From Bill Gates to Sachin Tendulkar, people who have become some of the most iconic figures have achieved because of their strong vision, resilience and courage. In keeping with the same spirit, Droom, India’s pioneering online automobile transactional marketplace has now become the title sponsor for MTV Dropout —the country’s first startup reality show that seeks to find the next big entrepreneur. Sandeep Aggarwal, founder of ShopClues and Droom is a chief mentor to the participants throughout the show, along with the founders of two other Internet startups.

Aggarwal, who is known to be among the most prolific investors and entrepreneurs in the e-commerce and entrepreneurial environment, is often considered a maverick when it comes to taking tough decisions, showing resilience and building scalable businesses. Once a globally top ranked Wall Street Internet analyst out of Silicon Valley, he gave up his job to start his entrepreneurial dreams and create India’s first managed marketplace — ShopClues in 2011.

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MTV Dropout is another such venture which aims to find out India’s next prolific business ideas through the concept of a reality show. Call for entries from applicants across the country has started. The auditions will be held in Mumbai this month to select the final candidates who will then be divided into teams and judged on the parameters of drive, strength of idea, planning and attitude.

“During the show, I would try to provide whatever experiences I have gained into enriching the decisions of the participants to fulfill their dreams. The show has been structured in such a way that it tests all the skills required to emerge as prospective entrepreneurs and business leaders. From food trucks to corporate events, they would need to show their all-round skills, resilience and tenacity apart from continuously working on their individual business ideas,” said Aggarwal.

This will expand the narrow and negative connotation of the word “dropout” to refer to people who have not accepted the pressures of the system but succeeded by pursuing an alternate, non-conventional idea with belief and pride.

This invites entries from prospective entrepreneurs as well as ideas rejected in the VC stage to test their mettle in front of the experienced panel of mentors.

It will consist of a series of episodes and the teams in the final will present to globally-renowned industrialists, investors and iconic economic personalities like Ratan Tata, Anand Mahindra, Raghuram Rajan, Ronnie Screwala, Anil Ambani and Azim Premji. These stalwarts will select the one winning team that has the potential to revolutionise the business exosphere of India and further helm its startup journey to a world of endless possibilities.