Harnessing The Power Of Many

To be in the Forbes’ list of 100 most powerful women in the world, among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential or to reach a net worth of US$900 million is no mean feat. Ask Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Limited, a biotechnology company based in Bangalore.

Not unlike many other business success stories today, Shaw started Biocon in the garage of her rented house in Bangalore with a seed capital of Rs. 10,000. Being a youngster in her twenties, and a woman at that, credibility was a constant challenge. Her business model too was untested and posed further problems of funding with no bank wanting to lend to her, and no one willing to join her start-up. With single-minded determination she overcame these challenges only to be confronted with the technological challenges associated with trying to build a biotech business in a country facing infrastructural woes.

Biocon’s success trajectory speaks for Shaw’s determination and never-say-die attitude. Within a year of its inception, Biocon became the first Indian company to manufacture and export enzymes to USA and Europe. It became the first Indian biotech company to receive US funding for proprietary technologies. Biocon’s IPO was oversubscribed 32 times and it closed with a market value of $1.11 billion on day one making Biocon the second Indian company to cross the $1-billion mark on the first day of listing. It ranks as the 7th largest biotech employer in the world.

Today, thanks to Shaw’s leadership, Biocon is building cutting-edge capabilities, global credibility and global scale in its manufacturing and marketing activities. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw’s one-liner that explains her success is straightforward yet striking –"I managed to do things with a lot of common sense, a lot of determination, and a lot of foolish courage."

From mobilising and inspiring her people to keep the faith in her, in themselves and in the potential of what they had set out to do to building a company that is on the cutting edge of science, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is one woman who has empowered many and in turn, enriched lives. She is the one who realised and harnessed the power of many.

At the 2014 General elections, the power of many will be put through its test again. The women of India must step out there and vote. Vote for a better tomorrow, by taking the chance to tell the country that together, women can, and shall, make a difference.