This e-interview is a part of BITS2BSCHOOL’s interview series with last year’s successful applicants to help future applicants.
Kavikrut is currently in his first year at Harvard Business School and has MSc (Tech) Finance from BITS, Pilani (2002-2006).
Q. How did you know you were ready for an MBA?
A. A person could apply to an MBA when he knows:
– What industry/function/geography one wants to be in 5 years down
– What is the clear skill set gaps one has?
– Take a break from career to add on to his learning foundation through a school/curriculum based approach (versus working more or a training program)
– (He) Needs a brand on his CV to establish credibility for future pursuits
These were my reasons. One need not be sure about all of these. And one will never really feel the “need” for an MBA. I believe it is a desire for many applicants.
Q. There are many factors/traits which contribute to the success of an MBA application. What do you think were your top 3?
A. 1. Unique and niche experience – Rural, healthcare, India/emerging market, start-up that later became a business for a corporate,
2. Demonstrated Leadership potential – Owning and running a new venture, leading a business for an established corporate, led large teams
3. Performance/Results – designed and launched two businesses that treated 50,000 plus patients. This was backed by the recommendations.
Q. What’s the campus life like at your b-school? Can you draw some parallels from life at BITS, Pilani?
A. No parallels to BITS Pilani, except for the fact that the second year is completely flexible in terms of selecting your courses. HBS first year is super busy unlike any year at BITS Pilani, people are way more professional in the not easy going way, which is kind of sad. But having said all this, a BITSian is always a BITSian, even at HBS!
Q. Some more insights on your work experience – what has your career progression been like? What was the thought process behind each step?
A. BITS Pilani – participated in as many extracurriculars (dept of photography, plan competitions, eco-fin assoc etc) as possible as I thought I learnt more when “doing” things
Mobile Medics – Placed with Evalueserve but decided to start up right out of college as I thought this was the best time (least risky) to try different things in my career. I was armed with confidence by the award winning business plan, seed capital from prize money, a very experienced advisory team and generous incubation support from BITS. Wore several hats at the startup and struggled with several barriers to setup and launch the business.
Piramal Group – was very excited by the rural healthcare space and wanted to experiment with further innovative technology based models. But had run out of funds. Somehow happened to meet the Piramal Group and our start up was absorbed to become Piramal eSwasthya. It was tough to find such a progression but the rich execution experience helped. Basically got super lucky here. Founded the business for the corporate reporting straight to the board, then a new CEO was appointed to stabilize the business while I led operations and again took up the leadership role once all pilots were completed to lay out a scale up plan. (I) Loved the work, the challenges and the opportunity to actually execute on the field.
Q. Does being a BITSian help you in your classroom?
A. Yes, in two ways, nothing major:
1. The subject outlook is much wider. The fact that we did a wide set of courses helps in understanding cases from different industries. This definitely does not mean that you may perform better but the orientation to different topics definitely helps. I see this as a clear (minor) edge when compared to students from IITs
2. And on a lighter note, the fact that you are not an IIT-ian from India helps you breakaway from a stereotype
Q. What do you think should definitely be on this year’s aspirant’s checklist?
A. In no particular order:
– Leadership experience
– High performance, professional achievements – basically a star at work, whatever the kind of work
– Credible work – either established by recommendations or branded companies
Q. Any suggestions for aspirants who are yet to graduate.
A. DO NOT engineer your time at BITS Pilani or later specifically with ONLY the mindset of getting into a B-School. Do what interests you and want to and be really, really good at it. The last bit applies even if you end up doing something that you did not intend to.
Q. Is there anything that you wish you had done differently during your journey to b-school?
A. No regrets so far.
Q. Your take on working in a start-up before applying to B-Schools?
A. VERY helpful. But not from a “oh this will be a different experience and will get me in” point of view. It’s a good thing to do as it lets you understand your own skills and interests by experimenting with different things. It also gives you a macro wide view of business (operations/sales/finance/etc.) which is though limited in depth helps a lot when actually going through the MBA learning experience.
Q. Why do you think your current school is a right fit for you?
A. In no particular order:
1. Case Method – my plan is to always work in an execution/hands-on based leadership role and the case method specifically caters to that need by teaching all courses through actual business situations. All schools claim this but its shocking how religiously HBS practices this. For instance, for all our courses, there are no textbooks, ONLY cases. There is no standard pedagogy in practice here. I get exposed to several companies, business scenarios, economic situations and operating models. I am not sure if there is any other school that can offer such breadth.
2. 900 student class size – this is overwhelming at times but the big advantages are that you can always find someone with your interests. And though a student may typically “know” only 300-400 people by the end of 2 years, the entire network (largest alumni base for any school) is pretty much available to tap into.
3. International brand – The Harvard brand is one of the most known globally. And my plan is to work in India where Harvard is quite credible; the alumni network in India is also very strong.
Q. Top 3 reasons why a current BITSian applicant should apply to your school?
A. 1. Brand
2. Case Method and the quality of education (professors, course material etc)
3. Placement Division – very professional, efficient and a zillion options! So really good for career switchers.
Q. What is the one thing you miss the most apart from sleep, after joining b-school?
A. Actually “doing” things on the ground! Stuff like executing ideas and strategies, interacting with teams/employees, meeting customers, etc.
Q. Let’s end with a slightly off-beat question. If you could choose one celebrity to do an MBA with you in your class, who would it be and why?
A. Steve Jobs. Thank god he didn’t, the world would have been a much a different place.