“I am glad that I pursued my MBA from FORE School of Management. The overall experience was enriching” says Mr. Pankaj Pilaniwala, a distinguished alumni of FORE School of Management. Reminiscing about the early morning classes after the late-night Counter Strike sessions, he credits FORE for making his transition from the technical background to the business world easy.
Mr. Pankaj always wanted to be a part of a start-up and hence two years into his professional career, he decided to launch a one of its kind ed-tech platform that gamified the learning experience of students. After working on his start-up for a couple of years, he made a strategic exit after which, he continued working at start-ups, building some great products and learning from the industry leaders.
The world of product management encouraged Mr. Pankaj to develop user empathy by solving the most prevailing pain points. He credits these skills along with his business and technical knowledge for helping him land his dream job as a Product Manager at Google. “At Google, users are the focal point of every product/service we build. I am grateful to be a part of the company where I am able to put into practice my experience collaborating with diverse teams and learning every day to develop my product acumen, all while building and delivering products for billions of users around the globe.”
During his more than 10 years of experience in the product management industry, Mr. Pankaj has experienced first-hand both the thrilling highs and disappointing lows of the profession. Therefore, he advises everyone to keep working towards their goals even if the road ahead seems hard in the beginning. He encourages students to go-beyond the classroom and explore the various resources online. According to Mr. Pankaj, “These resources will improve your learning exponentially and help you stay relevant in this fast-evolving industry.”
On a parting note, Mr. Pankaj gives his final advice to the students- “Don’t be too hard on yourself, you are still young. Have fun and keep gaming, even Elon Musk does it.”
