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Persistent Systems in general and Anand Deshpande in particular have been a major force in the IT community in Pune. I would like to use this page to collect together the ForPune community's thoughts on what have been the most important contributions of Persistent and Anand Deshpande in helping the software tech community. Please list your thoughts below, one point per answer (so that they can be individually voted upon). |
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Encouragement for returning technologists Almost any senior technology professional who has considered returning to Pune/India in the last 10 years (myself included) has probably ended up meeting Anand, and gotten the "Pune" pitch - as to why they should return. One of the primary fears, that they might not find anything interesting to work on after returning to India, is quickly allayed by Anand as he talks about all the interesting work that could be done while sitting in Persistent. Many of these people don't necessarily join Persistent, but they do end up returning, because the picture Anand paints is better than what they had earlier imagined. |
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It's amazing - Anand and Persistent have touched many lives. He finds time for all! He mentored and supported us in our start-up attempt, with advice that still lives in my mind. He's a great role model. |
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I have a couple of points to add to this impressive list of contributions by Persistent and Anand:
Thanks Anand and Persistent. Without you, Pune would not be the same! Vasu Ramanujam |
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Hi All, I can personally attest to Anand's commitment to promoting intra-preneurship and backing his employees bring new ideas to market. I joined Persistent to help shape some IP we wanted to build in the RFID space and had all support I needed while we ran that program. Been with the company for 7 years now and at every step he has encouraged all of us within the company to be creative and entrepreneurial. Late last year while discussing my ideas with him and other execs in Persistent, I mooted the thought of an Emerging Markets Innovation Lab that is focused on technologies and solutions developed by Persistent or its partners and driving their go-to-markets. This would formalize a lot of the work Anand and Persistentians have been doing in helping the local startup community and provide them with real investment dollars, along with sales and marketing support. 3 months into the dialog, here I am, trying to make this happen. This was possible only due to the progressive mindset harboured by Anand and the Persistent executive management. Vinay Nathan |
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The Dewang Mehta auditorium. This auditorium is easily one of the most sought after places for tech events in the city. it has world class facilities, a perfect center-of-the-city location, and in addition, Persistent is always willing to give the auditorium, for free, to anybody willing to hold a tech event in the city. The number of great events that have happened there is just too long to list out. |
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Thanks to support from persistent I was able to organize first ever PHPCamp. |
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Support for various initiatives to help colleges and fresh grads (e.g. TechStart and Azure Bootcamp in 2009) |
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Supporting and mentoring entrepreneurs and startups (Santosh Dawara / Anjali Gupta - cofounders of Lipikaar.com can add more details here...) |
