Community · Operations
A year of running the ground game at a student and founder innovation festival, from my first edition to a much larger second one.
Part of the team behind the first Jugaad Mela. Owned participant management and coordination.
More responsibility: event groundwork, participant stalls and a team of volunteers.
I wanted exposure beyond classrooms and online courses, and Jugaad Mela put founders, students and builders in one place.
At the time I was actively exploring product management, entrepreneurship and startup ecosystems. Jugaad Mela stood out because it brought students, founders, innovators, creators and problem solvers onto one platform. It was more than an event. It was a community built around innovation and execution.
I wanted to meet founders, see how startups actually operate, learn from real experience, and be around people focused on building rather than only studying theory. Volunteering was the fastest way to get that access, and the most honest one: you learn what a room full of builders needs by making the room work.
Jugaad Mela is an innovation and entrepreneurship platform that connects students, founders, startups and innovators. Through events, workshops and innovation-driven activities, it creates room for learning, collaboration, networking, idea validation and startup exposure.
Its mission is to help people turn ideas into impactful solutions, closing the gap between classroom learning and real-world execution.
Acted as a direct point of contact for participants, coordinating with them before and during the event so they knew what to expect and had what they needed.
Handled stall allocation and the on-ground requirements that came with it, and supported food service and the wider participant experience.
Moved from being one of the volunteers to managing a team of them, working with fellow volunteers to keep operations smooth across every activity.
Helped with planning and execution logistics, from pre-event coordination to post-event follow-ups, including the event groundwork for the larger 2026 edition.
Worked alongside volunteers and participants to resolve issues on the ground and keep the event running without the participants feeling the friction.
Supported innovation and entrepreneurship activities, spoke with students, founders and attendees, and built genuine connections across the startup community.
Instead of studying theories, I watched founders solve problems, startups pitch ideas and innovators build solutions.
The conversations, the energy and the exposure were unlike anything a classroom offers. The experience strengthened my interest in product management, startups and entrepreneurship, and showed me how ideas become real-world products.
It is also where my path crossed with the team behind Shudhttam, which became the next chapter of this archive.
Read the Shudhttam storyThe gap between ideation and execution is where most people stop, and where builders begin.
Every startup starts with a problem worth solving. The best founders I met talked about pain points, not buzzwords.
The right conversation at the right time can change the trajectory of your journey.
Being around people who build, ship and execute changes what you think is possible.
Small responsibilities, taken seriously, grow into larger ones. Going from participant support to leading volunteers taught me that directly.
Planning matters, but a good plan executed well beats a perfect one that never starts. Live events make that obvious fast.
Being around people actively building something taught me more than months of reading could have.
Jugaad Mela shaped how I think about startups, innovation and product building. It introduced me to founders, entrepreneurs and innovation communities and gave me practical exposure beyond the classroom.
Many of the interests I pursue today, including product management, startup building and community-driven innovation, were strengthened through the experiences I had here.