Ms. Devita Saraf is the Youngest Businesswoman of India Today’s 25 Most Powerful Women in India and also the youngest executive committee member of FICCI – India’s largest trade association.

The session began with Ms. Saraf giving the students an insight into her early years at her family business, Zenith Computers. She had just completed her education and was well acquainted with the basic theoretical concepts related to business yet within a few days she realised that she needed to widen her knowledge base and the best way to do so was to network with people. She stressed that her ultimate lessons came from interactions with her colleagues and by taking the initiative to learn by actually going on to the field. This helped her to acquaint herself with the challenges faced while running a business.

She then realised that she wanted to start something of her own, and this saw the birth of Vu Technologies. The first task for the organisation was to ensure that Vu was viewed as a premium brand . With advertisements such as ‘ Dont Watch the IPL , Vu It’ receiving a positive response, within 5 years Vu achieved its set target of being a brand that provides luxury in technology.

She then spoke about the state of the industry in 2008, when the recession hit the world and the mood was gloomy. At that time, most companies had either imposed layoffs or had employees leaving to look for brighter job prospects. But the advantage she had of being in a family business was that ‘ A captain never leaves a burning ship.’