Welcome to Decentralised Success Story Series Episode 7!
As part of my Decentralised Success Story series, meet my teacher & mentor Shashank Prabhu
Born into a modest Konkani family, he completed his schooling in Dombivli at a school with just 50 students (<1000 INR fees per year)
His parents, originally from Karwar on the MH-KA border and Talegaon had studied only up to the 10th grade.
Native of Dombivli, he commuted 50 km daily to Byculla – eventually earning his MBBS from Grant Medical College (JJ Group Hospitals)
During graduation, he lost his father & became the sole breadwinner of his family – a turning point that built his resilience.
At a time when most considered MBBS the ultimate goal, he dared to look beyond.
He discovered the MBA world through an online forum Pagalguy & decided to redefine what success means for a doctor.
He took CAT 2009 scored 98.26%ile but missed IIM ABC calls.
He cracked XLRI & FMS Delhi (had it’s own test then) – got the calls but couldn’t convert Interviews (GDPI) due to his shy, introverted nature
(6 years of MBBS life after all!)
For CAT 2010, he gave 80+ mock exams, consistently scoring top ranks, but on the final day luck wasn’t with him scoring just 93.79%ile.
This was tough for him, especially after topping Maharashtra CET 2009 (100%ile) and rejecting JBIMS with a swag – “Yaar, kaun Dombivli se Churchgate travel karega!”
He worked on his personality, overcame his shyness, making it to FMS Delhi in 2011.
During his MBA, he earned a role with Tata Administrative Services (TAS) & was part of placecom
Most would’ve stopped there – but not him.
He retook CAT 2011, (while at FMS) No mocks this time, scoring a perfect 100.00%ile.
Post-MBA, he joined ITC Ltd in Andra Pradesh as Assistant Manager (Sales).
After a few impactful years with ITC, he found his true calling “teaching”
He co-founded LearningRoots, where I met him.
I didn’t crack MBA, but IIM Bangalore once paid me ₹15,000 for a single Excel lecture (Sir ke students ka bhi swag hai bhai! 😄)
LearningRoots didn’t scale, so they dissolved it.
Down but not out, he joined IMS & quickly rose to the position of Director-Management Studies.
After 5 impactful years at IMS, he founded Point99 Learning to revolutionize MBA prep.
His achievements also include: 7-time MBA CET 99.99%iler, 3-time IIFT 100%iler & jokes that his lowest XAT percentile is 99.92.
He has 50K+ followers across social media platforms.
Despite all this, he is very humble & truly a teacher par-excellence.
At school, I was thrown out of class for asking “Why do we add digits in the divisibility test of 3?”
Decade later, it was Shashank Sir who beautifully explained the logic of face value vs place value in number systems.
What an inspiring journey!
Trivia: During Covid, he lost 25 kg, married his FMS batchmate, now resides in Powai.
Sir, you are an role model to many, this is what I call a Decentralised Success Story!
You can follow Sir here:
1. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shashankprabhu
2. Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Shashank-Prabhu
3. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Point99_CAT_MBA
4. Podcast: (1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRpTfsgFGw0 and (2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZRd7uUcS90
5. His website for MBA Aspirants: https://point99.co.in/
#ChinmayaAmteExcel
One Response
Really inspired