I am Pratham Mittal, Founder of Masters' Union. Ask me anything!
Hi Folks, I'm Pratham, Founder of Masters' Union. We're a new-age business school with a unique practitioner-led higher education, where courses are taught by CXOs of top companies in India. I'd love to chat with you folks about my journey in building Masters' Union, my thoughts on the future of Education in India, and discuss my experience in building fast-paced businesses, amongst other things I'll be back at 5 pm and start answering your questions :) Ask away!
Doopermind
Student
4 months ago
Hey Pratham
I was in the 2nd batch of MU
The placement report that is being marketed is not actually what happened in our cohort, why is it inflated or is there a specific way this was calculated ?
@Doopermind The placement report is released by our auditor and not by us. They release the placement numbers (mean, median, Top 25% etc) by their own accord and we only release the supporting data. Our auditor is the same firm and the same person as IIM A etc
Doopermind
Student
4 months ago
Politically correct response but it doesn’t communicate what actually is happening in the cohort, from the data that I have from the 2nd cohort the audited report looks inflated, or the auditors made a mistake ?
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Hey Pratham,
Really appreciate how MU made offline education cool again, a good departure from pure Edtech.
Curious: You had a strong background in the education industry, would it have been possible to pull off something like Masters Union without it?
Do you feel a lot of such schools will emerge in India?
@WittyFeed I come from a SaaS background and I think education industry can truly change and be disrupted if people from tech and other industries come into it. Hard from incumbents to disrupt. Most incumbents are prisoners of their own legacy. Not by their own mistake but because of the bureaucracy of the system and the highly regulated regime.
Thanks for answering.
Completely aligned with incumbents being prey to their legacy.
But I meant your family background in education and how much you feel that helped in building MU too
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Hi Pratham
Thanks for doing this!
What made you start a modern day b-school? What are the gaps you saw in other b-schools like IIMs, ISB?
How should I pitch MU to a friend who is about to join ISB?
@randomjocke TBH, I always thought that there has to be a better way to learn that goes goes beyond lectures and exams. We started researching on the science of learning and figured that we can do an experiment with a small number of students. Thats how Masters' Union started - as an experientent to see new ways of teaching
Came across your reel on Tetr with Nas, can you shortly say what is it about and why is it sooooooooo costly?
@DoubleChurn Its a college where you study by building businesses across 7 countries. Its for the global audience and it turns out that it is actually chepaer than studying in America.
I'm kinda jealous I will never be able to afford something like that. but perhaps MU I can
Hey @PrathamMittal
@salt here.
1. What do you think about other companies operating in a similar space i.e. education? Do you track their progress?
2. I've seen Stoa, Mesa pump a lot of money in performance marketing over the last year now. Do you feel that even if you guys have a clear differentiator, you may be competing with them for the same mindshare?
@salt
Yes, the founders of Stoa, Mesa, Scalar are all good friends and we compare notes quite often. We have a lot to learn from each other.
I strongly feel that in education there is no competition as such. The market is too too too large and even if there were 100 Masters' Union, there would still be space to build one more. India has unlimited appetite for good education and we need as many as possible to develop as a nation.
Who do you think Masters union is most apt for?
Who would you NOT recommend to join MU?
@Careermode If you want to learn "how to build a business", I think Masters' Union is apt. But if you want to become a "consultant" or become an "Investment Banker", then I think IIM ABC would be more suitable.
Generally, if you think you want to build your own business sometime in ur life, either right after graduation or a few years after, then I think MU is better. If your interest is to climb the corporate ladder for a longer period of time (and i do not think there is anything wrong with that), then I think traditional setups may be better.
Noted, thanks for answering this
Just curious. I know at ISB sub 5% people actually end up building. Does this % look different at MU?
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I have heard a lot of negative PR around masters union mastercamps program where people are not getting placed - over LinkedIn and Quora,
At the same time know few friends who says good things about masters union PGP program.
As a marketer, I would like to know how do you handle PR of such kind, because it's all over the internet!
@BasicWeather Yes, this is a tough one. I have not yet figured out a way to manage this to be honest. I think the best way is to never leave your students' hand. Even if they are having a tough time crack a role, we must always stand by them and give support as long as it takes. Thats always been our policy and after initial hiccups, i think we are all set now!
DaringTrain
Stealth
4 months ago
Hey Pratham, welcome to GV!
Few Qs from my end:
One of the reasons why people do an MBA (apart from learning and pay hikes) is to leverage the vast alum network. At MU, people don't have that luxury (and won't, at least for the next 5-10 years). How are you thinking of bridging this gap (vs traditional MBA institutes).
And how are people from early MU cohorts doing? Are you seeing them come back to campus for recruitment?
Also, what's the thought process on starting UG batches? What are the problems you see there?
Finally what's MU doing differently from your newer-gen peers like Mesa
Thanks
@DaringTrain
1. Network: Now we have a good alumni base, and we are slowly reaching the stage where there is a critical mass of alums, masters and community associates. The idea is to go after the quality of the connections and not the quantity of connections necessarily. I went to Doon School which is perhaps the strongest and most helpful network in India with just 2000 active alums. As compared to that, my college UPenn, which has millions of alums, the connections are not as deep as my school's. Hope that makes sense.
2. Early signals from initial cohorts: most recruiters have come back which is heartening and now we have reached the stage where alums are also coming back and recruiting. Generally speaking, the only way to be successful is for ur products (alums) to be doing well. That leads to word of mouth. This has been the secret of our success, though its not really a secret lol
3. UG is really important. the edu quality problem in India is way more grave at the UG level. PG, we still have good colleges.
4. I get super happy and excited when I see new colleges like Mesa, Scalar, Altera come up. Masters' Union alone cannot change the edu industry. Even a bit. We need a movement and I hope more and more versions of Masters' Union, ideally at different price points, keep coming up.
DaringTrain
Stealth
4 months ago
Thanks for answering
jinyang
Stealth
4 months ago
Hey Pratham, great job building out MU.
AACSB recently categorically denied the claims of Master’s Union being accredited under them - does MU have the accreditation or in the process of getting?
Would appreciate a candid answer here :)
Cheers!
jinyang
Stealth
4 months ago
Source is the article from Ken - just to clarify
@jinyang We never claimed to get AACSB. There is nothing on our website to that effect. Its take 5-6 years to qualify. We are in the process and we hope to complete the process sooner than later.
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How did you crack content creation as a tool to get leads? What was your insight?
We saw PW creating a billion dollar company on the back of content but Masters' Union plays at another level...
PS: Huge fan
@LastBrother Thanks! Every company should also be a media company. We have a in-house team of media professionals who's job is to document everything that is happening on campus. That, invariably, leads to good honest content on youtube which people vibe with. Production quality nd scripting needs to be A+, otherwise people have a lot of content to watch on YT and IG.
BiryaniEnthu
Stealth
4 months ago
Hey Pratham, thanks for doing this AMA!
We're a group of young entrepreneurs based in Gurgaon, and we're super inspired by what you're doing. Would you be up for chatting about your experience sometime?
We're happy to visit your office or have a casual dinner – would love to pick your brain (if you let us 😅)!
Hey Pratham,
I'm somebody who never did an MBA. Have worked in startups for 6-7 years out of college and done pretty well for myself.
I'm not against an MBA, but I feel it often fixes the mistakes our education system does during undergrad (not preparing students correctly for corporate).
Why did you not attempt doing a Bachelor's program at MU? Like an Ashoka for Business Education?
@AlphaGrindset We started a UG program last year :) Its exactly what you mentioned
Okay that’s nice
Hope it takes off well!
Have cousins it would make sense for
moonchild
Stealth
4 months ago
Go Dosco!
What is the biggest thing you learnt when building the masters union brand? How do you manage to collaborate with so many other famous people and brands?
@Vindhyachal I am quite "besharam" about asking people to work with us :)
Hello Pratham, as someone who got an MBA from a top 10 school in India - how do you pitch MU to someone like me?
Looking back my MBA was boring, and I see why MU is more interesting.
But interested to see if that is a target audience you guys do after
@MT_Ego Honestly, my audience is anyone who wants to become a more wholesome businessman or businesswomen. Whether its UG, PG or Exec, the aspiration of my target audience shd be to become better at building and running a business. That is how we try to do our profiling. Hope that makes sense?
Hi Pratham
Have seen lots of long form content, love it. Would like to know few things.
What is your acceptance rate?
What are the new courses and projects introduced in this year's cohort?
Do you have a startup budget if someone want to build something during the course?
@sos
1. Maybe 10-15% across various programs. Some more selective than others.
2. Oh lots. There will be a cloud kitchen challenge, new courses in AI, study abroad programs etc.
3. Yes, some startups have received upwards of 10-15L while still in college. But many end up raising from
Hi Pratham,
I am acid, currently working in Masters' Union...Have been working with the team for a while.
Honestly lot's to learn from you on day to day basis
Just wanted to thank you for hiring me.
Although is tough to be in a faced paced culture but great place for sure!
@Acid oh awesome! let me know what I can do to make ur life easier :)
CoolLoad7
Student
4 months ago
Hello Pratham, are there any books that have significantly influenced your perspective on life and startups?
Axiomatic
Stealth
4 months ago
Dude, how do you plan to break the legacy effect of established institutions like IIMs ?
@Axiomatic I don't plan to "break their legacy" - they are also working hard and we have a lot to learn from them. They do not need to do badly for me to do well. Education is a public good. We can all rise together Not a zero sum game.
Axiomatic
Stealth
4 months ago
But it is a cyclical game isnt it. For good legacy you need good prospective candidates, and good prospective candidates will go to legacy institutions.
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