Harsh Mariwala's advice to budding entrepreneurs: What's your plan-B?

With an increasing number of kids aspiring to give flight to entrepreneurial ambitions these days, maybe having someone prepare them for the real world is a good idea. A recent event in Mumbai and Delhi saw kids aged between seven and 17 years, pitch business proposals to established entrepreneurs.

The panel consisted of Harsh Mariwala, Chairman, Marico, Amit Chandra, MD, Bain Capital, and angel investor Roopa Nath among others. Eyewitnesses say that while most panel members were being considerate to the children, one person who took off the kid gloves from the start was Mariwala.

"Harsh Mariwala was asking the children direct questions and preparing them for real world challenges,” says a source who was present at the event.

"He questioned their funding proposals and wanted to know that if any of their ventures failed, what was their plan B? It was something most didn’t even think of.”

If Mariwala was a tough cookie, Chandra went the other way. "Chandra was very kind. He would always begin with a few lines of praise for the participants and then go on to give feedback,” says the source. Good cop, bad cop routine? What fun.