Meet the MBA Class of 2024: Nihar Bobba, Wharton School

Nihar Bobba

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

“Curious kid looking for answers. I’ve graduated from Wikipedia to an ongoing introspection on life.”

Hometown: Bangalore, India & Palo Alto, California

Fun Fact About Yourself: Almost all of my “Did you know….” facts come from an obsession with watching documentaries on YouTube.

Undergraduate School and Major: Northwestern University (Economics)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Venture Partner & Investor at Better Tomorrow Ventures & Co-founder & CPO at Wizely, Inc

What has been your first impression of the Wharton MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far. Tell us your best Wharton story so far. An impressively diverse set of individuals with an equally diverse set of definitions for “Ambition”. I’ve had the privilege to interact with a trained chef, former professional golfer and a former teacher. Each is connected by a consistent drive to be better and do better.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the Wharton School’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? A unique way of tying the fundamentals of business (management, communication, accounting) with a practical emphasis on fintech and enabling technologies.

What course, club, or activity excites you the most at the Wharton School?

PE in Emerging Markets – Emerging markets are the next frontiers of growth and opportunity. Having balanced my entire life between India and the US, I think that there is a unique cultural perspective that I can bring into the classroom to help combine conventional financial theory with the nuances of doing business in environments that many might not be used to.

Wharton Fintech Club – As a former fintech founder and entrepreneur, I’ve come to realize that having the intellectual curiosity and humility to keep learning is the only way to stay ahead. Of course, there are learnings and perspectives I can bring to the Fintech Club, but more importantly this is an opportunity for me to continue broadening my fintech knowledge through the unique global experiences that other former fintech operators will bring.

Wharton Storytellers – Stories are what drive movements, found companies, heal emotions, and build relationships. If there was one thing I could choose to master, it would be storytelling. I look forward to collaborating with Wharton students to build this skillset while enjoying the stories they tell, and I learn to tell.

When you think of the Wharton School, what is the first word that comes to mind? Why? Ambition – Uplifting your life and placing yourself in discomfort with the sole intention of becoming better is an incredibly difficult decision to make. It takes an ambitious breed of individuals who are willing to place themselves in an environment where the median intellect is probably the highest it has ever been – with the sole purpose of achieving more.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Don’t believe that I have had one yet. I hope to one day answer this question but I still have a long way to go.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point and what do you hope to do after graduation? As an entrepreneur, much of my career progression has been largely defined by a personal drive to upskill in order to rise to the latest occasion (and every subsequent one). This has allowed me to progress from a lone founder to product manager, product owner, jack-of-all-trades, to a chief product officer. My ambition is to use what I have learned over the years to partner with and invest in founders looking to build their own companies. While my experiences are unique in their own right, they are limited in their scope to becoming a valuable partner to founders over the long run. This is why I believe an MBA would be invaluable. For me, it is an opportunity to formally plug in the gaps of what I don’t yet know (which is a lot!) to eventually become a more empathetic and shrewd venture investor.

What is one thing you have recently read, watched, or listened to that you would highly recommend to prospective MBAs? Why? The All In Podcast – though you may agree or disagree with the views on the podcast, it’s an incredible example of how differing opinions can come together in a respectable way to further enhance ideas on current affairs across business, economics, politics and so much more.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Stanford, Harvard, Booth, MIT

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into the Wharton School’s MBA program?  Have a clear purpose and be authentic. In today’s world, relationships matter more than ever and having the ability to share who you are in genuine manner can lead to far more impactful outcomes.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE WHARTON SCHOOL’S MBA CLASS OF 2024

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