PIEDS, BITS Pilani: Fostering Startup Connections with Communities in Teams

Currently, startup accelerators are crucial in linking aspiring entrepreneurs and founders of early-stage startups, offering them mentorship, funding support, and networking opportunities. This creates the need for a common digital space where all activities and individuals can come together and connect. PIEDS, BITS Pilani the startup accelerator started uses Communities in Microsoft Teams as a part of their Ideate Create program to provide an ad–free digital space for their early-stage startups to connect.

How is PIEDS, BITS Pilani creating and managing cohorts in Communities in Teams?

The Ideate Create program aims to identify and promote early-stage startups/entrepreneurs, to provide them with quality support in terms of mentorship, access to labs, technology credits, funding, industry partnerships, and workspaces to ensure their growth as an enterprise.

As a part of this program, PIEDS, BITS Pilani is using Communities to create a dedicated workspace to connect and interact with startups to provide incubation support, and mentorship to startup founders and discuss accelerator initiatives.

Here, startup founders learn about interesting opportunities, access important announcements through easy navigation, keep a tab on upcoming events, get access to their peers, and can build strong networks.

Furthermore, the PIEDS team fosters healthy community engagement by actively gathering feedback after each mentorship session in the program.

What strategies proved most effective for PIEDS, BITS Pilani in developing this Startup Community?

• Define a clear purpose and objectives for the community.
• Establish and communicate community guidelines
• Introduce the community organizers & mentors to the community
• Post summary of weekly events
• Plan your engagement to kick-start conversations in the community.
• Customize your Nicknames to identify yourself to the community uniquely

Here is what BITS PIEDS has to say about Teams:

“Tools like Microsoft Teams and Communities have been transformative pillars in our entrepreneurial ecosystem. Microsoft Teams accelerates our internal communication, ensuring that every team member is on the same page, while Microsoft Communities act as a virtual nexus for knowledge exchange, managing communications with multiple startup programs, polls, information broadcast, and mentors connect.”
– Pramod Bhurji, Manager, PIEDS BITS Pilani

Why create startup-led communities in Teams?

Startups often face similar challenges and opportunities and look for a network where like-minded individuals/startups can connect, share ideas, and collaborate. Creating communities in Microsoft Teams provides a virtual workspace facilitating the exchange of knowledge, best practices, and lessons learned, helping members avoid common pitfalls and make informed decisions.

In these communities, you can create important announcements, schedule mentorship/ networking online –in-person events, keep everyone informed on the upcoming mentorship sessions planned, take your member’s feedback, and learn from their insights.

“Within the PIEDS Ideate Create Group, Microsoft Communities proves invaluable for our daily interactions with mentors and fellow entrepreneurs. It simplifies the process of maintaining a record of past discussions, participating in rapid polls, and sharing attachments, making our communication seamless and efficient.”
– Romil Seth, Founder at CAFFAE”

So, if you are a startup accelerator or would like to offer mentorship by running startup-led communities on how to build and scale startups, we would encourage you to go ahead and create communities in Microsoft Teams (free).