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Interview Of Ankit Mehra {Blog Kanpur16}

--By Naman Gupta and Purwaj Tiwari

Q ) How was your life in pre-IIT days and motivation behind joining IITK?
Ans.) I was highly interested in mathematics from high school and some of my
teachers really motivated me a lot into it. We had great times in DPS RK Puram and
peer were very supportive. As I was inclined towards Mathematics ,I also cleared
RMOs thus I thought of joining IISC or ISI for continuing core subject but my peer
suggested me to give IIT exam ,which of course I did and then I joined Mechanical
Engineering in IIT Kanpur. My teachers also motivated into debating and dramatics
in DPS RK Puram. I also picked up basketball as a sport and will advise all to develop
interest in any of the sport of your choice because it inculcates team spirit and
feeling of mutual understanding which is essential in day to day life.

Q) How would you describe your four years at IITK and what qualities you
groomed in your persona over this span?
Ans. The life at IIT prepares you to face challenges in real life. Every subject has its
own importance and you realize it only when you actually study it. Whatever you
do, do it with all your heart and make the most out of it. You should try to develop
interest, identify your strength and weaknesses. Look for guidance and support and
talk to experienced seniors in the field so that you know what you actually are and
what exactly is it in your branch. Dont try to be a superman pretending to be
omniscient, talk to seniors and seek advice from experts.
Regarding co-curricular, I took Dramatics and Basketball. I learnt a lot of important
lessons of life and rules of leadership and team spirit in the game of basketball,
which are important for everyone.
I was also involved in Antaragni and Techkriti. I was among the founder of ELS and
also associated with counselling service as a student guide. Dramatic background
helped me a lot in developing my communication skills. Unfortunately, we didnt
have galaxy during our span of four years.
I learnt how to figure things out-i.e. what my passion really lies in? Where are my
strengths and weakness? I did learn some significant lessons from sports-always
put your team before yourself. During Placement sessions I also learnt that what
really matters is your interest and knowledge, CPI do matter but not too much.
You should be able to put your thought out and pursue your true interest and finally
confidence is the key to success. Summing it all up:
The sooner you realize your goal, the better the life gets although its not that
easy.

Q) Please tell us the story behind your start-up Gyan Dhan?


Ans) Initially I worked in Capital One as a Business analyst. I had always in the back
of my mind that whatsoever I will do I will work my ass off and when I am finally
done with it its then I will truly know what I want to do in life and that attitude
helped develop a lot. In my early years I was in India and after 3 years I moved to
US and there also I stayed for 3 years, it was then I truly realized that I should do
something of my own. So I went for a MBA in IESE Spain to inculcate my skill set
needed for a startup. There I met a lot of entrepreneur people and gained a lot of
experience from them, professional knowledge could only be gained by talking to
people as many as you can. If you are good at it go ahead if not wait and learn. I
learnt that for a successful start-up you should have a strong team and firm launch
pad and for that you must talk to people. For any new venture US offers the best
platform. In India, Bangalore and Pune are the prime hub for the same.
Generally, people ask what is the right time for launching a startup?-The question is
quite subjective as we have seen many successful startups just after colleges also.
So what really matters is your idea behind and your support crew, your dedication
and how much effort you are willing to put in. Dont get low or dejected by your
initial failures.

Q) What exactly is Gyan-dhan and what is its basic motto?


Ans) Our basic motto is Education is actual value. Our mission is really to enable
education for the deprived. If anyone wants to go abroad for higher education out of
their middleclass families .We want that if the student is smart he/she should get
the education he deserves and we strive to do the same. We work differently from
banks when it comes to sanctioning the loans to the students. Our rate of interests
are lower and we screen the students on the basis of their intellect and
performance. The banks loan out money in lieu of the collateral and entirely
overlook the individual per se. Whereas we look at qualities of an individual and
based on our model we see if hes fit to receive the loan. We have ethics and feel
that if theres talent in our country it should not go to waste. Our basic prototype is
made and now we are looking for investors to give out loans for the same.We will
not only be giving loans but also building relations and helping the students in
whatever way we can in his further conquests.We want Personalized Banking
Solutions.

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