Arman Sood is a Marketing and Communications Evangelist at a leading ed-tech startup called Embibe.com. Embibe combines technology and data sciences and brings the power of information to help students achieve their academic goals. His run in with entrepreneurship happened at the age of 20 when he promoted his own E-commerce venture eShack, retailing bar accessories while at Law school. He is a passionate speaker, avid sportsperson and wants to live and breathe the startup ecosystem.

Arman completed the NUJS diploma in Entrepreneurship and Business Law in 2014 and then graduated as a lawyer in 2015. He wants to start his own venture eventually. Over here he talks about his experience with the NUJS diploma course, and how it helped his career. Over to Arman.

After studying science in +2, I shifted to law because I wanted to do something where I will get a chance to hone my speaking skills and become a great public speaker. I wanted to argue and appear in public forums and platforms. I spent a lot of time in college pursuing debating and mooting, but at one point I realized that I don’t have desired expertise on practical legal issues, which I felt to be an absolute necessity since I was going to graduate as a lawyer.

I especially became aware of this when I started my own company with a roommate. After some time we started facing challenges like negotiating contracts, merchandizing agreements, merchant contracts, obtaining and managing trademarks and so on; but what we learnt up to then in law school could not help us to do these things. I knew that if I start my own business in the legal industry, I could do very well.

At this time I came across the NUJS Business Law Diploma course. I had looked at sample chapters, syllabus, and considered the price before taking up the course. Also the counselling session I had with someone from iPleaders really helped me to make up my mind. However, this course being an online course and self-paced, I was a little apprehensive about it and did thorough research before taking it. The course helped me a lot, and coupled with my experience of working at a rapidly growing start-up I know that the knowledge and skills acquired will help in my future ventures for certain.

The syllabus was really promising. It was also relevant from the point of view of someone who wanted to jump into the start-up world as the syllabus was totally geared towards that.

I had the experience of running a failed start-up while I was a student called eShack, and in hindsight I knew there was a lot of ground work to be done. I was in an unique position as a law student and entrepreneur both, and I really appreciated the course for what it provided to me at that time. It was very apt and covered all the relevant issues that one may come across at various stages of business.

By the time I was studying this course my first venture had almost shut shop, but the exposure really helped me. Even in my present company Embibe, though I am in a marketing role, as I am the only one in the company with legal qualification, I look at all the contracts, IP issues and all other legal aspects.  I still refer to the course and find the material extremely relevant. It’s amazing that how it is not bookish but aptly addresses real life scenarios.

Another thing I did was to take it up along with two other friends rather than taking it alone and the idea was that we will be able to motivate each other through the course. To be honest, I believe I am the only one who really benefited from it amongst those three as the enthusiasm of others fizzled out a bit. It is important to follow the design of the course and give it a bit of time regularly which is at least 2-3 hours every week. It is amazing in this light that you have created the iPleaders club with academic mentors, industry mentors, regular exercises and structured calls. I believe this will really help to keep motivation of students high throughout the course.

I have been able to recommend the course to many people and I feel glad to do so. So many lawyers have an inclination towards business, and for such people this course is especially worth their while. However, I feel that every law student has something valuable to take away from this course.

I didn’t find it difficult to study the course at all as I broke it up into small chunks and studied bit by bit, module by module. I had small targets that I studied every week and felt great as I finished my target.

Finding time for the course was initially difficult for me but the fact that there were tests in regular intervals really helped me. I was able to keep the momentum throughout. Also the fact that in the new batches you are making it mandatory for the students to write short articles will really make a huge difference in their research and writing skills. It will also help to get the students to get noticed by the industry even better.

Two modules really helped me. One is business structuring. I made a mistake by structuring my first company as a partnership and it became a big problem when I was trying to expand, raise money etc. After doing the course I realized how important it is to structure your business right.  Partnership is good for temporary businesses only, not for a start-up.

IP is my favorite subject and it was my forte while I was in college. Still I found immense value in the module you provided on IP. There was a presentation you provided on how to get IP registrations done, how to get it quickly and cost structures – I am still using that document at Embibe in terms of ground work as I manage our trademark portfolio.

One more thing I am really happy is that I still have access to the course and I can brush up anytime of skills I learnt. The career services you provide is also really amazing. I wish you had this during the time I was pursuing the course as well. But it is an amazing opportunity for the law students who will pursue the course now. I also keep reading the job opportunities you keep sharing with us. While I don’t need a job right now, it feels great that you are still sharing these opportunities with me and someday I may really benefit from this. I mentioned the course in my CV, and at the interview for the current job this definitely helped me.

I have recommended this course to many people, they took it and then later thanked me for suggesting it to them. There is no better joy than being able to help someone I care about with their career. If you have already taken the course, I would suggest that you must highlight this at your interviews and internships. And even after you are done with the course, keep going back to it and brush up. Go deeper where possible, discover a niche for yourself through the course. You must master one or two areas at least in depth and that will really help you in your career. This course is even more relevant for the students in colleges where there are not a lot of electives.