ET team also does its own checks through public filings on ROC etc 5/n
This is when the toughest part starts. Work on the ETSA blackbook. This is a 100-odd page dossier, of all the info shared by companies, @tracxn, and our own research. It takes us about 3 weeks to a month to compile, design this before it’s ready to be shipped to the jury.. 6/n
All the info here is only for the jury’s consumption & isn’t published. This helps us bring to the jury the most authentic info. The black book is sent to Jury members a week before the meeting to help them understand the final shortlists better & prepare for the discussion.. 7/n
All of this culminates into the jury meeting,an absolutely insightful and engaging 2-3 hours of deliberations. two rounds of secret voting, with interested parties recusing from voting.. This year we conducted the meeting virtually on Zoom & voting was through an online poll, 8/n
Hope this helps all of you in understanding our Awards better. And yes, the same rules apply as always.. We do not take self nominations, your peers and rivals should nominate you.. ET is only a facilitator...Congratulations to all the 9 awesome winners, once again 👏🏼🥳 9/n
And thanks to the fabulous @ETtech team & colleagues in ET Brand, who work so hard, behind the scenes, to bring such rigour to this entire process, every year. This is our small contribution to India’s thriving Startup ecosystem 🙏🏽
