Watch CBS News

TIECon Midwest Expecting A Big Crowd

NOVI -- More than 500 people are expected for the annual TIECon Midwest entrepreneurship and technology event being held Oct. 11 and 12 at the Sheraton in Novi.

This year's theme is "Entrepreneurship for Economic Empowerment" -- or, as TIE Detroit president Rupesh Srivistava puts it, the way entrepreneurial activity can restore power to people, to the state of Michigan, and to the United States.

Speakers include Michigan Lt. Governor Brian Calley, Michigan Economic Development Corp. president and CEO Michael Finney, CMS Energy CIOMamatha Chamarthi, and Jitendra Saxeno, who co-founded a tech company recently sold to IBM for more than $1 billion.

Also, sharing the stage will be two athletes familiar to very different audiences -- former Detroit Red Wing Doug Brown and a famous Indian cricket star with the unlikely name Farokh Engineer.

The event will start Thursday afternoon, Oct. 11 with a "business boot camp" with useful information on how to start and run a company.

There will also be a separate panel on funding sources to fuel a startup, a women's forum with success stories from female business owners, and a youth panel for young entrepreneurs. Separate conference tracks will deal with health care and life sciences, IT, social media, and manufacturing.

There will also be TiE 20 Awards given to 20 top startups.

"This is not just a tech event, it's all about entreprneurship in every aspect of life," said Strivistava, a serial entrepreneur who is CEO of three companies. "Advanced manufacturing is a big focus for us. Healthcare too."

Listen to Srivistava talk about the event at this link.

TIE got its start as The Indus Entrepreneurs, an organization for entrepreneurs of Indian descent in the Americas. But today it's known as Talent, Ideas, Enterprise, and it has 62 chapters around the world, with 20 in the United States.

Srivistava said a global mentorship program sets TIE apart from other entrepreneurship organizations.

"It's a big ecosystem," Srivistava said. "Mentorship is a key to successful entrepreneurship, and TIE's mentorship program goes all over the world. If you're in business and you want to meet someone in a similar kind of business in Silicon Valley or London, TiE provides those connections."

TIE has also added TYE, for TIE Youth Entrepreneurs, a program for ninth through 12th graders hosted at Detroit Country Day School.

More at www.tieconmidwest.org.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.