MAAD successfully hosted the 3rd Edition of the Mayo Alumni Business Summit bringing together alumni from various industries for a day of learning, networking and collaboration. The Summit saw a stellar lineup of speakers mostly Mayo Alumni who shared insights which were well received by the audience which had over 200 alumni attendees straddling across batches.

From L-R: Anirudha Taparia, Pooja Kothari, Vikas Khemani, Devinjit Singh, Gagan Randev, Naveen Gogia, Pankaj Karna

The Summit saw the Mayo College Alumni Association of Delhi President-Harmeet Singh, Mayo Old Boys Association President-Col. Bhawani Singh and Mayo Old Girls Association President-Pooja Kothari, welcoming the delegates. Paran Thakur a well-known Voice Over Artist compered the event.

The recently appointed Principal of Mayo College-Saurav Sinha graced the occasion and addressed the gathering with his initial impressions of Mayo.

The summit featured a fireside chat with Kapil Chopra (Founder, Postcard Hotels and Easy Diner) followed by two sessions on 1. New Age Hospitality and 2. Investing in Volatile Markets.

During the fireside chat, Kapil Chopra, in conversation with Vikramjit Singh (Founder-Alivaa Hotels) shared valuable insights in journey from a successful hotelier as CEO of Oberoi Hotels to becoming an entrepreneur and establishing Postcard Hotels and Easy Diner. He highlighted the genesis of Easy Diner as an overseas experience of reserving restaurants online. His philosophy on Postcard was to establish the best hotel in every state they enter, and which has played out in terms of hotel ratings. He emphasised the need to enjoy what you do and then it goes beyond work.

The New Age Hospitality, a panel of hospitality professionals moderated by Mr Vikramjit Singh, comprising Kapil Chopra, Vir Sanghvi (Well-known Journalist and Co-founder Easy Diner) Vilas Pawar (CEO-Managed Hotels and Franchising-Lemon Tree Hotels) & Ritwik Khare (Founder Elivaas) discussed the changing landscape of hospitality. The speakers discussed the different hospitality models that exist today from second-home operators to small luxury hotels. Ritwik mentioned that as disposable income has grown in India people are aggressively buying 2nd and 3rd homes and ELIVAAS is taking the headache of maintaining and monetising these investments. Kapil spoke about how Postcard Hotels has re-written the rules of luxury stay in this country. Vilas spoke about the concept of franchising in India and how it’s yet to take off in this part of the world. Vir spoke about the new age food concepts and how free-standing restaurants have stolen the thunder from luxury hotels.

From L-R: Vikramjit Singh, Kirit Javali, Ritwik Khare, Kapil Chopra, Vir Sanghvi, Col Bhawani Singh,Vilas Pawar

Mr Pankaj Karna-MD-Maple Capital Advisors and Treasurer MAAD introduced the session on Investing in Volatile markets which he highlighted was a timely and well sought out theme through an alumni survey. He highlighted the last 2 summits had early-stage investing, and growth investments and the themes have reflected changing market conditions over the last few years. This year’s panel represents fund managers managing over 125 billion dollars.

Investing in Volatile Markets had a marquee panel of fund/asset managers moderated by Anirudha Taparia-(Co-founder and Joint CEO 360 One Wealth), the other panellists included Naveen Gogia-(EVP and Co-Head Sales & Distribution-HDFC Asset Management), Devinjit Singh-Founder and Managing Partner-Xponentia Capital partners), Vikas Khemani (Founder- Carnelian Asset Management & Advisors) and Gagan Randev-(ED-Sotheby’s India). India opportunity and the six pillars of Growth and Opportunity were highlighted by Vikas Khemani, the need to play long and invest over time by Naveen Gogia, Devenjit highlighted the ability of PE to perform over time even as interim phases of capital markets may seem very compelling and Gagan highlighted the rise in residential property markets in select pockets while divergences between Delhi and Gurgaon remain stark, even as long term view remains solidly positive for real estate investments. The increasing sophistication and need for expert handholding across classes were emphasised by Anirudh as investors got into more sophisticated products. Overall, despite Volatile Markets, the panel seemed bullish on India and various asset classes.

The summit also featured Shivjeet Khullar, highlighting his experience with India’s Best channel that he created on YouTube which got great traction and outlined the plan to create one for Mayo Business leaders which was well received.

The Summit Vote of thanks was presented by Kirit Javali-Secretary, Mayo College Alumni Association of Delhi and Lawyer, Supreme Court, acknowledging the various participants.

President MAAD, Harmeet Singh making the opening remarks to Mayo Business Summit 2024

The key donors included Finesta, Whiteoak Capital, and Sotheby’s. HDFC Asset Management, Sotheby’s, Carnelian Asset Management, Alloysmin India Private Limited, Story Experientail Loyalty, Ujala Stainless, Kimbal, Diat, UVR Natural Foods and Airvoice. There were numerous stalls by alumni and friends and the Beverage Sponsor for the evening was Indri.

The Summit was well appreciated by the alumni and presented a great opportunity for them to network, hear some stellar speakers and exhibit their businesses.

Mayo College Alumni Association of Delhi (MAAD) is a registered association for the alumni of Mayo College both boys and girls focused on alumni initiatives and activities that have been around networking, sports, alumni welfare and giving back to school.

Mayo College, Ajmer is a prestigious residential school in India, It was established in 1875 to educate and nurture the princes of the royal families of Rajasthan. After Independence, it emerged as one of the premier residential public schools with many well-known alumni across, government, armed forces, business, education, entertainment and other areas. Mayo College Girls School was established in 1987, a residential school adjoining the boy’s school both schools have built a reputation of being among the best residential schools in the country.