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[ashuraj25]

When the sequel trilogy to Star Wars was first announced, I came across an article titled “Intergalactic Finance: Valuating the Star Wars franchise”. It was a valuation of the franchise, stating that for every dollar earned in movie ticket sales, its franchise earns four dollars. It was this simple yet intriguing analysis that introduced me to the beautiful world of corporate finance where one can derive the intrinsic value of anything and everything.
Having a keen interest in corporate finance, I took electives such as Financial Management and Mergers and Acquisitions while pursuing my Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai. It was during this time that I found the theoretical aspect of finance to be intellectually stimulating and deeply satisfying. Despite being a relatively young field, its far-reaching implications and ability to affect most mundane aspects of our lives is what draws me towards it. In addition to the rigorous coursework during MBA, I took up independent projects to reinforce my fundamentals. One of them involved a pre-listing evaluation of Cafe Coffee Day, the Indian equivalent of Starbucks. This exercise helped me understand the fundamental characteristic of valuation, that it is more than just analysing numbers or a set of pre-defined processes. As a result, I now focus on understanding the business model, its cash flows, growth potential, underlying risks and then quantifying the value as a business.
To build proficiency in project valuation, I undertook a study on project financing for solar power ventures under the guidance of Dr. Chandan Das Gupta, Area Chairperson Finance, NMIMS. Working independently, I derived the cost of capital for the company and calculated lending limits using its Debt Service Coverage Ratio. An intense yet fruitful exercise, it helped me realise that project finance is also about analysing the technical and socio-economic aspects of the initiative.
My corporate experience working as a commercial banking analyst and then as national finance lead of a start-up gave me multifaceted exposure to practical implications of financial theories. I got a sense of how real-world finance was in stark contrast to what I had been prepared for in my classes. During my working tenure, I leveraged my knowledge of financial techniques to perform credit analysis and structure the lending products for multiple Small and Medium Enterprises. Regular interactions with CXOs helped me build an intuitive sense of assessing key people driving the businesses and provided an insight into the pattern of bias influencing evaluation of projects within organizations. As a decision maker in a start-up, I learnt about the challenges related to working capital faced by an organization in its nascent growth stage. Working with senior leaders and presenting to the board of directors, I not only became aware of the concepts of corporate governance but also became adept at the art of story-telling. It also helped me to realize the importance of having a well-balanced management team and its impact on the success of an organization. This intangible piece of information has influenced almost all the valuations I’ve performed since then.
In addition to gaining expertise in corporate finance first hand, I’ve tried to keep myself updated through regular readings of Financial Times, Corporate Finance Lab and One to One Corporate Finance. These readings bring back the charm of theoretical exploration that I yearn for in the corporate. Being a self-motivated person, I enrolled myself in an open course under Prof. Aswath Damodaran from NYU Stern in the field of corporate finance and valuations. Based on the concepts in these courses, I have performed a valuation study for Royal Enfield, one of the oldest surviving motorcycle manufacturers in the world. Using Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to evaluate the cost of equity, I noticed a wide range of beta even within same markets. Although, my goal was to determine the firm’s fair value, this observation redirected my focus to exploring the determinants of beta. This study made me realize that research is a creative process and that the problem statement keeps evolving as you perform the analysis.
My education and experiences have made me proficient in adapting key techniques from corporate finance to drive logical conclusions for impactful decision making within organizations. Now, I am looking forward to understanding the theory behind these applications and contribute to the existing body of knowledge in this domain. With my previous research experience at IISc Bangalore, I have found research to be a collaborative yet independent and a challenging yet rewarding field. I appreciate this journey for the countless learning curves it lends to an eager explorer like myself. As I embark on this journey, I want to learn in a global and diverse academic environment where I can learn both inside as well outside the classroom.
My goal is to pursue a career in research, either in industry or in academia. Ten years from now, I envisage myself as a full-fledged research professional in an organization, or a faculty member at one of the leading universities. A Ph.D. is an important first step in achieving this objective.
The biggest attraction Cornell holds for me is the amazing finance faculty and their varied research interests. I have read Prof. Linda Canina’s work on comparison of valuations for publicly traded firms with those of private firms in gaming industry over business cycles. Prof. Robert A. Jarrow’s study of the impact of asset price bubbles on risk management methodologies adopted by traders is equally inspiring.
I am very excited at the prospect of working on such problems. This combined with the presence of Cornell close to the financial hub of the world and its global reach with over 100 fields of study will provide me an opportunity to think beyond institutional structures and interact with international academicians. I am aware of the dedication and persistence research demands and am adequately equipped for the task - both technically and mentally. I look forward to leveraging an apprenticeship based intimate student - professor network, interacting with peers from diverse backgrounds and contributing to the research at Cornell.
My resume and other details have been attached. Thank you for considering my application.

 

[teechar]

When the sequel trilogy to Star Wars was first announced, I came across an article titled “Intergalactic Finance: Valuating the Star Wars franchise”. It was a valuation of the franchise, stating that for every dollar earned in movie ticket sales, the franchise earns four dollars. It was this simple, yet intriguing, analysis that introduced me to the beautiful world of corporate finance, where one can realize the intrinsic value of anything and everything.


Having a keen interest in corporate finance, I took electives such as Financial Management and Mergers and Acquisitions while pursuing my Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai. It was during this time that I found the theoretical aspect of finance to be intellectually stimulating and deeply satisfying. Despite being a relatively young field, its far-reaching implications and ability to affect the most mundane aspects of our lives is what draws me towards it. In addition to the rigorous coursework of the MBA, I took up independent projects to reinforce my fundamentals. One of them involved a pre-listing evaluation of Cafe Coffee Day, the Indian equivalent of Starbucks. This exercise helped me understand the fundamental characteristic of valuation, that it is more than just analysing numbers or a set of pre-defined processes. As a result, I now focus on understanding the business model, its cash flows, growth potential, and underlying risks.


To build proficiency in project valuation, I undertook a study on project financing for solar power ventures under the guidance of Dr. Chandan Das Gupta, Area Chairperson Finance, NMIMS. Working independently, I derived the cost of capital for the company and calculated lending limits using its debt service coverage ratio. An intense, yet fruitful exercise, it helped me realise that project finance is also about analysing the technical and socio-economic aspects of the initiative.
My corporate experience working as a commercial banking analyst and then as national finance lead of a start-up gave me multifaceted exposure to practical implications of financial theories. In my work, I have applied my knowledge of financial techniques to perform credit analysis and structure the lending products for multiple small and medium enterprises. Regular interactions with CXOs has helped me build an intuitive sense of assessing key people driving the businesses and provided an insight into the pattern of bias influencing evaluation of projects within organizations. As a decision maker in a start-up, I learnt about the challenges related to working capital faced by an organization in its nascent growth stage. Working with senior leaders and presenting to the board of directors, I not only became aware of the concepts of corporate governance but also became adept at the art of story-telling. It also helped me to realize the importance of having a well-balanced management team and its impact on the success of an organization.


In addition, I regularly read the Financial Times, Corporate Finance Lab and One to One Corporate Finance. Being a self-motivated person, I enrolled myself in an open course under Prof. Aswath Damodaran from NYU Stern in the field of corporate finance and valuations. Based on the concepts in these courses, I have performed a valuation study for Royal Enfield, one of the oldest surviving motorcycle manufacturers in the world. Using a Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to evaluate the cost of equity, I noticed a wide range of beta even within same markets. Although, my goal was to determine the firm’s fair value, this observation redirected my focus to exploring the determinants of beta. This study made me realize that research is a creative process and that the problem statement keeps evolving as you perform the analysis.


Now, I am looking forward to gaining a deeper understanding of the theory behind these applications and to contributing to the body of knowledge in this domain. With my previous research experience at IISc Bangalore, I have found research to be a collaborative, yet independent, challenging and rewarding field. As I embark on this journey, I want to learn in a global and diverse academic environment where I can learn both inside as well outside the classroom.


My goal is to pursue a career in research, either in industry or in academia. Ten years from now, I envisage myself as a full-fledged research professional in an organization, or a faculty member at a leading university. A PhD is an important first step in achieving this objective.


The biggest attraction Cornell holds for me is the amazing finance faculty and their varied research interests. I have read Prof. Linda Canina’s work on the comparison of valuations for publicly traded firms with those of private firms in the gaming industry over business cycles. Prof. Robert A. Jarrow’s study of the impact of asset price bubbles on risk management methodologies adopted by traders is equally inspiring.


I am very excited at the prospect of working on such problems. This, combined with Cornell's close proximity to the financial hub of the world and its global reach with over 100 fields of study, will provide me an opportunity to think beyond institutional structures and interact with international academics. I am aware of the dedication and persistence research demands and am adequately equipped for the task - both technically and mentally. I look forward to the synergetic student-professor network, interacting with peers from diverse backgrounds and contributing to the research at Cornell.



My resume and other relevant details are attached. Thank you for considering my application.

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