The following are Harsh Shah’s set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst MBA graduates to determine the top-50 Most Employable MBA Graduates of the Class of 2022. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated, Harsh's story and profile stood out. Here's his story in his own words.
Name an instance where you wanted something and went out of your comfort zone to achieve it OR Tell us the biggest risk you have taken so far in your life.
In MBA CET 2020 (my first attempt), I scored a 99.99 percentile and secured an ALL INDIA RANK 4. With this achievement, I saw an opportunity to use my knowledge and understanding of CET to guide the next batch of aspirants in their aptitude exam preparation. After getting in touch with some other toppers of CET and discussing the prospects of a possible collaboration, I co-founded a start-up in the education space. This was extremely new for me as owning a business comes with its own set of challenges and responsibilities. I had never imagined or for that matter even aspired to own a business ever, as inherently I wasnt comfortable with the financial and non-financial risks involved with it. However, to explore a different opportunity, push my limits, and try something out of my comfort zone, I decided to go ahead with it and give it my all. The initial investment was not humongous but was substantially large for me as I ventured into it as a fresh graduate waiting for the B-school admission process. I didnt want to ask my parents for the capital and hence had to use my savings from pocket money, scholarships, and prizes that I had earned over the years. It was a difficult call to make, but I am glad that I took the decision. Fast forward to today, after almost 10 months of working on the start-up, my team and I have directly helped over 500 students with their aptitude exam preparation, we are a profitable organization, we have earned in two-digit multiples of our initial investment and I feel extremely satisfied and fulfilled that I chose to tread this road.Another instance connected with my start-up, which made me nervous, was to put my face on YouTube as we had to reach out to our potential audience. Trust me when I say, the fear of trolls is Real. Nevertheless, I wanted to explore it someday and found an opportunity during the initial stages of the start-up, so I went for it. After some consistent efforts, we have over 18,000 watch hours and 235 thousand views on YouTube.What I learned out of these experiences is that the beginning might be uncomfortable, but with constant efforts, things pan out in a better way. It has also given me the confidence to try out different activities that are much out of my comfort zone.
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.
It was my final year of graduation in 2020, COVID-19 had severely affected the entire nation, and the final semester exams, vivas & project submission was happening. One of my closest friends and his family were unfortunately affected severely by the virus and it became a struggle for my friend to prepare for exams in any way. I offered my help in all ways possible under these dire circumstances, but I believe my most impactful contribution was to summarise topics for him on long calls explaining important concepts, send him voice notes for various subjects, and by all sorts make his preparation phase as comfortable and easy-going as possible. To help him out I had to shed many extra hours and burn some midnight oil, but thats what we do for friends, dont we?Another instance is from my summer internship, wherein one of my senior associates was having trouble with a complex excel data analysis and was also under additional work pressure as the deliverable date was nearby. I learned about this issue in a common meeting with the manager and offered to take up the excel analysis. Turned out the problem was fairly complex and I had to spend the entire night to find the insights out of it, but I managed to finish it. This allowed my associate to complete other deliverables on time. My effort was much appreciated by the associate and even got noticed by my manager. I believe this instance would have played an important role in the company offering me a PPO.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
During my graduation in Computer Engineering, I received a campus placement offer from a dream company, and through my efforts in MBA CET, I also secured a 99.99%tile. A lot of my friends, seniors, and mentors were of the opinion that I should take up the job get some work experience and then join a B-School after some years as that would provide me with more opportunities compared to joining as a fresher. At that point in time, the job market also seemed uncertain due to covid-19 and hence the suggestions I was receiving were to take the job when I had one in hand. I wanted to get into management consulting and another constant feedback I received was that it is difficult for candidates without work experience to convert such roles. To me, it did not seem rational to miss out on the opportunity of joining a prestigious B-school like Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and spend another two years of my life not chasing my goals. The solution was to enhance my profile to get consulting shortlists and prepare diligently for the case interview process. The result of following this plan was that I could bag a consulting role, performed well during the summer internship, and got offered a PPO and I was also among the earliest ones to be placed despite being one of the youngest in the batch.
What is the one thing you can claim to have some level of expertise or depth of knowledge in - it could be anything - a subject, a sport, a hobby, a venture, an initiative which has led you to do deep work in that field?
I believe there are three things on which I have developed some level of expertise and they are Judo, Teaching, Consumer behavior & needs in Education SpaceI have practiced Judo for over 10 years in my life and have participated in three consecutive national-level competitions. I would claim to know quite a few things about the sport and self-defense in general. Having practiced it for such a long time, I believe I have developed a good understanding of the intricacies of the martial art. My interest in Judo has also diversified into fitness as a lifestyle.As someone who has consistently performed well in academics throughout school, I always used to help my friends by teaching them subjects like algebra, geometry, and science. This sparked an interest in me for teaching and through my recent experience with the start-up, I have now taught over 500 candidates for their aptitude tests. These experiences have made me proficient in teaching to a certain extent.Finally, to grow the start-up, it was imperative to understand what the consumers of aptitude courses need. Through primary research, feedbacks, and frequent discussions with students I have tried to recognize the needs and behaviors of this consumer segment. And over the last year, I have implemented these learnings to further refine my understanding of the trends.
If 10 Million Dollars (approximately INR 75 Crores) is given to you to use it any way you deem fit what would you do with this corpus?
If I am given that sort of amount, here is how I would allocate it.First of all, I will split it into two sections of 30% ($ 3M) and 70% ($ 7M). I will use the 70% for various investments and I will pledge the 30% to different avenues.The 30% will consist of the following. I will hand over 10% ($ 1M) to my parents for their retirement funds. Another 10% ($ 1M) will go towards my school as donations for infrastructure upgrades. Next 5% ($ 500K) towards my B-school. I would pitch in 3% ($ 300K) to my graduation college and specifically to the National Service Scheme (NSS) unit for continuing the good social work we have been doing there. And I will use the final 2% ($ 200K) for immediate upgrades for me and my family. The underlying emotion is to contribute to all organizations that have helped me develop as an individual.Coming to the 70% segment, I will allocate 15% to low risk, 25% to medium risk, and 15% to high-risk investments, spread across equity markets, money markets, commodities, and real estate. With the final 15%, I would invest in potential high-growth Indian start-ups.
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