The following account reflects my personal experience at the event. For any formal inquiries or concerns regarding the content, please contact me via email.
HABITia 2025, the so-called flagship event of the Hashu Advani Business Incubation Technology (HABIT) Foundation, established by VES in 2023 (the same year I graduated from VESIT), was promoted as a platform to hear and incubate ideas. Unfortunately, what was promised as a professional startup ecosystem event turned out to be poorly managed, unprofessional, and disrespectful, making it an event that arguably should not have happened at all.
We were selected to present our product CANSPLA, a recruitment software for recruiters and hiring teams. Being an alumnus of Vivekanand Education Society (VES), I was genuinely excited to attend HABITia 2025. However, the excitement soon turned into a day filled with fraustration.
Confusion Before the Event Even Began
For the event day, we were officially instructed to report by 9:30 AM, with pitching scheduled to start sharply on time. A day before the event, I received a call asking me to report by 8:30 AM instead. When I asked about the detailed schedule, the volunteer on the call openly admitted that they had no idea about the agenda.
That lack of clarity set the tone for the day.
Forced Attendance and Unprofessional Conduct
Upon reaching the venue (my former college campus), we were asked to sit in the auditorium for the inaugural ceremony, which was understandable. What followed after that, however, was completely unprofessional.
Participants were forced to sit through events they had not signed up for, effectively being treated like hostages. We were not even allowed to leave for washroom breaks. One professor in charge (let’s call her Mrs. X) was seen rudely instructing a volunteer to note down phone numbers of participants who were chatting, threatening that they would not be allowed to pitch.
This was deeply ironic and unacceptable, participants were forcibly made to attend sessions against their will, and then spoken to with arrogance for not showing interest.
When I requested permission to go to the washroom, the male event head rudely told me to “sit and control for 30 more minutes.” I was at least two or three years older than him, yet this was the tone used. It raises an obvious question: would they speak this way to investors, panelists, or well-known guests? Or is this behaviour reserved only for students and startup founders?
Breaks, Timings, and Total Disregard for Participants’ Time
We were finally given a break at 1:37 PM and instructed to return to the auditorium at “sharp” 2:00 PM. The irony was staggering. Were participants not expected to eat lunch? Anyone familiar with VES canteen knows that even order preparation takes longer than that.
While leaving the auditorium for break, one of the volunteers standing on door apologized to me for the inconvenience and I know he was just following orders and he couldn’t do much.
At 2:30 PM, it was suddenly announced that there would be semi-final closed-room pitching, from which selected teams would move to the final round scheduled after 7:00 PM.
If this structure was planned, it could and should have been communicated in advance or started earlier in the day. Instead, participants’ entire day was wasted due to complete absence of planning and scheduling transparency.
When we raised concerns with the female event head about the lack of prior communication, there was zero acknowledgment of fault. The response was dismissive and ignorant, clearly reflecting no respect for others’ time or more precisely, the time of “common” participants.
Who Was This Event Even For?
This experience led me to question the intent of the event itself.
Was HABITia 2025 only meant for college students? If yes, why did the eligibility criteria mention that everyone was eligible? And if it was truly open to all, then basic professional conduct was the bare minimum expectation.
Irrespective of whether someone is a student, working professional, or startup founder, attendees are guests, and they deserve respect.
The Pitch
We were allotted 10 minutes for our pitch, followed by a 5-minute Q&A session. The jury members were highly enthusiastic, providing each team with valuable advice and strategic direction for their startups or idea.
Arrogance Even After the Event Ended
After our pitch, we were asked to wait until 6:30 PM for results. When the top 6 teams were announced, other participants naturally began leaving. At this point, Mrs. X started shouting, ordering everyone to sit down and declaring that no one was allowed to leave the auditorium.
This kind of arrogance especially toward students and founders who did not even belong to the college is unacceptable and deserves to be openly called out.
Comparison With Other Startup Events
This was easily the worst event I have ever attended. In the three months prior, I had attended:
- FundQuest'25 by IIM Mumbai, and
- DYP Ventura Symposium by DY Patil College, Pune
Both offline events were exceptionally well managed, with clear schedules, warm and respectful volunteers, and timely communication via WhatsApp well before the event day. The contrast was stark.
A Word of Caution
VESIM (Institute of Management) may conduct similar events in the future under names like HABITia 2026 or HABITia 2027. If you are a founder or professional considering pitching events, I strongly recommend avoiding these and investing your time and energy in better-organized platforms. Even Tier-2 colleges with limited resources manage events far more professionally than VESIM.
The conduct of whole event displayed a wicked way of organisers to find and gather audience for other events, the events which should had a separate registration.
This experience taught me an important lesson: Not every opportunity needs to be grabbed. Sometimes, walking away is the smarter choice.
