Opportunity brief
About the Competition
Praxis is a product management learning and case study competition that gives students hands-on exposure to the world of product management. Participants get curated learning resources, live sessions with industry professionals and an IIT Patna alumnus, and a real-world problem statement provided by Gradient Learning. They analyze the problem, build a product-oriented solution, and present it to a panel of Gradient Learning professionals.
Registration is completely free. No prior product management experience is required.
Guidelines
Eligibility
- Open to all college students currently enrolled in any undergraduate or postgraduate program, from any college, branch or specialization.
Team Size and Composition
- Participate individually or in teams of 1 to 3 members.
- Inter-college teams are not allowed. All team members must be from the same college.
- Inter-specialization teams are allowed.
- A participant can be a member of only one team.
Number of Problem Statements
- There is one problem statement, released by Gradient Learning on 19 October.
- The problem statement will be shared with all registered participants on Unstop on 19 October.
Competition Format and Process
- Stage 1, Learn (15 to 23 October): access the Praxis Resource Hub on Notion for fundamentals, frameworks, case-solving approaches, and product teardowns.
- Resources hub: https://praxis-iitp.notion.site/Praxis-Resource-Hub-3f9339ebe9558097b48ff5e7c2563da2
- Stage 2, Solve (19 to 26 October): analyze the problem and submit your solution.
- Stage 3, Shortlist (28 October): shortlisted teams are announced.
- Stage 4, Present (30 October, online): shortlisted teams present to the judging panel, followed by Q&A.
Duration of Rounds
- Round 1, Submission: 7 days (19 October to 26 October, 11:59 PM IST).
- Round 2, Final Presentation: online on 30 October. The exact duration and meeting link will be shared with shortlisted teams.
Live Sessions
- 24 October: session by a Gradient Learning professional on how product managers approach real-world problems.
- 25 October: session by an IIT Patna alumnus on Finance and Product Management.
- Timings and joining links will be shared separately.
Submission Guidelines
- Submit a single PDF in presentation (PPT) style, with 8 to 10 pages excluding the cover page.
- The cover page must include the team name and member names.
- Only one member (the team leader) needs to submit the final PDF on behalf of the team.
- The submission should cover the problem understanding, user perspective, key insights and assumptions, proposed solution and product strategy, key features, implementation approach, and metrics/KPIs wherever applicable.
Judging Criteria (100 points)
- Problem and User Understanding: 25
- Solution Quality and Product Thinking: 30
- Innovation: 15
- Feasibility and Strategy: 15
- Presentation and Communication: 15
The PDF submission is evaluated on the first four criteria for shortlisting. The final round is scored on all five.
Prizes and Certificates
- First Prize: Rs 5,000
- Second Prize: Rs 3,000
- Third Prize: Rs 2,000
- All participants who submit a valid entry will receive a participation certificate.
Rules
- Participants must complete the official Praxis registration.
- Participate individually or in teams of 1 to 3 members. All members of a team must belong to the same college. Each participant can be part of only one team.
- Only one member (the team leader) needs to submit the final PDF on behalf of the team.
- All submitted work must be original and created by the participating individual or team.
- AI tools may be used to support research, ideation or drafting. The final submission must reflect the participants' own thinking, and participants must be able to explain and defend every part of their solution in the final round.
- Plagiarism, impersonation, fabrication or any other unfair means may result in disqualification.
- Publicly available information may be used for research unless the problem statement says otherwise.
- All assumptions made while solving the case must be clearly stated.
- Follow the submission format given by the organizers. Late submissions may not be considered.
- Shortlisted teams must be available for the online final on 30 October.
- Maintain professional conduct throughout the event.
- The decision of the judging panel is final and binding.
- The organizers may modify the schedule or guidelines in unforeseen circumstances. Changes will be shared through official channels.
Important Dates
- 15 October: Registrations open and learning phase begins
- 19 October: Problem statement release
- 24 October: Live Session 1
- 25 October: Live Session 2
- 26 October, 11:59 PM IST: Registrations close and submission deadline
- 28 October: Shortlisted teams announced
- 30 October: Final presentations (online)