A master's degree in the US was the next logical step after Naveen Tewari acquired a degree in mechanical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. A job offer was also on the table from global consulting firm McKinsey. One conversation with his father swung it for the young man.
“You will be unhappy in research. You are someone who likes to make things happen,” said the father. Tewari did not question this and said yes to McKinsey. In many ways, it was a life-changing experience—out of the three years spent there, 18 months were dedicated to what was then the Reliance Infocomm project. Remember, one is speaking of the 2001-02 phase, in a very different India, where the digital economy was still at a nascent stage.
Armed with work experience, Tiwari—now Founder & CEO, InMobi Group—decided to head to the US for an MBA. The next stop was Harvard Business School. Part of a batch of 900 students, he saw a new world.
Like him, there are several Indians who opt to go overseas for studying management and come back with a different perspective. That said, studying in a top school abroad is expensive-upwards of $2,00,000 total course fee-but there is conviction on the payback in terms of learning, global exposure, and networking.
Eureka moments A talk with those who have pursued a management degree outside India reveals a few interesting points. A diversified peer group across nationalities, a unique pedagogical experience and access to a large network standout.
The diffident Indian with a bit of trepidation about failure often has a more focused and nuanced approach. Vartika Bansal, AI Ops Partner, Elevation Capital, studied at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and according to her, risk-taking is a major facet. “The real risk is not in failing but in not trying. I realised chasing your wildest dreams and testing your potential is far more rewarding than playing safe and calculating career moves,” she says.
That 'eureka' moment in a student's life changes everything. For Ahana Gautam, Founder and CEO of healthy snacking brand Open Secret, it was at Harvard when a case study on PepsiCo got a response from one of her classmates on the ethical responsibility of companies. “The time at Harvard was about moving from a pleasure-seeking mindset to creating a meaningful impact,” she says.
One thing led to another, visiting chains such as Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's strengthened that resolve. "It convinced me of the potential of my idea in India and a belief in the growing importance of health and fitness", says Gautam, who studied chemical engineering at IIT Bombay before heading westwards. In 2019, she set up Open Secret as an "unjunking food option." The decision to return came with an urge "to build something meaningful despite better opportunities in the US," says Gautam.
Of course, not all have signed up for the two-year deal. Take for instance Rajiv Mehta, General Partner, Athera Venture Partners, who chose to do his degree at INSEAD, being convinced that a one-year programme was all he wanted. “There was the opportunity cost part to it, plus it came with a global and diverse student body,” he says. Prior to his current assignment, Mehta headed sports company PUMA, followed by stints at apparel and lifestyle companies such as Arvind Ltd and kitchen and home appliances company Stovekraft.
I was an expectant mother at the time of being accepted. Wharton's supportive and flexible approach tilted the scale in its favour.
-Priyanka Chopra, CEO and Managing Partner at IIMA Ventures
The undergraduate degree does make a difference. In INSEAD, most students, according to Mehta, are engineers. “However, they do not restrict the proportion since this does not create diversity. Being an engineer was a plus, but having peers from other streams helped in the overall learning,” he says. The one-year programme led to more intense networking, he says. “It is counterintuitive. In a short span, and in a high-stress environment, you end up making great friends.”
Tewari underlines the famed Harvard case study approach. "There is no perfect answer, and it was dramatically different from my engineering upbringing as it was all about precision or a predictable outcome backed by high logical reasoning. This now needed a very flipped intuition". Like Bansal, he says, failure and it's acceptance were key learnings.
THE TRANSFORMATION
The choice of business school is done for a variety of factors. In Bansal's case, Stanford's location was important, by way of what she terms "proximity to innovation".
Many students want to study at the best business schools and hence apply to a small number of schools. In the case of Priyanka Chopra, CEO & Managing Partner, IIMA Ventures and venture partner, Bharat Innovation Fund, her consideration set was limited to three-the school's reputation, diversity, and class size; quality of faculty, alumni network, industry connections-especially in technology-and finally, the placement record. "I was also an expectant mother at the time of being accepted. Wharton's supportive and flexible approach tilted the scale in its favour," she says.
The transformation during the MBA for many took off inevitably when something that one had come in with got overturned. For Bansal, expectation of rigour eventually led to something “much deeper and more personal.” She refers to the two years as “profoundly transformative” and how they humbled her. The experience of the world included a summer in Bhutan, working with the king on development initiatives, and later with Mumbai High Court’s Chief Justice, which exposed her to public policy and governance. As one would expect, coming from a middle-class family in India, adaptation was key. Tewari values Harvard for changing him from “that Kanpur boy” to thinking about the world differently. “The environment at Harvard was people thinking and talking about changing the world, he says. The global order may shift, but it would be interesting to see if the overseas MBA would retain its sheen. Chances are that is not going to change anytime soon.
