It’s a common topic for group discussions and MBA interviews. ‘Entrepreneurs are born not made. Discuss.’ says the moderator and the shortlisted candidates (who’ve never had any exposure to entrepreneurship) take off on a passionate and agressive spiel. If you’ve ever see the MTV Roadies audition rounds, you can visualise what’s happening.
Unfortunately, the evaluation process encourages and incentivises applicants to take a clear (often, black or white) stand. Even more ironic is the fact that these guys who are fighting hard to make a point will never take up entrepreneurship after they complete their MBA. Read this post –> MBA Entrepreneurs: Why many bschool grads may never launch a startup.
So we thought it might help to know the views of someone who has been a successful entrepreneur for a long time. Cambridge MBA and entrepreneur Neeraj Agarwal (who first got a dhamakedaar introduction on our blog here –> Please come back to India. Your country needs you) is back. In this new series on entrepreneurship and startups, he will share his experience and knowledge with aspiring entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital in India has been generating a lot of interest, but it pales in comparison to the obsession you’ll find among the U.S. startup community. If you are interested in entrepreneurship or finance, it is important for you to understand how venture capital funds work, who runs them, where the money comes from, what they look for in start-ups and what they expect from you after they’ve transferred a whole lot of money in your startup account.

In this new mini-series on MBA Crystal Ball, we’ll cover some basic ground so you can carry on an intelligent conversation (peppered with the appropriate jargon) with VCs and entrepreneurs, without revealing the fact that you don’t have an MBA.

Till you gain more expertise in the field, let’s try to manage with the 20-percent-knowledge- 80-percent-confidence formula. Alright, let’s dive in.

The University of Oxford has been at the forefront of academics for over eight hundred years. Management education wasn’t on the menu till the Said Business School was established in 1996. Now this 1 year MBA in UK is considered among the best in the world. It has an average GMAT score of 690. At the average age of 29 years, the typical Oxford MBA students has around 6 years of pre-MBA work experience. 93% of the class is from outside the UK.
Earlier we published the story of a million dollar business owner (based outside India) who chose a European bschool (read the story here –> IE Business School MBA Spain). This time we have the story of Pawan Kesarwani, another Indian entrepreneur (based in India) who also decided to put his multi-million dollar business on hold to head off to Europe. He chose the Oxford MBA (Said).

Unlike the general (and incorrect) perception that folks in India have about an Executive MBA, here’s a real Executive MBA from the London Business School. If you are looking for an MBA in the UK, without leaving your job in India, the London Business School (LBS) can be a good option to consider.
As is the case with most top-notch universities offering an Executive MBA in India or UK or anywhere else, it can also be an expensive option. The rationale is, you have no opportunity cost (i.e. your salary doesn’t stop). So you can absorb the higher price tag. Unfair? Probably. But that’s how it works if you are keen on getting the best brand without willing to sacrifice your job and your sky-high salaries.
Folks going for an Executive MBA at the London Business School have thought through the process and narrowed it down to a program that offers the best of both worlds. If you are still unsure whether an Executive MBA in London (LBS) or other similar courses is for you, read Tanvi walks you through her thought process. She is attending the London Business School Executive MBA right now. And she does a good job of highlighting the pros and cons of such an option.

In the MBA Crystal Ball series on GMAT Critical Reasoning questions on Assumptions, we’ve covered enough ground to give you the confidence to deal with such questions. In this article, the GoGMAT team provides one final GMAT Critical Reasoning Sample Question on Assumptions.
Here’s the earlier mini-series:
Part 1: GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions: Identifying and Checking Assumptions
Part 2: GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions: Common Assumption Types
Part 3: GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions: Assumptions Sample

The last time we published an article on the University of Cambridge MBA program was when we interviewed the Admissions Director of the Judge Business School (University of Cambridge).
The last time you heard about Cambridge MBA graduate Neeraj Agarwal was in another article that involved the Indian Prime Minister.

Now that the protagonist and the university have been introduced, we move out of the picture and let Neeraj narrate his story. It starts off from the scenic valleys of Darjeeling and moves to the picturesque locales in Cambridge. But not before tackling the challenges of multiple GMAT attempts, multiple applications and an unconventional profile that Admission Officers at the top bschools aren’t used to evaluating.

If you look at the class profile statistics for ISB Hyderabad, you’ll find an average GMAT score that’s among the highest across all international B-schools. No wonder then that folks get enamoured with that one parameter and put all their energies into getting the highest GMAT score possible.
Sudhir Nemani tried twice to crack the GMAT, and ended up with GMAT scores of 600 and 610. As a senior professional in the investment banking industry, he had worked on a wide variety of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) transactions – managing all responsibilities including valuations, business modeling, negotiations, post merger integration and much more. His profile was solid. But the GMAT score was bringing the morale down.

What would you do if you had your eyes set on the Indian School of Business (ISB Hyderabad) and your GMAT score was more than a 100 points below the average GMAT score for ISB?

We conclude our 3-part MBA Crystal Ball series on GMAT Critical Reasoning questions on  Assumptions. In this article, the GoGMAT experts share a GMAT Critical Reasoning Sample Question on Assumptions.
Here’s the full mini-series:
Part 1: GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions: Identifying and Checking Assumptions
Part 2: GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions: Common Assumption Types
Part 3: GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions: Assumptions Sample

IESE Business School in Barcelona (Spain) offers an 18 month program that has been ranked high consistently by Financial Times, Forbes, BusinessWeek and the Economist.
After the first year, students get the opportunity of a corporate internship. The IESE Career Services team plays a key role in helping students.

Students also have the option of taking up international elective offerings in USA, Brazil, China or Kenya. For those keen on a longer stay abroad, the International Exchange Program allows students to complete a whole term at another top MBA program.
In this guest post, IESE MBA student Savita Hinger shares her experience.

Our friends from GoGMAT share with MBA Crystal Ball readers GMAT preparation tips to tackle the GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) questions. This time the focus is on CR question type – Assumption Questions.
Part 1: GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions: Identifying and Checking Assumptions
Part 2: GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions: Common Assumption Types
Part 3: GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions: Assumptions Sample