The learning:

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw founded Biocon India in collaboration with Biocon Biochemicals
Limited, with a capital of Rs.10000. She initially faced many problems regarding funds for her
business. Banks were hesitant to give loan to her as biotechnology was a totally new field at that
point of time and she was a woman entrepreneur, which was a rare phenomenon. This bio-tech
entrepreneur learnt the importance of self-reliance and personal re-invention at an early age. That
philosophy has held her in good stead through her life

Challenges faced
The challenges have evolved along with the evolutionary growth of Biocon. Initially, she faced
credibility challenges: her youthful age, gender and the nature of the unfamiliar business model
posed enormous obstacles. Funding was not easy to come by either. No bank wanted to lend to
her, no professional wanted to work for her, and it was tough to even do business because
women were considered "high risk" in the business world. Once she overcame these, she had to
face technological challenges of trying to build a Biotech business in a country where the
infrastructure was too primitive to support a high tech industry like Biotechnology that was so
dependent on uninterrupted, high quality power, high quality water, sterile labs, imported
research equipment, advanced scientific skills etc. Today, our challenges address those posed by
new medical wisdom: addressing unmet medical needs, researching new drugs, new drug
delivery systems and new therapies. Overcoming each of these phases has been a rich learning
experience that has helped them to develop world-class expertise in Biotechnology. Currently her
challenges are about growth and managing a large company and managing investor expectations
like any other CEO.”

Kiran talks:

She regularly features in world’s top power lists and then makes it to the best philanthropists’
lists as well. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw takes that lightly- she has after all, a USD1 billion dollar
company to take care of, apart from collecting exclusive art works, addressing global
entrepreneurs, researching for newer drugs and at the same time going out for dinner with
husband John Shaw, her partner in Biocon International- India's first biotechnology company.
“My journey has been challenging. But I am satisfied that I have achieved a lot of objectives.
There are many more milestones to cross before I can truly say that I feel completely satisfied,
though. I faced the challenge of incredibility when I began- I was a young woman when I started
out. People did not even know what Biotechnology was, let alone realize its potential. I faced
problems of financing as no institution was ready to back my venture in 1970s. I had to start
from my garage with only Rs 10,000 as an investment.

I wanted to be a coffee brew master, but I was rejected as I was a woman and women had not
entered the field yet. That led me to think of my own business. But I couldn’t even recruit people
as I was a risky proposition because of my gender and age. There were just so many challenges,
but it is the spirit of winning over them that kept me going. I rejected the idea that women
couldn’t do tough business.

For me power is not personal. It is about being able to speak your mind and bring about a
change. When you have that opportunity, then you should interact with stakeholders like policy
makers, policy beneficiaries, academics, scientists (as in my field) etc. and encourage them to
bring about new ideas. Power is about empowering others.

kiran on women’s stage:

In India it is the society which plays a crucial role in deciding a woman’s career. Whether she
will work after marriage or not, whether she will be encouraged to utilize her education fully or
not. But this is a global problem- women face glass ceilings everywhere. Family support,
determination and a confidence in abilities will help remove this inequity. Look at me!

Knowledge does not have a gender divide - women scientists, women engineers, women writers
have enormous opportunities to excel and succeed.

The problems that we face in any business are gender neutral. Same goes for business leadership.
I think a lot depends on the individual entrepreneur. Both men and women face equally daunting
tasks and each person deals with them in their own way.
Whether it is women or men, balancing work-life is a challenge that all of us in business face. It
is difficult no doubt for me to spare enough time for my family because there are just so many
things to do related to my work. My husband and family give me a lot of support and it couldn’t
have been possible without that. It is tougher for women no doubt as they have a particular role
in the Indian family- they are the home makers. But women have this natural ability to balance
and manage things deftly.
It is very important to remember that you have it in you to do it! Do not think too much about
work-life balance; just go with the flow. You need also to accept a few things in life for mental
peace as that will help you focus on that which matters. Don’t be preferential in your approach.
Acknowledge that you are smarter and good at managing things and just do exactly that.

Principles in Life
• Do not make judgment on things, people, and issues with half information
• Listen to the little drummer in you who keeps saying break free, become large, build something
memorable.

“I am a people person. I inspire confidence. I have respect for other people. I have honesty of
purpose. I am a very good friend. I care deeply about friends. Sometimes people form opinion of
others with partial information. They see them as good and bad, heroes and villains. Likeable and
otherwise. Through my father, I have learnt to see issues, things, people and their being in their
totality.”

Secret of success
“Success is about pursuing a vision with a sense of purpose and a spirit of challenge. There are
no short cuts to success and there is no substitute for hard work. I also believe success is about
doing things in a differentiated way - dare to be different so that you stand out. Biocon's byline is
‘The difference lies in our DNA’ and we all believe in it. We don't imitate other companies but
have chartered our own business destiny.”
What wealth means to her
“I believe I have created intellectual wealth from very frugal resources and that is what I am
acknowledged for. I do hope I can inspire ordinary people to build enterprises from very little
monetary resources but a rich mind to succeed. I am proud of having created a valuable
organization and that is the wealth I am proud of. Biocon is really about building intellectual
wealth and not about creating material wealth. It is the opportunity that the company has
provided to hundreds of scientists that matters to me.”

Advise to budding entrepreneurs:

 “If you have a vision, a plan and the conviction, you should follow it and success will
come to you”
 Success in any enterprise is about a team effort, and I think that's what it has been.
 Don’t be preferential in your approach.
 Should not be de-motivated with failure but learn from one's mistakes
 Dare to be different so that you stand out. The difference lies in our DNA.