In our list of India's Best 50 - the 50 Most Employable Students from the Class of 2020-22, we feature MBA students who have walked that extra mile and done that little more to stand out! One of those featured in today's story, Mit Thobhani, has shown an incredible amount of passion to achieve his true potential. Read on and find out his story!
The following are Mit Thobhani’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, Mit'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.
Institute Rank-1 and Pursuing CA & CSThere are two instances one of the instances happened during B-school and the other before joining B-school. The first instance is as follows. Our fourth term started just after daybreak from a summer internship. The 4th term is the last term whose grades are calculated for final placements. Also, this is the first term where we have to work for the Position of Responsibilities (PORs). I have 2 PORs, i.e., Live Projects Head of IIM- Calcutta and Co-President of Share Leadership Club. Further, I have also taken a term paper on the topic' Role of PEVC firms in the growth of Indian Unicorns'. There was much work to do academically and the responsibilities that I have taken. I ended the 4th term with getting Institute rank-1 (CGPA- 8.6 out of 9) out of 480 students getting the best grades for the top rank. Further, being Live Projects Head, I have Onboarded the highest ever 14 live projects in a term which is 280% of the previous year's live project. During the term, coordinated interviews of 600+ students and successfully gave live projects to 35+ students. Further, in Share, I have led 3 tier team of 65 to implement consulting projects having a budget of more than 50K. I have onboarded 10+ "Do well-Do good" early-stage startups for student projects and organized a national-level case competition with participation from 100+ teams. Doing all the study and work in 10 weeks and giving exams, taking 50+ CV reviews and interviews requires great time management and commitment. The second instance is before joining IIM Calcutta. Back in 2014, after clearing 12th with flying colors, I had to choose the next step in my career. I have decided to pursue Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary both. Chartered Accountancy is one of the Top-3 most challenging exams in India. Around 5 out of 1000 people cleared CA exams on the first attempt. However, I was planning to pursue both courses simultaneously. CS, on the other hand, is an equally tricky course. There was much risk involved if I flunked at any of the levels. However, I wanted to differentiate among other CAs who are just pursuing one course. I have cleared both CA and CS in the first attempt with All India Rank 52 in CA intermediate. I have been State 3rd in CA Final with highest ever 90 marks in Financial reporting. Further, In CA and CS intermediate, I have got distinction marks in 5 out of 7 subjects each.
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.
A blind girl and End-term exams. On a Saturday evening, I was studying for the end term, which was starting from Monday. As there was only one day left, there were a lot of things to prepare for the exams. There was no break given before exams. Further, the lectures have just been completed a day before. There were six exams in 3 days i.e., two exams a day. I had a lot of work to do over the weekend. Suddenly, on that evening, I got a call from my school principal after around 6 years. He seemed tense and was in a hurry. He wanted me to be a helper of a blind girl for her competitive exams tomorrow. Her previous helper had backed out last moment. It was the advanced stage exam and would consume around 8-9 hours on Sunday. Further, there was no one with any experience with the blind except me in his mind. My exams were necessary, and spending 8-9 hours would affect my grade by a margin. However, the blind girl had worked hard, and she had reached the advanced stage of the exam. Further, there was no one with experience to help her around. So, I decided to help her and also scored well in my exams.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
B-school or JobWhen I have decided to join B-school, I have communicated the same to my manager at KPMG. Along with the partner of KPMG, he decided to provide me a raise of 25% and a handsome bonus if I don't join B-school and continue working there at least for 2 years. Having told this offer to my parents and other family members, they asked me to continue working. Being in a middle-class family, my salary has been essential for paying home EMIs and other day-to-day expenses. Further, no income for at least two years was a concern. They strongly disagreed with my idea of joining B-school. It was difficult to make them change the decisions and took me days to do it. I focused on long-term aspects rather than thinking short-term to make them change the decision.
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?
FinanceFinance is the subject/ field which has interested me since I was studying. By clearing Chartered accountancy, I have gained depth knowledge of Finance. Further, joining the finance campus of the country has added my depth towards the subject. However, It was essential to get real-life experience of Finance. I have acquired the experience by joining a private equity firm for an internship. I have interned with Baring Private Equity Asia. A firm that holds US$ 34B+ asset under management, working directly with the Vice presidents and managing partners has added an immense amount of experience. Further, I have done a research paper with one of the esteemed finance professors of IIM Calcutta.
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?
Venture-debt Firm and Portfolio of investment. Before getting the money, I would like to do some preliminary checks of the fund source and tax implication of the money received. Whether it is won by lottery or any other method, If tax is not deducted at source, some money needs to be set aside for the tax purpose.Getting such huge money, its essential to protect the capital base and ensure that it doesn't go down beyond its current level. I would open a family office fund. It is a private wealth advisory firm established usually opened by an ultra-high-net-worth individual or group of individuals. This would ensure my capital protection. Every investment are made with the proper help of consultants. This would be managed by people having experience in investing and are moderate risk-takers.One of my dreams is to open a venture capital firm. However, there are various venture equity firms in the market. I wanted to explore the new and emerging concept of venture debt. Venture debt, also known as venture lending, refers to various debt financing products offered to early and growth-stage venture capital-backed companies. Provided by technology banks and dedicated venture debt funds, venture debt generally consists of a three to four-year term loan or equipment lease. Venture loans are generally a complement to venture capital and provide value to fast-growing companies and their existing investors by minimizing equity dilution when raising new rounds of capital. Unlike traditional bank lending, venture loans cater to startups and growth companies that do not necessarily have positive cash flow or hard assets to use as collateral. Venture debt firms will have moderate risk and stable cash flow and ROI of around 21% from the debt portion. However, this idea will be vetted with many experts before implementing.Further, for the long term following is the plan to invest in the various instruments. The investment portfolio consists of equity stocks that are moderately riskier but have the potential to provide better returns in the long run. Accordingly, the aim of capital appreciation would be met through equity investment. The equity allocation is done by investing in companies that the fund believes are available at a discount to its intrinsic value, taking a long-term view that allows the market to price the value into the stock price. While the major investment is done in equities considering long-term view, the portfolio has been kind of rebalanced to certain extent by investing in short term securities such as the money market, government bonds, fixed deposits and also a portion in fixed income securities ensuring a continuous flow of stable interest receipts. This would help them exploit any opportunity in the fixed-income market based on RBI rates and the rating agencies' rating changes. The fund exploits the benefits of diversification by selecting a mix of debt, equity and money market securities. Within each security class, we have also maintained healthy diversification to build a dynamic debt and equity portfolios. The debt portfolio has been diversified using short-term & long-term government bonds, perpetual bonds and other corporate bonds. This fund would be around 30-40% of the total amount and its asset allocation would be 70% equity, 20% debt and 10% money market. Given that I would be continuing my job and maintaining minimum savings after meeting all expenditures and having a stable job with a moderate risk appetite, I intend to earn a high return and am ready to take risk. Hence, a significant proportion of the fund is invested in equity.
Read the stories of the other Employable Graduates here!