Journey of Aditya Birla Group's Stratos 2018 National Finalist

This is my first year in the college and I have participated in ABG Stratos 2018 for the first time, so naturally, I was quite amazed. Our team was declared as the Campus Finalist and this made us really happy that our hard work was paid off.

ABG Stratos 2018 was a business simulation challenge in round 1. Since I am quite interested in business ideation so I decided to take it up. Also, knowing the fact that it was a competition organized by the Aditya Birla Group added to my willingness.

Preparations went in full swing and we did a lot of primary research by visiting the Pantaloons stores in Lucknow and Indore. Also, we conducted surveys to find out the perception of various shoppers about Pantaloons as a brand. After multiple brainstorming sessions with team members, we zeroed down to our recommendations. We also practiced the delivery of the presentation.

Our preparation process went very smooth and surprisingly, we did not encounter any conflicts. The best thing was that since all the team members came from different background, there was a lot to learn from each other. Our creative mindset helped us to think beyond the conventional and our urge to succeed kept us glued till the last.

Like any other competitions, ABG Stratos 2018 also attracted the best teams from the premier business schools in the country and there were around 10 teams competing against each other in the final round. Even though all the participating teams were good, however, I personally feel that ISB did a great job. They were good at delivering the presentation. The competition as the whole was excellent.

ABG Stratos 2018 proved to be a series of learnings that I will cherish forever. I learnt a lot about brands and the fashion industry. Also making a presentation to a distinguished panel was a dream come true for me. One of the panel members, after the declaration of results, came to us and told us that he was extremely impressed by our ideas and he would like to implement them in the near future. This was by far the best memory that we carried back home.

Each corporate organized competition is unique in its own way. From structure to judging criteria. Read more about Aditya Birla Group's Stratos 2018 and the organizers Aditya Birla Group. Other competitions organized by Aditya Birla Group; Aditya Birla Group’s HeadstaRt

Viren Dargar - IIM Lucknow

(Batch of 2018-20)

Viren Dargar is a Chartered Accountant with 2 years of work experience as an equity research associate with Edelweiss Securities. After clearing his CAT he joined IIM Lucknow to pursue his MBA in 2018. He has a knack for business ideation and execution. He is passionate about drama, arts and basketball. ABG Stratos 2018 - National Finalist.