World Entrepreneurs’ Day 2026 at UPES Dehradun

On World Entrepreneurs’ Day 2026, I had the opportunity to attend an inspiring session at UPES, Dehradun, where the Founder & CEO of Flux Motors was invited as a speaker to interact with students and share his entrepreneurial journey.

The session was much more than just another talk about startups. It was a reminder of what it truly takes to build something different.

Runway, the startup incubator at UPES, is among the very few incubation ecosystems in Uttarakhand, alongside institutions such as FIED at IIM Kashipur, RBI Pauri, Technology Business Incubator at Graphic Era University, and the Startup Incubator & Entrepreneurship Development Society at GB Pant University, Pantnagar.

What makes an ecosystem like Runway special is the environment it creates for young entrepreneurs to experiment, learn, fail, seek guidance and keep moving forward.

Recently, a first-year student at UPES received a ₹1 lakh grant for her startup. Interestingly, just a few days before receiving the grant, she happened to have a guidance conversation with the Founder. That coincidence really made me think:

To nurture something, you need the right environment.

And that is exactly what an incubator like Runway, along with the people surrounding it, can provide.

During the session, one thought stayed with me:

If you want to achieve something different, you have to be willing to go against the stream.

Building a successful startup requires much more than an idea and execution. It demands courage, confidence, resilience, obsession, hunger and the willingness to face problems, challenges and, most importantly, failure.

Listening to the Founder speak about his journey was more than hearing an entrepreneurial story. When someone shares the struggles, uncertainties and failures behind where they are today, it sparks something inside you.

It makes you think:

“If he could do it, maybe we can too.”

But perhaps the difference lies in what you are willing to put into that journey — the obsession to keep going, the hunger to learn, and the eagerness to build something that doesn't exist yet.

The path may be foggy.

The journey may be uncertain.

You may not always know what the next step looks like.

But if the goal is clear, keep walking.

With every step, the fog begins to fade.

And sometimes, taking that first step is the most important part of the journey.