GOLDEN GIRLS – HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY

They are the women of steel. They have been scripting their and the nation’s success, in uncharted territory, moving ahead on the untrodden path. As they say, if you can handle uncertainty, you can handle everything. And they have become experts in handling an uncertain and unknown future. You can get wiped out or become an iconic success. You can inspire a generation and make a sea change in the way girls look at business, tech entrepreneurship and startups and create a flame in them to be a part of it. ”The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do” -Steve Jobs.  These are women who transformed their fledgling startups into unicorns and lots of other successful businesses.

Of the Indian startups turning into unicorns last year, four of them were led by women. Four-female led companies have already entered the unicorn club in the first two months of 2022. This is bound to swell as years go by. A unicorn, in the startup parlance, is a private firm valued at or over a billion dollars. They have created any number of other successful businesses of varied financial dimensions and turnover; tech enabled, driven by garnering domain knowledge and business acumen in scores of areas. Empowerment through self-created stupendous successes, empowers girls and ladies, all of us and the nation. It empowers the nation. It creates an insatiable urge to be a creator. An enterprise creator. Creators they are. They have captured the entrepreneurial domain in a big way.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw showed the way many years back. She is a billionaire entrepreneur, founder and executive chairperson of Biocon, a biotechnology company based in Bangalore. Now we have another gigantic success story, it is as recent as it can be. Nykaa IPO scripted corporate history in Nov 2021. Entrepreneur at 49, billionaire at 58, Falguni Nayar, built one of its kind success with Nykaa. Nayar is one of two self-made female Indian billionaires. The IPO made her the wealthiest female Indian billionaire. She has a net worth of $6.5 billion. Now she is the member of 20 Richest Indians Club. She says, ”Entrepreneurship is an adventure that needs courage. Age and experience are not liabilities.”

Things are looking up even further: four-female led companies have already entered the unicorn club this year. They are Ghazal Alagh’s Mamaearth,  Rajoshi Ghosh’s Hasura, Smita Seorah’s LEAD School and Dr Garima Sawhney’s Pristyn Care. Three successful women entrepreneurs are stealing the limelight in the hugely successful business reality show, Shark Tank India. They are Vineeta Singh, Co-founder & CEO of  Sugar Cosmetics, Namita Thapar, Executive Director of Emcure Pharma and Ghazal Alagh of Mama Earth. The list of female successful entrepreneurs is long and impressive, just to name a few young female entrepreneurs; Aditi Gupta of Menstrupedia, Sairee Chahal of Sheroes, Chitra Gurnani Daga of Thrillophilla, Shradha Sharma of YourStory and Anamika Sengupta of Almitra Tattava and Almitra Sustainables. They show us the way, the nation is indebted to them for inspiring a whole new generation of women to become go-getters and achievers. The glass ceiling has broken.

Sanjay Sahay