Wild card entry

Mar 27, 2015 | general | 2 comments

I have been extremely lucky in life to be part of tribes that I wasn’t deserving of, in the first place.

ISB – got through with less than 2 years of experience.
Kearney – got through despite not being a top ranker.
Entrepreneur – became one completely by accident
Rocket – got through after a 15 min meeting
Groupon – was asked to lead with no such prior experience or exposure
Fortune – can count 100 more people who could be part of the list instead of me

I am the wild card entry in all these. The guy on the fence. The not so obvious choice.

Here is the deal with wild card entries
No one expects you to win.
No one knows about you  either.
No one expects you to contribute.
And the only direction you can go is up!
The only thing you can do is to observe the obvious entrants and learn

And perhaps someday you won’t be wild card anymore

2 Comments

  1. Mayank Arora on March 28, 2015 at 3:09 pm

    Hi Ankur,

    I believe in this story.

    I made it to ISB YLP this year with a 680. I have read your blog about how interviewers can be recklessly arrogant. I had a good panel, people willing to listen and who were asking smart questions. Gladly, I was up to the mark and could answer well with wit and confidence. Being genuine is the key.

    I read about your experiences with the airline industry, and how consulting makes you a critic of these. I am working with Vistara, the new start-up airline by Tata and SIA, in its Planning Team as an intern until I graduate in May. You must try this airline, something different about it.

    Keep up on the good work on the blog.

    Thanks,
    Mayank

  2. ankur on March 29, 2015 at 5:43 pm

    Thanks Mayank for the kind words

    Did try Vistara about a month back. Great experience. Unfortunately limited by the number of flights they operate – but hoping to use it more often.