Raghav Srivastava

Warwick Business School

“Finance Graduate, Music Business Geek, Food Aficionado & Wannabe Chef, Extrovert, Music Nerd.”

Hometown: New Delhi, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: I once spent a month in a remote village in rural India teaching high school students and I almost got arrested for having a beer because only a few weeks back a prohibition law had come into effect in that state. Needless to say, the students who had procured the beer from somewhere also got into a lot of trouble!

Undergraduate School and Major: Finance, SSCBS, University of Delhi

Most Recent Employer and Job Title:

Senior Research Associate, S&P Global Market Intelligence

Co-Founder, TAABIIR

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: The several years I spent at S&P Global as a financial data researcher exposed me to a multitude of project types that greatly enhanced my analytical skills. I was always extremely passionate about music and I finally took that leap of faith around four years back and started my own venture in the music industry, TAABIIR, which is an Independent record label and a talent management agency. This was also when the digital streaming market had just started booming and I decided to leverage all of my previous analytical skills and incorporate them heavily when planning future music releases.

Within one year, we were able to witness tangible results with some of our music releases gaining global traction which had (until then) been unheard of for an independent artist based out of India. Soon enough, other similar firms were trying to emulate our analytical approach to marketing. An EP that we produced was voted as the strongest release of the year in India. Looking back, this was something that made me feel positive about the decision I made to start working in the music business industry, which was definitely a realm of interest for me ever since I graduated from high school over a decade back.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? There are several exceptional qualities that describe my WBS classmates, but something that definitely stands out for me is their ‘dynamic’ nature. The way all of my classmates’ juggle through such a diverse set of tasks effortlessly and deal with all the complex issues at hand – without shying away from experimenting so as to enhance their learning – is just exemplary. Another quality that I greatly admire is the genuine demeanor of people here. They are always willing to lend a helping hand and offer their support in whatever way possible. Everyone realizes the high stakes and the opportunity cost at play here as we have all taken time out from our busy lives to come and pursue an MBA, yet everybody shares a mutual respect.  There is always co-opetition, and not a competition, amongst each other.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I come from a finance background and I spent a considerable amount of my time working with data and crunching numbers. However, I realized a few years back that, at the end of the day, people are more important than all sorts of numbers and data points. This is true not just for any business, it is true for any kind of organization as well.

This is also what drove me to work in more creative industry and profession which gave me the opportunity to interact with people before I sat down to strategize and make elaborate marketing plans. After having attended the MBA Webinars, I felt a similar kind of energy and vibe in the people who come together to make the MBA program at Warwick. After a few more interactions with the Careers and Programs teams, this fact was reinforced. I could sense that their outlook towards the learning experience that an MBA should offer is quite similar to mine. Of course, WBS has a brilliant reputation globally, along with the added advantage of leveraging on the extended network of Warwick University for the foreseeable future. This also helped me make the decision of choosing WBS to pursue my MBA.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? So, this was a question which I can’t totally call challenging. However, it was just something that came as a complete surprise. In the last three years, I had literally been working three different jobs together at the same time and shuffling between different functions and industries. One was my role as a financial researcher and the other two related to the independent music industry in India.

A question that came to me as a surprise was when I was asked to shine some more light on how I had been in multiple roles in such contrasting industries. At the same time, how did I manage to do so without any conflicts whatsoever? As much as this was a challenging question, this also provided me with an opportunity to highlight my strengths and explain my passion-turned-profession to the admission committee in much more detail.

How did you determine which business schools best fit you? It was absolutely imperative for me to get this right and I wanted to find that school in which I could ‘fit’ in effortlessly. I wanted a school where I could be the person I am and still feel completely at ease. I am also the kind of person who always wants to make the most out of my time anywhere; I wanted my time at b school to be a wholesome experience, both inside and outside the classroom. I imagined myself spending a year of my life in this environment and whether I would be satisfied with it and the WBS brand for the rest of my life. Apart from digging deep online and researching the WBS MBA, I also spoke to several alumni who spoke extremely positively about the school and were full of praise for the unique experience it offered. The strong industry connections that WBS offers also contributed to my decision to choose WBS. Also, the culture of the class was an important factor and the extremely professional yet approachable nature of people at WBS seemed like the perfect environment for such a learning experience.