Akshay Kumar, Roll No 1511004

Statement of Purpose, Best All Rounder, PGP 2015-17

Life at IIM B has taken a full circle for me!
I was born and brought up in a village and still recollect walking bare feet on scorching sand and studying under
lantern light. When I started my education in third standard, I was so deplorable that I could not write even my
name in English. I have strived from every moment thereon for the past 18 years to excel, while learning from
failures, and persisting under dire circumstances. IIM B happened to me at a point in time when I was going
through distress in my professional and personal lives. I wanted to take this opportunity to excel in every front-
be it academics or extra-curricular. The previous 21 months have been nothing short of a surreal experience for
me- DML (top 1% in batch), transforming a dormant FOCAL club, founding a Socio-Tech startup with NSRCEL,
winning several international and national competitions (Global CFA Challenge, Hult Prize, Numero Uno). But
above these achievements I believe I deserve to be the best-all-rounder for my eternal desire to excel, sheer
leadership skills, and living the spirit of Tejaswi Navidhatmastu via first steps in social entrepreneurship.

I have taken academics very seriously here. Rigorous academics at IIM B have taught me three things- beating
my fears, excelling in teams, and appreciating diversity. When I joined IIM B, finance gave me shivers. The
situation became worse with Financial Accounting and Corporate Finance. But I wanted to get rid of my fears in
finance. I kept taking financial electives one after another- Capital Market Theory, Banking Financial Market
Systems, Investment Banking, Risk Management, Fixed Income Securities and Derivatives, International Finance.
Bit by bit, inch by inch, I not only got rid of my fears but I also excelled in the most competitive courses. My
second biggest learning in academics was excelling in teams in project works. No matter what composition of
project teams I was in, I somehow always managed to convert even the ordinary teams into high performing
ones. In almost every single project, I have been appreciated by the faculty for the phenomenal deliverable on
project works. This often demanded leading by example, structuring the projects, ensuring on-ground
implementation and monitoring, and above all, communicating effectively. Lastly, I made sure that I do not get
stuck in my comfort zone. I ensured that I get a holistic business experience of all fields. I took electives in
Finance, Strategy, Marketing, and Operations. This gamut of experiences often made me appreciate the diversity
of others viewpoints, learn from the best in business, and thoroughly enjoy my academic journey every minute,
every class, every case.

Still, my biggest satisfaction comes from me spearheading a holistic turnaround of the FOCAL club. When I joined
the club in first year as a Junior Coordinator (JC), the club used to do only two events and was largely dormant.
From that point on, first as a JC, and, then as Secretary of FOCAL, I led a major turnaround of the club. Just to
quote a few- leading General Management, Marketing, and Tech GD placement preparation across 200 GDs for
over 250+ PGP students; launching the first-ever Inter-IIM Debate across 8 IIMs, launching 3 other events with
sheer focus on quality. The GD preparations average rating (on anonymous formal feedback) by PGP students
who participated in our prep was 4/5, which was very good. Not only that, 77% rated us either very good (4/5)
or excellent (5/5).

Last but not the least, I believe I have truly lived the spirit of IIM B- Tejaswi Navidhatmastu by taking my first
steps towards social entrepreneurship. Through the idea of SocioTech, I co-founded (along with other 2) a
Student Run Venture at NSRCEL with the aspiration to create a sustainable and scalable social enterprise that
aims to provide the marketplace and smart tech solutions to address the fundamental issue of livelihood for 1
billion migrants and slum dwellers globally. Our business model is strong considering the fact that we were the
national finalists of Hult prize for the prestigious social entrepreneurship.

I believe these three traits- my eternal desire to excel, sheer leadership skills, and living the spirit of Tejaswi
Navidhatmastu via social entrepreneurship- make me a strong candidate for Best All-Rounder Award at IIM B.