The last session of Eximius was a panel discussion on decoding the MBA entrepreneur. It was a very entertaining and engaging session anchored by Rashmi Bansal, the author of “Stay Hungry Stay Foolish”.

A few key points from the discussion:

- The most critical moments in a start-up come during the initial period. The take off is going to be the most difficult and getting the first few customers will be the most challenging task.
- Your network will open the doors for new business as well as new capital that may be required at any time. So, expand the network.
- The support of family is very critical. Krishnan Ganesh, the CMD of Tutorvista.com was the most humorous. He said, “Behind every successful entrepreneur is a devoted wife and surprised mother-in-law”. He was only emphasizing how important it is to have your family back you.
- The panel also felt that most MBAs (esp from the premium b-schools) don’t end up being entrepreneurs not only because of the huge opportunity costs but also due to their logical and reasonable thinking. To be an entrepreneur, you need to be stupid and foolish.
- Be very patient and also flexible in terms of the revenue streams you may have. Sometimes, you may have to do unexpected things to just keep the revenues flowing.

I think this interview with Manas Garg, about rejecting IIM B call was quite useful. There is nothing right or wrong about his decision. What one can take out this discussion is “WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT TO DO..” matters the most..

There are lots of very insightful comments given @ the end of the post.
Check out the comments given by Pradeep Kumar, Ram, Shyam, Anshul etc.. Quite useful I would say.

There was a discussion about this in IIM Bangalore – PGP 2008 – 2010 yahoo group. Seniors have their views about it as well. For the benefit of readers, here is what some seniors told. I really hope this will help you in your decision to pursue/not pursue MBA.

A senior Parul was kind enough to give a long explanation..

Dear Sundar n others facing similar dilemma

In my view, there can be no general answer to your question. However, it’ll be of benefit to continue speaking to many ppl and get individual perspectives. Here, I’ll share my perspective.

1. I feel every participant of the course is entitled to his/her likings and dislikings. Yes, you’ll have people who are doing an MBA coz they wanted to move on from the technology sector. And, why do
you not expect them here? It’s a general management program. If u dream about science/technology all the time and want to be a scientist/technologist, why do an MBA? The world needs bright scientists n technologists just as it needs bright managers. However, if your interest is in managing technology businesses, MBA does make sense.

2. Many of us at IIM B are from technology backgrounds. If some hate coding, some loved it too. It’s the same with everything, is n’t it? Some love marketing, some hate it. There are my batch mates who still love to code and they write codes to automate funcions of bookclub or sigma. But they pursue it as a hobby. The curriculum won’t have any courses in coding. It will have courses in managing technology businesses – technology marketing, Management of Information systems, Internet marketing.

3. I think asking whether there are people who love coding in IIM B is just as good as asking whether there are people who love X in IIM B? X could be sports, restaurants or even wines. If you choose not to come to IIM B as there are more of X haters than X lovers, it’s a personal choice. If you choose to do MBA as you love to manage the business of X, fair choice. The question you can ask of the course is – will the course have courses about managing business of X?

4. If we keep emphasizing on the selection process at IIM B, it’s just to say that your batch will have enough of diversity. And this diversity will make it more probable that u’ll find someone else who loves X no matter how unconventional that love maybe.

5. Yes, it might be difficult to get into hardcore tech after an MBA. VLSI Firms like ST Microelectronics India don’t even need an MBA for you to be a manager there. As STM India is a design centre. Most managers there are not managing businesses,they are managing design teams. They need to know the technology their teams are working on. So, most managers are engineers who have climbed up the management ladder. If an engineer at STM India wants to stay in
become a manager at STM India, a full time MBA might not be the route to take. Some Engineers there are doing part-time MBA. Maybe, it fits the bill better.

6. Tech firms like Yahoo! do hire from general management programs like ours. Google has hired Product Managers from ISB. So, if the manager’s profile at a tech firm has an element that’s taught at B schools, tech firms will hire from B schools.

Kandarp gave the following gyaan.

I have 3 things to say :

“Entrepreneurship”(‘A’) is different from “Being in
hard core tech”(‘B’).

C: Only one of A and B requires an MBA.

Your friend ( Manas ) seems to confuse the two when he says he is afraid to ‘lose touch’ with technology – coding , which might indeed happen when he becomes an entrepreneur. In effect, he is perfectly right when he says he is too early for him to do an MBA.

Readers, I really hope this information was helpful for you. I would like to say “What you want to do” matters most.. Talk to people.. to get a better picture..

A lots of us want to get into IIM Bangalore.. There is so much about getting to A B or C.. Its a dream!! People slog for it for years… But today, I have a very special guest, Manas Garg! Manas, is also one among 250,000 people who took CAT 2007 with a dream of making it to the IIMs.. But when he got a lonely call from IIM Bangalore, he rejected the offer to attend the interview.. Manas has given some of his thoughts about why he rejected the call in this episode of Coffee With Experts.. Today, when a lot of us are gha-gha about making into IIMs, without even having any idea about why they want to be there.. This interview could be an eye-opener..
Its my pleasure to invite Manas Garg!

Coffee With Manas Garg!

Me: Sundar Rajan G S
MG: Manas Garg

Me: Hi Manas, First of all – Let me tell you.. You have taken a gutsy decision. When did you take the decision to pursue CAT/MBA? And more imporantly when did you decide to reject the call?
MG: It was in the final year, after working for Spider Club.. I realized that I throughly enjoyed working independently. I felt that entrepreneurship was my goal.. and thus an MBA seemed to the right thing to do. However, I was never completely convinced about this idea, and I kept getting second thoughts all the time. It was only after the results were out and I got the call from IIM Bangalore that I finally decided that I’d reject the call.

Me: Just to add context to this discussion, what was your cat percentiles, how many calls did you get.. Can you share these details..
MG: I had 98.5 percentile, and got just one call – from IIM-B. I attempted very few questions in the English section and my percentile in that section (apparently my strongest) turned out to be just 83. I was expecting calls from other IIMs but definitely not IIM-B. Getting the B call was a pleasant surprise.

Me: Where was the mismatch… You were enthusiastic at one point and suddenly u decided no after getting call.. Why did you change your decision.
MG: After getting the call, I spoke to a lot of people – people studying at IIM-B, people studying in ISB and people with commendable experience in the tech sector. The common things that came out of my discussions were as follows:

• IIMs are not a good place if you want to go into a tech company after your MBA. People in IIM love finance, economics and dream of Investment banks and Consultancy firms. I’d be a mismatch – I dream about technology all the time!

• Most engineers who join IIMs do it mainly ‘coz they have had enough of coding. I still haven’t – Again – I’d be the odd one out.

• After two years in such an environment, I’d lose touch with technology – and everyone agreed that it would be hard to get back into hardcore tech.

• It is not a do-or-die situation for me as yet. I can always go do an MBA later if i want to. Why hurry things up? I’m all of 22 years old.

To top it all, I love my job. I love the workplace, I love the kind of work I’m getting and I love the people I’m working with. As you can see, I have enough reason not to go for an MBA just now. I have described the reasons in detail and had a debate with my friends on my blog here – http://manasg.com/2008/03/25/mba/

Me: Now that you have thought a lot about MBA in India.. What are the pros and the cons of it.. (According to you!)
MG: MBA is more than the glamorous profession people in school or college look up to. The entry is difficult, and upto an extent, random too. Once in the institute, you need to work very hard. What we did for our engineering is nothing compared to the hard work an MBA course demands. And finally, the high paying jobs one gets after the MBA are also taxing – they don’t really leave you with time to relax.

MBA courses in India are highly inclined towards finance, and there are hardly any reputed MBA courses with focus on technology or entrepreneurship.

Me: Microsoft gives a good Pay package for software engineer.. How much did money factor play a role in you decision.. even if it played a small role?
MG: I’d be lying if I say money did not pay a role. Had I been earning much lesser than what I’m just now, maybe this decision would have been tougher for me. Microsoft is an amazing place to work. The work environment, unlike most other tech companies, is very relaxed. However, relaxed definitely does not mean it is not challenging. The combination of good work, good work environment and good compensation is very satisfying. Also, I learn a lot everyday at work – there are always new things to do.

Me: What does your bold decision mean.. No MBA or No Indian MBA? What are the other options that you are looking for? Are you thinking of MS/Phd? Or MBA abroad.
MG: My decision does not mean no MBA. As of now, I’m enjoying my work as a developer at Microsoft, and don’t want to do anything to spoil it. If I feel that I’m done with technology (which is highly unlikely), I’d have no option but to go for an MBA. To put things in perspective, entrepreneurship has always been my dream, and I’ll do anything that is required to achieve it.

Me: Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?
MG: I’m not sure if I can answer this truthfully – so I’ll skip it.

Me: What is the message that you would like to give to juniors in NIT Trichy.. And to all the other CAT aspirants & MBA aspirants?
MG: All I’d like to say is that don’t get caught in the rat race. Introspect, think and find out what you really want to do. College is a great time to figure out your passion. If you come out of college with a set goal, life will be much easier. Most of us have no idea about the job we’re going to take up – and consequently have no concrete plans for the future. Set a goal for yourself that you want to achieve in this lifetime – everything else is only the path leading to it. MBA or CAT is only one small piece in the whole jigsaw puzzle.

Me: What do you think about CWS initiative? What do you like about it.. Do suggest areas of improvements also..
MG: Sundar’s passion for his blog is really commendable. Even though he goes around telling every time there is a new post, I think it is only because he wants to share what he has discovered. I’m sure Sundar’s blog will soon be counted in India’s best blogs. I’m a regular reader of his blog and am so happy that he asked me to appear on his blog!

Me: Manas, its my pleasure to host you as well! All the best for your future.

For previous episodes of Coffee With Experts – Click here