[Startup Interview] Abhyank Srinet: Founder of MiM-Essay

At Sugermint, our aim is to bring to our entrepreneurs and startups community some of the inspiring and motivational stories from the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As part of this endeavour, we invited yet another passionate startup Abhyank Srinet: Founder of MiM-Essay for an exclusive interview with us.

Tell us a little about yourself ( i.e your Education, Experience, Family Background)

Abhyank Srinet: In 2008, I began my engineering studies at SRM University in Chennai. I quickly realised that this is not something I want to do.

As a result, I began reading books about startups and enterprises, which I found fascinating. Later, I worked for 1.5 years with CK Birla in a factory where I was in charge of multiple individuals.

It was a demanding job that needed long hours of work. As a result, I learned leadership skills and realised that engineering was not my cup of tea.

Then I went to ESCP Paris for a Masters in Management. After 2.5 years of study, I began my internship as a Business Excellence Trainee at Tata Steel Europe in the Netherlands.

After that, I spent 6 months at Rocket Internet SE as a Facebook Ads expert. MiM-Essay had already started as an experiment at this point, and it had taken off.

As a result, I quit my job and focused on expanding my business. My father is a Dhronacharya Awardee, an Arjun Awardee, and a two-time Olympian in archery, while my mother is a principal who has worked in the education sector for over 20 years and has recently opened her own school.          

How did you get your idea or concept for the business?        

Abhyank Srinet: While applying for a master’s degree at a foreign university, I had a lot of problems because I couldn’t find someone to help me with editing and drafting.

I approached several people to help me in improving my essay drafts. As a result, I decided at the moment to establish an affordable platform where those who want to study abroad can easily access services and products.      

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?     

Abhyank Srinet: Our main services have been consulting services to help students get into the greatest universities in the world, such as National University of Singapore, Cornell University, London Business School, and HEC Paris, for the past four years.

We assisted them in choosing the best colleges for them, writing essays, letters of recommendation, resumes, and interviews.

As a result of our varied partnerships with associated schools, we have recently begun delivering free services, including consulting and document preparation. We also have a collaboration with loan providers who offer us with leads and assist students with their loans.       

What is unique about your business?    

Abhyank Srinet: Being an Ed-Tech, a key feature that sets MiM-Essay apart is the Comprehensive FREE Profile Evaluation Tool, enabling students to get a complete analysis of their study abroad profiles’ strengths and weaknesses in less than 2 minutes.         

What made you choose this type of business?      

Abhyank Srinet: When I was applying for a master’s degree in foreign institutions, I faced many challenges as I could not find any organization to provide me with editing and drafting services.

Thus, at that time, I decided that I would create a platform which is affordable and people who wish to study abroad find it easier to look for services and products.            

What was your mission at the outset?  

Abhyank Srinet: My mission when I started MiM-essay was to help as many students as possible get admission to their dream school and provide them with a platform where they could analyze their profiles. Moreover, offer them, And this is my mission even today as well.         

How many employees in your organization?    

MiM-Essay family consists of 85+ employees, and because of their utmost dedication and hardwork, MiM-Essay comes under one of the world’s biggest education consulting groups.        

What’s your company’s goals?   

Abhyank Srinet: Our company’s utmost goal is to get students admitted to top colleges. We accomplish this by providing high-quality personalised service that ensures their application stands out from the crowd.     

How do you build a successful customer base?

Abhyank Srinet: Clients are given the highest priority. We will guide you through each step from the application process until you get admitted. We will treat your application as though it were our own.

We will not stop until it achieves the perfection it deserves. Personalization plays a significant role. Therefore, we will ensure that every line of your essay demonstrates who you are as a person or why schools chose you.

We despise template-based approaches because they guarantee rejection. Instead, we work closely with you to ensure that your essays are distinct and reflect your personality.        

What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?  

Abhyank Srinet: I believe being a leader comes with its own set of challenges and along with it comes unavoidable failures. As a leader you not just have to be good at your own work but also be adept with the work of every department as you are the one hiring people who will do that work.

For me judging people has been the most challenging part of my job and this is where I have made mistakes. I hired the wrong people or trusted people way too much.

I was unable to draw the line between being the boss and being a mentor. I wasn’t able to fire people when it was necessary.

But making these mistakes has taught me what no college could have ever taught me. I grew from these failures and I can vouch for myself that in future I am better prepared to take up these challenges.        

Who has been your greatest inspiration?       

Abhyank Srinet: My father for sure. He being an over achiever, someone who has had a stellar career in the field of sports, I am truly inspired by him.

In fact, being a two-time olympian, he has played a notewothy role in instilling in the persisten and grit that one needs in order to be a successful entrepreneur.          

What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?          

Abhyank Srinet: Someone said that it’s better to try something new and make mistakes rather than not trying anything radical. When I started on the path of making my own team, the one mistake I felt I made was giving people a lot of chances.

Some people took that for granted and weren’t able to deliver and then I realised that it wasn’t worth it and they should have been removed a long time back.

But then again I tell myself that it takes time and experience to learn these things. I am sure that now I am better equipped to make such decisions which will help me and my team to carry out our task smoothly.     

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?   

Abhyank Srinet: For someone who is starting out, I would advise finding a good consultant. The reason is that a consultant can help increase your chances of getting admission into your target schools exponentially, but only if you choose the right one.

With so many consultants in the market, choosing the right one to help guide you become challenging. There is no point in getting guidance from people who lack inside knowledge in the field since they won’t be able to give you a severe competitive advantage.           

Does your company help the community or society?

Abhyank Srinet: Our company’s core values rest on the foundation of serving our clients as well as society. We aim to educate the youth of our country by helping them get into some of the best universities across the globe.

For this, we provide them with exceptionally good school selection services, Essay content preparation, interview preparation and so much more.   

Websites: MiM-Essay- https://www.mim-essay.com MentR-Me –https://mentr-me.com

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