Meet Stanford GSB’s MBA Class Of 2021

Alokik Bhasin

Stanford Graduate School of Business

“An entrepreneur at heart, in exploration of my next adventure.”

Hometown: Delhi, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: I can’t smell! While at times I miss out on some great scents around me, overall it’s a superpower (trust me!).

Undergraduate School and Major:

PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh

Mechanical Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Founder, Docon Technologies

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment has been scaling up my startup, Docon, from a concept in my mother’s pediatric clinic to one of the largest electronic medical records platforms in India. I started out without any business plan, just a problem that I really wanted to solve. Developing the product, launching in 20 Indian cities, and enabling thousands of doctor-patient consultations every day has been an extremely fulfilling journey – one that I am very proud.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Warm and confident. Each one of my classmates has a genuine interest in helping you succeed. They not only share their incredible experiences but are always ready to listen and learn from you. This leads to an extremely warm and collaborative environment at school. Also, the confidence that my classmates exuberate is phenomenal – they dream big and truly aim to “Change the world.”

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? Every business is going to be a technology business. What better place to study technology than at Stanford – the epicenter of the global technology world. The access to industry, combined with cutting-edge research done by faculty is simply unbelievable. This led me to choose GSB.

What has been the most surprising thing you’ve found about Stanford GSB so far? I have been surprised by two things:

The program focuses on developing our softer skills: the way we lead, communicate, make decisions, and manage people. The curriculum has so many learning resources, right from experiential initiatives such as Leadership Labs that helps us answer questions like “Why would someone follow me?” to HR courses on people management. We even get a communication coach to work with!

The second has been to experience how closely knit the alumni network is. Before we—Indian-admitted students—left for GSB from India, we were invited to a bunch of alumni dinners across different cities. Everywhere we went, we felt we were part of one big family, not of a business school network!

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? It has to be “What matters most and why?” I spent a lot of time thinking through the key decisions I had made in life, and thinking through the ‘why’ behind the decisions. It was one of the first times I reflected so deeply and expressing it in words was very challenging. Moreover, there is no right or wrong answer for this prompt, it’s just your answer.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? UC Berkeley Haas, MIT, HBS, Chicago Booth and Wharton.

What is the biggest epiphany you’ve gained about yourself or the world since you arrived at Stanford GSB? The importance of focus. There are so many different things eyeing for our time. The more we focus, the more we can prioritize ruthlessly and increase the chances of success.

 What do you see yourself doing ten years from now? Ten years down the road, I see myself running a technology venture in India, while also working closely with other entrepreneurs as an investor/mentor.

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