Prakash Puram (78 BMD) speaks at Minesotta

as many know, Prakash is from 78BM batch
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Dear Friends of TiE Minnesota,

For our upcoming event on March 16th, we are excited to announce a panel discussion: “India Rising: New opportunities for Minnesota Entrepreneurs”. Our panelists are Prakash Puram, President and CEO of iXmatch and Dr. Bruce Corie, Professor of Economics, Concordia University.

Prakash Puram, was recently appointed to the President Export Council that advises the president on government policies and programs that affect U.S. trade performance. The Council consists of 10 Cabinet Secretaries, 27 other CEO's of the largest U.S. Companies, and 5 Congressmen and Senators. In February, Prakash was appointed by the President, along with Condoleezza Rice and several others, to the Sub-Committee on Trade Promotion and Negotiations. Prakash will be spending June 21st in a working session with President Bush in Washington D.C..

Bruce Corie is founding editor of the online journal http://www.policybriefs.org/, which provides diverse perspectives on policy issues.

Discussion will focus on the following topics

• The future of the Indo/US relationship and implications for entrepreneurs
• Examples and anecdotes of companies locally that have capitalized on an Indian connection.
• Top sectors that are growing and that may present opportunities for members.
• Local MN business perspectives of how the entrepreneurial landscape may be changing.
• Impressions and takeaways for TiE members from President Bush's visit to India.

Prakash Puram
Prakash has over 25 years of management experience in the consumer and high-tech industries. Most recently he was GM of the Consumer and Retail Markets Software Business at Net Perceptions. Prior to that, he was Director of Worldwide Strategy and Business Development for Honeywell's Home & Building Controls division. He has had successful business leadership and product management roles at Honeywell, IBM, Pillsbury, and Unilever, and a unique consulting stint in Kiev with Harvard University's Project for Economic Reform in Ukraine (PERU.) He received a BS from Loyola College, Madras, India; a Business Management diploma from XLRI, Jamshedpur, India; an MBA from the University of Minnesota; and a Master's in Competitive Strategy and Trade Policy from Harvard University. Prakash serves on the advisory board of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. He is a private pilot, and speaks Japanese and some Russian. Prakash was a torch-runner for the Atlanta Olympics.