New in town,youth centric newsletter TCubeYouth Media LLP is already creating waves in the city When four young college friends get together for work,you get creative ideas,fun work ways and the beginning of a long standing alliance. Thats just what TCube Youth Media LLP is all about and its already making its presence felt among Punes young citizens. Set up by Shantanu Mehrotra,Vidur Uthappa,Varun Sarda and Chirag Agarwal in August this year,this registered company has an interesting story behind its formation. A long way from BITS Dubai,where they were students,Pune,the Oxford of the East,was a natural choice to set up this company that targets the youth as its prime clients. Residents of room number 223 in their hostel in Dubai,their initial choice for the company's name was 223 Group of Companies. Unable to register one in this name,they decided to take the first alphabet of the numbers; hence TCube Youth Media LLP was formed. All their services are youth centric and being fresh graduates,the four entrepreneurs understand the likes and dislikes of collegians. A fortnightly campus journal,known as The I Like Times (TILT),a catchy phrase used by many students,is distributed for free in all the colleges of Pune. "We know that as college students,we would rather spend Rs 5 for vada pav than a newsletter,which is why it is free for everyone!" says Chirag Agarwal,who handles the finance and the web design. They have even launched a socially interactive website,providing fun,quirky articles and features on a range of topics,from lifestyle to technology. Discussion forums can also be accessed for students to collectively brainstorm over various issues. Apart from journalism,they are also lending their fresh perspective to events on and off-campus. They even plan to host a free football tournament in the city sometime later this year. With their hands in both print and web,advertising and event management,these youngsters symbolize the true convergence of media. Being new to the city,setting up shop here was not an easy task. With limited knowledge of the legalities,it took the four time to settle in. "We had to run to the District Magistrate's office at least 15-20 times just to get a signature!" Chirag reveals. Graduates of BE (Hons) in Electronics and Instrumentation,they are a long way from where they began. "This is the day and age for young entrepreneurs," says Vidur,PR and Marketing,who reveals that they have even tied up with the Indian Music Conference to be held in Goa from November 17-20. With budding entrepreneurs taking to the board room at an early stage,the experience gained during this period would indeed be most beneficial. A company for the youth and by the youth. Many students in the city work for them as interns and this has a dual advantage It solves their problem of payment and also provides the interns with a unique working experience. "After our first issue of The I Like Times was distributed,many students signed up as journalists,while others took care of the design and layout," Vidur says. With the Pune branch still at a nascent stage,the boys plan to branch out to Mumbai in January and later to other metropolitan cities in India.
