I'm Varun, Co-Founder at Mesa School of Business. Ask me anything!

Glad you asked this @salt!

India's GDP is predicted to triple in the coming 12-15 years, but this can't be achieved without a strong workforce that gets things done! The existing learning methods are flawed in many ways, and it's very exciting to see a lot of really smart, driven minds solving this. India requires more institutions of high quality - not 5 not 10 but 100s of them!

We strongly believe the startup ecosystem will be a significant catalyst in India's growth journey. We are privileged to have the opportunity to nurture the next generation of startup leaders!

Coming to the scalability of the business model, the flywheel is straightforward - a great curriculum & pedagogy on a great cohort gets us great outcomes, which in turn gets us a great new cohort the next time around. Pretty simple right? :)

@VarunLimaye I completely agree on that if done in an asset light way.

best of luck🤞🏻

@Babel Great question!

The startup ecosystem in India is growing very fast and if you think about it there are just so many learnings, knowledge and experiences that nobody has bothered to document and institutionalize. We believe this is a worthy enough problem to solve. [Think what Stanford did for the Silicon Valley]

Furthermore, startups face a lot of issues in hiring the right talent. I have personally experienced this with Mesa. Startups don't care about brands but care about skills and that is great for an emerging new business school. It's also the right incentive for the entire higher education system to be more skills focused (as opposed to brand/degree focused)

There are examples internationally of business schools focused on creating solutions for a smaller more focused ecosystem. And, that usually works really well because the a bschool then can really focus all its energy on delivering an experience tailored to a very specific employer and student.

Thanks Varun! Really appreciate your answer.

Just one more question- any foreign B School brands that are focused on startups? Just curious to learn and understand more about

@Zacksharma

1. We call ourselves a new age MBA because we are thinking first principles about solving a learning outcomes/job outcomes gap for our students. For almost 100 years now business education has remained unchanged. Nobody has challenged it to understand whether a certain component of it is really necessary OR if something new needs to be added, that is why business education is so theoretical, classroom based and remote from reality. New age MBAs have this amazing power to questions everything, un-bundle offerings, add new interesting experiences and delete age old practices that add no value to the main user.

2. My list - Communication, basic business fundamentals, agile solution development (launch fast, learn, repeat), ability to understand customers and ability to work/manage a team.

3. Anybody who is ready to invest in personal growth and wants to get a large delta in their personal and professional life. People who feel they are plateauing in their current position and feel they need a jump to break the ceiling.

Thanks, all the best @VarunLimaye

@Pavi I get where you're coming from. It's a big commitment to invest a whole year and a significant amount of money, and it's definitely something you should take your time to think about. I'm glad to hear that you're reaching out to others and getting their perspectives, that's a great way to gather information!

Let's be real, we're a startup. That means we're here to shake things up and change how things are done. We're working hard to redefine what higher education can look like in the coming years. We're incredibly fortunate to have the support of many leaders and stakeholders in our ecosystem and are truly a business school built by the startup ecosystem for the startup ecosystem.

There's so much more I could tell you, but it might be a bit much for a message here on Grapevine. I'd recommend that you sign up on our website and come to one of our info sessions. It is personally conducted live by me. It would be a fantastic opportunity for you to get a more in-depth answer to your question. Looking forward to seeing you there :)

Definitely sir

Great question @proton!

We recently started the INR 5Cr Mesa Startup Fund. As part of the fund, we've created clear milestones that students need to complete: ideation closure, customer research, building the MVP, hitting 100 paying customers, and so on. At each stage, students receive mentorship and guidance, access to early-stage investors and past founders, and valuable one-on-one time with my co-founder Ankit and me. We also support them financially and give them an opportunity to pitch to VCs!

@UndrSun Great questions.

1. Top of the Funnel was broad, but then both Ankit and I personally spent a lot of time with potential candidates. Understanding their goals, motivation, future plans, strengths and weaknesses. How rigorous we were with our process made students understand how committed we were to their growth. On occasions I also spent time with parents to take them through our plans for Mesa. It was always going to be a very personal and intimate sell and we were prepared for that!

As for the CAC I cannot disclose the numbers. But here's what we can say that if we can build a really string flywheel - great students coming in - great learning experience - great job outcomes which attracts a great next cohort then at some point our CAC will drop to zero as is the case with most large b schools.

2. Our cohort is small and we will just need a minuscule of that pie (which btw is not shrinking at all!). Also being backed by a VC has its perks. We get unparalleled access to job opportunities at Elevation Capital's portfolio companies. The VC knows that success in getting jobs for our students is their success.

3. I worked with a large education non profit before going to the US and was always certain that I wanted to build for the Indian user. Coming back to India can never be a practical decision, its an emotional one. I truly believe in India's growth story and want to be in thick and thin of things when the rocket launches!

4. We are not thinking about growth right now. Higher education (when built right) is a slow build. We are extremely focused on our founding cohort currently!

All the best to your founding cohort and wish to success ❤️

Hey @TallTales69 , typically a startup transitions into a corporate during the late stages of funding / IPO, but if you ask me, the spirit never dies :)

Hey @Djoker,

At Mesa we have primarily 4 career pathways for our students

1. Product
2. General Management
3. Growth and Marketing
4. B2B Sales

@VarunLimaye Noted. Thank you!

@Micheal_Scott

I joined Pratham Education Foundation not knowing anything about how the education space functions. But by the end of my 5 years there I ended up travelling to almost 300 districts in India often to rural government schools. I also built a team of 80 that built tech products for govt teachers, parents and govt officials. Watching them use products I had built to improve learning outcomes in young children was such a great feeling that I got addicted to it. Since then all I have wanted to do is build products/solutions for young Indians which enable them to achieve their deserved goals.

I was always certain that I wanted to build for the Indian user. Coming back to India can never be a practical decision, its an emotional one. I truly believe in India's growth story and want to be in thick and thin of things when the rocket launches!

Really good question @MT_Ego,

People who work in startups willingly sacrifice the comfortable life of a traditional job for the direct impact that they can create for the ecosystem and the country.

Startups also enable a steep learning curve due to a high ownership environment and a disruptive mission statement.

If this excites you, then startups are for you!