'Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.' -Oscar Wilde
At Gold Nib Fellowship we insist on the most difficult task- 'Exploration of one's self'.
Gold Nib Fellowship is India's first Youth Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program (read more)
Gold Nib Fellowship is a dual program that offers fellowship in entrepreneurial studies and a Post Graduation Degree in management from Universal Business School. The one year residential program aims at developing young entrepreneurs. It is borne out of a desire to unleash the entrepreneurial potential of the Indian youth and a belief that the nation with a population of more than a billion people has more than one young leader out there. The fellowship is funded and supported by the Gold Nib Fellowship Commission (GNFC) to foster entrepreneurship. Students between the age of 20-26 (inclusive) may apply.
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- "Youth Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program" - Masters in Business Administration (MBA-AICTE approved) - Fellowship by Gold Nib Fellowship Commission and hosted at Universal Business School - Age limit 20-26 years inclusive. |
Gold Nib Thought
"It isn't just an entrepreneurial course. It is a push, a platform, a vision and a direction for that idea that takes restless twists and turns in your mind every time there is a trigger of a dreamy conversation or a hapless work day."
"The program has been designed to nurture excellence in its fellows. There are well-planned activities and exercises that stimulate the mind to apply theoretical knowledge in real-life situations"
"The selection process for the Gold Nib fellowship program is rigorous because the program requires a year of unbridled attention and hard work. Anyone in the age group of 20-26 years from any background and any part of the country can apply for the course. However, the selection process would evaluate the student and choose only up-to 60 applicants for the fellowship program."
The Duration of the Gold Nib Fellowship would coincide with the duration of the MBA program of the Fellowship Host.
For the current batch the Gold Nib Fellowship would be for 15 months.
"India needs its entrepreneurs to grow."
India's greatest strength is its middle class population which is expected to touch 260 million (equivalent to the size of American population). It is this middle class that traditionally has given birth to young individuals who have surged ahead with the concept of enterprise creation.
Gold Nib Fellowship Commission Objectives
- Offering an incubation environment to create a league of young entrepreneurs (17-26 years)
- Recognizing individual talents and honing them for development of sustainable enterprises.
- Linking of incubation cells of different institutes for creating a cross institutional learning environment and for creating a unique library of business plans.
- Creating a pool of early stage investors for providing seed capital for feasible ideas.
- Roping in industry leaders as mentors
- Integrating business plans with relevant Government schemes and Corporate initiatives.
- Aimed at Young Entrepreneurs 17-26 - Fellowship Activities - Incubation cells across Colleges - Pool of Angel Investors - Integration with Government and Corporate Initiatives |
The Gold Nib Fellowship Commission - Patrons (click here)
(Currently Jt. CEO, Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship, CIIE, at IIM Ahmedabad)
Pranay has been leading the IIM Ahmedabad's incubator to become the foremost organisation in early stage incubation in India. During his tenure, CIIE has incubated more than 20 startups and has raised funds to the tune of $2mn.
He is a board observer to more than 10 startups, where he helps them with setting up internal processes, deciding their business startegy, networking, and reaching out to the right kind of people. Apart from helping startups, Pranay enjoys creating opportunities for students to get involved in entrepreneurship - be it through the various courses and projects that CIIE provides to IIM students, or through internships for others.
Previously, he has worked with Lehman Brothers and Nomura, leading Investment Banks and helped them set up their India equity practice. He is passionate about building organisations from ground up, and is currently getting his highs through his work with startups and building CIIE & CIIE Initiatives.
Other Patrons (click on the name) |
- Tarun Anand - Harsh Shetty - Pranav Chaturvedi - Sanjeev Kaushal |
(Ex- Managing Director, Thompson Reuters South Asia. Current CEO of Universal Business School)
Tarun started his career as a Banker with HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank. He then moved to Reuters and through a series of promotions was elevated to Global Head of Treasury, with responsibility for Revenues of US$ 2 billion across 100 countries. At Reuters he served across Asia, Europe, USA and Global Emerging Markets and initiated several global launches and acquisitions. He also served as a Founder Member of the Reuters Innovation and Venture Board based in New York and London. He subsequently co-founded FXMarketSpace Ltd. (a Thomson Reuters and CME Group Company) which was the world's first centrally cleared 'FX Exchange' He was Global Head of Strategy and Head of Sales, Asia Pacific in Hong Kong, prior to moving back to India. He is the inventor of 'FXSettle' a revolutionary FX settlement solution which has won several global Innovation Awards.
He has 16 years experience in financial management services. He did his Masters in Administration from Mumbai and Leadership Training at Michigan Business School (Ann Arbor,
*As per the guidelines of the Governing Board of Gold Nib Fellowship Commission, Tarun Anand is inducted in the Patron body to oversee the admission process and to align the vision of GNFC with the vision of UBS for youth entrepreneurial developement. He would be in the Patron board for the year 2012 - 13 and would not be instrumental in the selection process of Institutional partners for the next year. To know more about Institutional Partnership, click here
Other Patrons (click on the name) |
- Pranay Gupta - Harsh Shetty - Pranav Chaturvedi - Sanjeev Kaushal |
Currently CEO Firefish, (NASDAQ OTC- FRFS)
Harsh is Founder and CEO of Firefish, a media and education venture. Prior to his founding Firefish in April of 2008, Mr. Shetty was employed as an Investment Banker in the Media and Telecommunications franchise of Citigroup Global Markets in New York, NY
Mr Shetty has a bachelor of technology degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park where he authored Scientific Journal and Conference Papers on Optimization and Computational Design.
He completed his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College as a Tuck Scholar with High Distinction. While studying in Tuck he worked as teaching assistant for subjects like Corporate Finance, Capital Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions and was also Board Member at local non-profit Bonnie CLAC , Fellow at Center for Private Equity
Other Patrons (click on the name) |
- Pranay Gupta - Tarun Anand - Pranav Chaturvedi - Sanjeev Kaushal |
Currently Co-Founder International Institute of Financial Markets Ltd
Advisory Board Member- Gold at 18 (NCDEX-IIFM Education)
Pranav is a serial entrepreneur and has four successful education and knowledge management firms to his credit. He is currently the Co-Founder and Director at International Institute of Financial Markets Ltd and is the Advisory Board Member of National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange-International Institute of Financial Markets Education Board. He is also the Co-Founder of Pratham Test Prep Education Services.
Quizzing has been is passion and he is the Quiz Master for Times of India sponsored quizzes and has a quizzing company called QPundits.
He has developed proprietary products like Gold at 18, Tradenow, MyTrade Certifications. He is a pioneer in Video Based Education for Financial Markets and has authored, designed and delivered video based sessions through his youtube partner channel “KengageNow”. He is also the the co-
After passing out of College of Business Studies, Delhi University, Pranav has been an exponent in developing the distribution channels for the Financial Sector. He was the youngest achiever at Kotak Mahindra in financial sales and his seven promotions in four years at Kotak Group still remain unsurpassed. At the age of 21, he was the Financial Advisory Board Member at Metlife India.
His paper on National Human Rights was judged amongst the best in the country and he won a National Award for the same from the then Prime Minister of India.
Other Patrons (click on the name) |
- Pranay Gupta - Tarun Anand - Harsh Shetty - Sanjeev Kaushal |
(Currently : Vice President- Tokyo Electron and Visiting Professor, Stanford University)
Dr. Sanjeev K. Kaushal is the VP for Corporate Technology and Business Development at Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL), one of the largest multinational semiconductor equipment manufacturing companies. At TEL, Sanjeev is responsible for identifying and nurturing core strategic technologies vital to the near and long term (> 20 years) interests of the company. He is responsible for incorporating emerging technologies such as spin based electronics, 3D device fabrication, CNT fabrication, MEMS, wireless sensors, and MRAM into TEL product lines.
Sanjeev successfully created, developed, and incorporated the highly successful concepts of CD optimizer and adaptive real time temperature control into TEL product lines. He successfully established TEL's Santa Clara Laboratory in California and established several attractive partnerships with UC Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Sandia Labs, IMEC (Belgium), Fraunhofer Institute (Germany), and Imperial College (UK) to advance semiconductor manufacturing materials, tools, and processes. Sanjeev pioneered and championed the concept of intelligent manufacturing tools at the Santa Clara Labs using
Dr. Kaushal graduated with a BS/MS in Electronics and Communication from the University of Delhi in 1988/90 where he received the "Shanti Devi Bhargawa" Gold medal. Sanjeev then completed his MS and Ph.D from Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa, USA) with an emphasis on Microelectronics and Device Fabrication where he received the Iowa State outstanding research excellence award. Sanjeev was a visiting research faculty member at the University of Texas Austin from 1998 to 2005. Sanjeev has over thirty assigned/in-process patents to his name and has published several (over fifty) papers and reports at prestigious conferences, magazines, and peer reviewed journals.
Other Patrons (click on the name) |
- Pranay Gupta - Tarun Anand - Harsh Shetty - Pranav Chaturvedi |
While filling up the essays GNFC would require phone no. and Email Id's of two referees ( reccommendees). A link would be mailed to the two referees with further details.
Read selection process
IMPORTANT DATES |
- Registration for Admission Round 1 is closed. - Registration of Round 2 for Intake 1 has started wef 16/10/2012. - List of candidates shortlisted for the inteview would be displayed shortly. |
Gold Nib Thought
Gold Nib Fellows 2012-13
All students, however would have to pay the tuition fee of Universal Business School for their Masters in Business Administration program. The tuition fee for Universal Business School's AICTE approved 15 month MBA program is Rs 8,94,000/-.
**While the students apply for the Gold Nib Fellowship, they have an option of applying for further grants, scholarships and loans. The Gold Nib Fellowship Commission and Universal Business School Financial Aid's committee would get in touch with you if you qualify as a Gold Nib Fellow.
Gold Nib Fellowship Commission's Grant for Gold Nib Fellows would cover for: |
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Register at the Gold Nib Fellowship website using your name and email id. Fill the application form and submit it online.
Since the application form requires detailed answering, the applicant has the option of saving the filled-in details and returning to the page later. In case of a log out, the applicant would be required to sign in again to resume filling up the form. It is suggested that the applicant takes a keen look at the form and starts filling only after considerable thinking.
The students selected after the first round will go through a telephonic interview in which the communication skills and the clarity of purpose will be judged.
Once the applicants clear the telephonic round, they will be invited for regional contention that will be conducted in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. The applicant would go through a detailed interview with the selection committee, a focused group discussion and a case study presentation.
Applicants who clear this stage are invited to the UBS campus in Karjat,Mumbai for final round (paid for by GNFC).
The travel and lodging expenditure is borne by GNFC. The finalists will be given an idea and they are required to design and present a business plan.
Last but essentially as important as the idea itself is this final elimination round that involves an a General Ability Test that is conducted to evaluate the applicant's verbal, written and analytical skills. This would be administered at the final venue, i.e. Karjat on Day 2.
Dermatoglyphics Test would also be conducted to analyze the entrepreneurial potential of the candidate at Karjat,Mumbai.
Gold Nib Remark
Minimum Eligibility for Gold Nib Fellows 2012-13 |
- Must be an Indian National - Age between 20-26 (inclusive) - Applicant should have completed their Undergraduate Programs or are in their final year of Undergraduate Program. (The final year students, may apply, but would be eligible only for the second intake of Gold Nib Fellowship) |
"Entrepreneurship isn't about merely making a business plan, starting a venture and breaking even. The vision for an idea in the modern world goes further than that, towards creating value-driven ventures and sustaining the venture in the long run."
Gold Nib Action: All the activities planned such as Get Real (A three-month activity with real capital to create a real venture), Showman of the year (Organize an act, an event, a road show, a seminar or a carnival and get it going at a scale and distinction) and the Idea Nirvana are aimed to instill these standards in running a business.
Gold Nib Mentors and Gold Nib Fellowship Commission: Industrial stalwarts and experts from different walks of life are invited regularly for taking sessions on subjects concerning entrepreneurship and personal mentors are available throughout the course to guide the student towards making the business plan. If the idea is funded at the end of the course, mentors will be present all throughout the implementation of the plan. The funds will be released in phases during the different stages of the execution of the business plan.
Gold Nib Fellows: The first effort towards world-class training and exposure initiates at the rigorous selection stage that aims at bringing together the best. The mentoring towards the dream project begins with exposing the student to 59 other ambitious and curious minds who she can share her vision or even partner with to make her dream project a success.
Gold Nib Fellowship Commission and Funding Options: A team of highly qualified individuals would constantly work towards bringing in angel investors and build a pool of venture funds. UBS itself would provide funds in exchange for a stake in the venture. Funds to the tune of USD 1 million have already been created to be disbursed in a phased manner.
Gold Nib Fellows and Universal Business School: Based on individual needs, Gold Nib fellows would also be provided with different kinds of opportunities and projects at established organizations to get practical training enabling them to understand the processes that help in achieving high business growth rates, of over 20-30% per annum. Special SMART (Social Management Aptitude and Responsibility Temperament) projects have been designed for the students to equip them with the skills crucial to excel amidst increasing competition and dynamism. The fellows would constantly be encouraged to participate and resolve real-life situations to turn them into active achievers and not mere spectators. Also as mentioned earlier, Gold Nib Fellows would always have the access to the placement cell of Universal Business School.
Gold Nib Fellowship Commission is pleased to partner with Universal Business School, Mumbai-Karjat for Gold Nib Fellowship 2012-13
(www.universalbusinessschool.com)
Gold Nib Fellowship was envisaged with the idea of developing entrepreneurs and was devised as a Dual Program in Entrepreneurship and Management.
Universal Business School's ability to develop specialized courses for interdisciplinary programs and it's rich faculty, mentor pool makes the college an ideal host for the Gold Nib Fellowship.
The Gold Nib Fellowship Programme will be conducted at the 40 acres campus of Universal Business School that has been set up by a group of management professionals who have had extensive experience in leading global businesses.With their passion to innovate in the field of management education and to provide a superior learning experience, the UBS team has set up a distinguished and extraordinary Business School of international repute, in the close environs of Mumbai.
The course curriculum of the Gold Nib Fellowship has been carefully devised by industry experts to equip the students with apt knowledge and real-life skills. They not only get the core benefits of the fellowship programme but also of the UBS 15 month MBA course.
For complete MBA course offered by Universal Business School, (please note for Gold Nib Fellows, only study option 1 is applicable) kindly click here.
For faculty pool of Universal Business School's MBA, kindly click here
For the infrastructure and facilities provided by Universal Business School, kindly click here
1) The online application form. This requires secure registration at the Gold Nib Fellowship website and email addresses for two recommenders. Your recommenders will be required to submit their recommendations using an online form. We would be mailing a link to your recommenders.
2) Electronic or hard-copies of the following supporting documents would be required if your application is selected.
- Valid Address Proof.
- Valid Date of Birth Proof
- Official academic transcripts from all the colleges attended.
Note: Gold Nib Fellowship Commission would not share your details with other entities.
You are registering as a user for the Gold Nib Fellowship.
Proceed to the registration form
Gold Nib Fellowship Commission
HS 13- Kailash Colony
2nd Floor, Main Commercial Market
New Delhi
Email for more information on Gold Nib Fellowships: fellowship@goldnib.org
Email for more information on Gold Nib Collegepreneur Award: awards@goldnib.org
Shubhang Srivastava : 9560994275
shubhang@goldnib.org
Phone no: 011-42666000
The Host College would have the responsibility of providing Management studies to the Gold Nib Fellows and may charge the Fellows as per their norms. The College would however, is expected to set up a grant body. GNFC and the College would also dedicatedly be involved in raising grants for the financially weak but meritorious students to pay for not only the Gold Nib Fellowship but also to pay for academic program which the students undergo at the Host Institution.
The complete entrance process, which is very stringent, would be administered by the Gold Nib Fellowship Commission. At GNFC, we realize that the College would also actively want to participate in the admission process and therefore, we would invite the Institutional Head as a Patron of Gold Nib Fellowship Commission to actively participate in all the functions of the
Gold Nib Fellowship Program provides an opportunity to Indian universities and institutions of higher learning to collaborate with the best entrepreneurs and fund houses that can develop entrepreneurial fervor in their college. In addition to sharing their expertise, Gold Nib Commission Specialists can help develop linkages between host institutions and international institutions of repute, which have a similar vision.
Host institutions must be post-secondary academic institutions, comparable to the best colleges or universities in India. The Hosts will be rated by GNFC on the following parameters
- Academic Faculties
- Infrastructure
- Vision Alignment
- Content and Library Value
- Residential Facility
For more details please mail at collaboration@goldnib.org

