Vision, Resilience, and Execution Over Capital

On March 14th, 2025, our CEO & Co-Founder, Dr. Manasi A-Ratnaparkhe, delivered an inspiring keynote. Her talk, titled “Beyond Funding – The Art of Building an Agile Business,” resonated deeply with the audience, highlighting not just what it takes to launch a company, but what it takes to sustain and grow one through challenges.

Drawing from PAICON’s growth journey, Dr. Manasi A-Ratnaparkhe shared key insights into the four stages of company building i.e. Idea, Funding, Growth, and Legacy, and emphasized that while securing capital is important, it is far from the whole story.

“The best companies aren’t built on funding alone; they thrive on vision, resilience, and execution.”

She openly spoke about the challenges founders face from uncertainty to pressure and how the founder’s mindset becomes the true differentiator. That mindset, as she described, centers on the ability to pivot without panic, lead through ambiguity, and build strong cultures from day one.

Lessons from PAICON’s Journey

Dr. Manasi A-Ratnaparkhe reflected on PAICON’s own evolution from a bold idea to a health tech company with 620TB+ of harmonized, curated cancer data spanning over 128,000 cases across 50+ countries and 10+ races. She shared how PAICON’s multimodal cancer datalake and foundational AI model were developed not just through funding, but through an dedicated focus on execution, diversity, and collaboration.

“Resilience is the ability to bounce back from setbacks and it’s what determines whether a company survives the hard times. We’ve learned that mindset is everything. Funding can get you started, but mindset determines whether your company lasts. One just has to keep swimming.”

The keynote also underscored the importance of talent and culture. As Dr. Manasi A-Ratnaparkhe explained, PAICON’s greatest asset isn’t just its AI technology; it’s the people behind it.

“Culture is not what’s written on the walls; it’s how decisions are made when no one is watching,”

The evening wrapped up with a sense of shared energy and purpose. Events like these remind us how essential it is to support diverse voices in tech and entrepreneurship.

We are incredibly grateful to encourageventures e.V., PALATINA Business Angels Rhein-Neckar e.V., and Volksbank Kurpfalz eG for hosting such a powerful evening and for creating a platform where meaningful conversations around innovation, leadership, and resilience can thrive.