On August 8, 2026, the Department of Information Science and Engineering (ISE) and the Department of Computer Science and Design (CSD), in association with the Institute Innovation Council (IIC) and IEEE Student Branch (IEEE-SB) organizations, organized an expert session titled “Lean Start-up & MVP – Boot Camp / Mentoring”. The session was conducted for the students of the ISE and CSD departments.

The session was delivered by Prof. Sathya Prakash Anekallu, Founder of SIYO.in Customized Products and Services and SATYA Academy, Co-founder of SIYO Liquid Detergent, and Project Manager of SAMARTH. The session focused on introducing students to the principles of Lean Startup methodology and Minimum Viable Product (MVP) development.

The speaker began by explaining Lean Startup as a scientific approach to creating businesses by continuously testing assumptions with customers before making significant investments. The Build–Measure–Learn cycle was highlighted as its foundation, encouraging entrepreneurs to build, measure customer responses, learn from feedback, and improve continuously. The session highlighted the limitations of the traditional approach, where entrepreneurs may invest heavily before knowing whether customers actually need the product. The speaker explained how large investments, lengthy development, wrong assumptions, and lack of customer validation can increase the risk of failure. The Lean Startup approach encourages entrepreneurs to start small, learn fast, and improve continuously.

A major focus was customer discovery and validation. Students were encouraged to interact with real customers to understand their problems before developing solutions. The speaker discussed important customer interview questions related to problems faced, frequency, current solutions, expenditure, frustrations, and willingness to pay.

The session also covered validated learning, pivoting, and innovation accounting. Students learned that actual customer actions provide stronger validation than opinions. Session helped students develop an entrepreneurial mindset by understanding the importance of learning faster, understanding customers, testing assumptions, and continuously improving. The interactive activities and mentoring approach made the session engaging and encouraged students to think critically about their own startup ideas.

The program received strong support from Dr. Shrinivasa Mayya D, Principal, and Prof. Sudarshan K, Head of the Department, ISE and CSD. The event was coordinated by Prof. Aparna N and Prof. K Vaishnavi Rao, Event Coordinators.

Overall, the Lean Start-up & MVP Boot Camp / Mentoring session provided students with valuable practical knowledge about startup development, customer discovery, MVP design, validation, and continuous improvement. The program motivated students to start small, test their ideas, learn from customers, and build solutions that address real-world problems, thereby strengthening their entrepreneurial and innovation capabilities.