I have chosen to be an entrepreneur…
...says, Gomathi Shankar in conversation with Suman Priya Mendonca. Writing Tamil poems, playing cricket and football and photo editing are some of his favourite hobbies. An entrepreneur, with a start-up to his credit, he has come a long way from Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu; adding a B Tech in Industrial Biotechnology on his way and finally realising a dream of an MBA from SIBM Bangalore.
What motivated you to take up an MBA?
I used to be an integral part of all the extra-curricular and literary committees in college and experienced some management at a micro-level in many college events. Though I was not a dud in biotechnology, I wasn’t topper-material either. Sometime in my IVth semester, I weighed my options:
1. Write GRE/GATE/TOEFL and aim for a career in Biotechnology
2. Write CAT/SNAP/XAT and do an MBA or
3. Get placed in an MNC IT firm.
I felt a greater fit in the MBA option with regards my attitude and aspirations. The money factor too influenced my decision. I wanted to be in a boardroom rather than a laboratory; hence, the MBA.
When did you start preparing for SNAP? What would you consider was your weakest area?
I started preparing for MBA entrance examinations from the Vth semester. My weakest area was quants. In quants, I was not comfortable with geometry, trigonometry and pure maths but I was good at questions involving time, distance, money, averages, age puzzles and similar applied questions. I attempted to clear the quants hurdle by maximising scores from the comfortable areas and minimising damage from the tough ones.
How was the GD/PI experience?
I qualified for GD/PIs from BIM (Business Institute of Management, Trichi), XIMB (Bhubaneshwar) and SIBM, Bangalore. The GDs were quite the same in all places. The probability of it turning out to be bloody or gentle was mostly determined in the first two minutes. Almost every group had 3-4 people vying to start the discussion. My discussion groups varied from Slumdog Millionaire, an abstract philosophical quotation and growth of Indian infrastructure. Based on my experience, 3-4 meaningful participations at regular intervals in a 15-minute discussion and a few catchy one-liners seemed good enough to carry me through the GDs.
My interviews were very different from another. One interview tested my subject knowledge in biotechnology quite deeply. Another focused on my market knowledge and business-terms. The third was a general interview concerning my interests, ambitions, and attitude. I had prepared answers for questions like “Why MBA?” “Tell us about yourself” and “Short-term and long-terms”, which I used in all interviews.
I faced an interesting question in one of the interview. After I spoke for about a minute and a half about myself, the interviewer told that I had used 16 adjectives to describe me and asked me to justify at least 10 of these adjectives with real-life examples. That took me slightly off-guard but I managed well and eventually got a call from that institute.
What has been your greatest learning experience at SIBM so far?
I am a fresher but I did not find that as a major disadvantage. My batchmates helped and many of them eventually turned out to be my good friends. However, I had to take time to catch up with finance and accounts, being an engineer. I realised that everyone had one thing or the other to learn afresh in the early days of MBA. For engineers, it was finance and for commerce students, it was the Quantitative Techniques. Hence, most of us came to a common grounding within a few weeks of the course. After that, the ones who adjusted and grasped quickly made a mark for themselves.
My valuable learning at SIBM Bangalore included time management, adjusting to the demands of an MBA course and the art of networking. If I was curious and proactive, there appeared to be precious learning to take from professors and the classes beyond the syllabi. Further, I learnt to expand my network through interactions with faculty, peers and guest speakers.
What kind of recruitment/placement are you looking at?
I have chosen to be an entrepreneur and hence am not taking placements too seriously. However, had I opted for placements, I would have looked for a strategic role in brand management in media/advertising companies. I specialise in Marketing. Most of my classmates are preparing for careers in FMCG, retail, media and consulting industries.
As an entrepreneur, tell us something about the nature of work being done; has your MBA experience helped in this enterprise?
We five friends came together and started the business a year ago. Initially we worked as freelancers, but now have set up an office in Chennai. The company is named ‘Spark n’ Beyond’ and is a creative conceptualisation company. As the name says, both creativity and entrepreneurship are initially experienced as a divine spark and aims to take both these to a level beyond their boundaries. It is focused on creative thinking to provide ‘concepts’ and ‘content’ to clients. In short, we CREATE, CO-CREATE & COACH TO CREATE.
The MBA course has helped me immensely in planning and formulating a business plan & revenue models, marketing and business development. This startup also gave me a unique opportunity to test my classroom knowledge real-time in the market. My idea has been shortlisted this year among the top 850 business ideas out of 17,000 entries in the Economic Times “Power of Ideas” Challenge.
Message for MBA aspirants…
Try to assess your strengths and weaknesses. Analyse your simulated test performances with solved answer sheets after each test. Prepare for your GDs even before attempting the exams. Newspapers help a lot. Prepare ready-made answers for a few FAQs in the interviews and rehearse them before the interviews. Think about your expectations from an MBA course. Don’t put hope on a single institute. Do your homework on the options available in various institutes. Believe in ‘smart work’. Prepare wisely. Stay relaxed.
The challenge is only about making it here. An MBA is easier than SNAP or CAT or any MBA entrance examination. |
