Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon Limited, a

biotechnology company based in Bangalore, India.

Kiran is highly respected in the corporate world and has been named among TIME magazine’s

100 most influential people in the world. The Economic Times placed her at India Inc.’s top 10

most powerful women CEOs for the year 2012. Her pioneering efforts in biotechnology have

drawn global recognition for both the Indian industry and Biocon.

Kiran holds a bachelor’s degree in Zoology from Bangalore University, India, and is qualified as

a Master Brewer from Ballarat University, Australia. She has also received many honorary

doctorates in recognition of her pre-eminent contributions to the field of biotechnology.

…

When Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw founded Biocon in 1978, it was a small industrial-enzymes company. Now Biocon is India's largest publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, which had $460 billion in revenue last year and distributes its products in 85 countries around the world. In 2014, Mazumdar-Shaw won the Chemical Heritage Foundation's Othmer Gold Medal for contributions to science through entrepreneurship, as well as Germany's Keihl Institute Global Economy Prize for achievements in business.Mazumdar-Shaw also runs philanthropic initiatives through the Biocon Foundation and founded a 1,400-bed cancer center in Bangalore in 2009. The facility is dedicated to providing care to all patients, regardless of income level or social standing.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Forbes Lists #85 Power Women (2015) #92 in 2014

#1741 Billionaires (2015)o #87 in India

#81 India's Richest (2014)

Founder-chair, Biocon Ltd.

Age62

Source Of Wealthbiotechnology, Self Made

ResidenceBangalore, India

Number of Family Members2

CitizenshipIndia

Marital StatusMarried

EducationBachelor of Arts / Science, Bangalore University; Master of Science, Melbourne

Universit

I remember my mother telling me, grow up to become as

graceful, self reliant and successful like Kiran Mazumdar

Shaw. For my mother, me and millions out there in India, Kiran is a

role model in true sense. She has created a place for herself in an

industry which was not known to have women leaders. What she

had was sheer will, a spirit of daring and a dream to make a

difference. And, she has done it all.

I lapped up the chance to meet her at her office recently, and what

followed was a heartfelt conversation with a lady who impresses so

much more in person. She is jovial, fun and purposeful all rolled into

one.

Please read this interview and find your own meanings as I found

mine. This is the first part of our conversation (it went on for more

than an hour) and I will come out with more nuggets of wisdom from

her shortly.

YS:  You’ve accomplished so much on your own. At this

stage of your life, would you say there is a sense of

completeness or is there still a sense of, you know, anxiety

and hunger that a lot remains to be done? What is that

sense that you have right now in life?

Kiran: No entrepreneur feels that they have come to the end of the

road. I think an entrepreneur’s life is always a continuous journey.

And, it’s really about milestones, rather than, you know, having a

final destination. And I think as an entrepreneur we know that. We

set off on a path not knowing where it will lead us.And therefore, we

realise it’s a voyage of discovery. This voyage of discovery is a very

exciting voyage, because it takes us to unknown destinations and

makes new paths for us. So, that’s the journey of all us

entrepreneurs.

I think I’m no different. I started of my entrepreneurial

journey quite by chance. In 1978, when I found that I could not

pursue my dream of becoming a brew master and managing a

brewery, I said okay then, what else can I do, and then I accidentally

started this business. I said okay, its biotech, biotech is definitely

linked to brewing, this is an exciting area. I do not know anything

about starting a business, because I’ve never run a business. But it’s

a voyage of discovery. Let me discover what this business journey is

all about.

Kiran at work in Biocon

That’s how I took the plunge. I started with making industrial

enzymes, and a lot of those enzymes were actually designed for

brewing. I was quite familiar with that piece. That’s what gave me

my raison d’etre  and this sense that I am still connected with

brewing. So, my business also has a connection with the area, which

I am very familiar with. I think most entrepreneurs will start a

business they feel they have some familiarity with, some

understanding, because I don’t think entrepreneurs start a business

without having a clue of what they’re doing. I think it is extremely

important that entrepreneurs have a deep-rooted interest in

what they are doing, and should have a good understanding

of what they are building. I was very excited to do something

that was path breaking. It was a pioneering industry, and I was a

pioneer because I had nobody to follow (laughs). I had none to show

me the way. Or, tell me what to do with this business.

YS: Today you are showing the way to so many. I remember

in my college days we were told about you and how we

should take your example and do something meaningful with

our lives.

Kiran: Looking back, I feel, yes, it was very courageous in a way

because I had no idea what I was getting into. I feel entrepreneurs

are also, you know, people with guts, people who take risks, people

who do not want everything laid out for them. You’re willing to

struggle, you’re willing to take up a challenge, but it’s with a sense

of purpose; my sense of purpose that time was to prove myself as a

manager. People told me,  no we can’t give you a job as a brewer,

you’re a woman. I was very determined to show that a woman can

manage a business. Any business.

That was my sense of challenge, and my sense of purpose was

about developing these enzymes and building a business out of

biotechnology. You have to have a spirit of challenge as an

entrepreneur. Something should drive you. So whether it’s a

Flipkart, a Biocon or an Infosys,

something has to drive you, that has to give you a sense of

purpose and a spirit of challenge.

My spirit of challenge was that nobody had thought of building a

business based on biotech. I am going to show this is possible. I am

going to show that women can run businesses and can manage

businesses. And my sense of purpose was, ‘Oh! this sounds

fascinating. You know, it was about greening businesses. That was a

very new concept. Saying how do we replace chemical technologies

with enzyme technologies, and green the world. And that was my

sense of purpose when I started.

It’s like when Infosys started. They had the sense of purpose which

was really about starting a software services company. And they

had the Y2K challenge. They said no let’s show that we techies, we

first generation entrepreneurs, can actually create a business out of

this. Everyone has a sense of purpose, a spirit of challenge. And as

you start building your business, obviously it’s a voyage of

discovery, you basically learn how to deal with the problems, you

learn how to solve problems, you learn how to deal with business

issues, with regulatory issues, all these things are very alien to you

when you get into building a business. Then you realize there is a

formal process. It is not just doing something in an ad hoc way.

There is a rationale to what you have to do. There is a strategy to

what you do and so you slowly, sort of, learn on the job.

Foundation stone ceremony for Biocon

YS: Did you always know that you wanted to make

something large, something big?

Kiran: Well, in the beginning you don’t think about those things,

some people do, but I didn’t. My job was just to be successful in

what I was doing. I had no business background. A lot of people

come with a business background, so their understanding of rolling

and managing and establishing a business is very different from

someone like me, who was an absolute novice. I had no business

background, no business experience and I had never worked for a

company where I had learnt business processes or had an

understanding of what business processes are about. So, I literally

reinvented the wheel, I had to basically create my own learnings. I

had to learn on the jobs so to speak.

YS: Did you feel lonely?

Kiran: No, I didn’t. Because when you have the spirit of

challenge you never feel lonely. You’re young, you know you

have a lot of spirit in you, you want to get things done, and you’re

willing to roll up your sleeves. I was willing to do anything, I was

fearless. When I started my company, I didn’t have that kind of

money, so I would travel the length and breadth of India in a train or

on a bus. I couldn’t afford a plane ticket. I would go to all kinds of

places using the most frugal ways to travel. I remember my parents

would get worried: ‘you’re a single girl, you’re going on your own to

all parts of India, to factories etc.’ Those were very difficult times in

Punjab with the Akali Dal etc. And yet I used to go on my own. I used

to jump into a bus. Most of my travel used to take me to the north

those days as a lot of business opportunities were there. I didn’t

care, I was on a purpose and hence fearless. Very often in those

buses, I would be the only woman. There would be all these guys

staring at me, but the bus driver would be very concerned about me

and he would say, ‘Aap kahan ja rahi hai madam?’ and I would say,

‘Mujhe woh Jagatjit industry pahunchaneka hai,’ and that poor chap

would stop the bus in front of the gate and say, you get down here. I

did not have money and it was fun to slog it out.

Kiran with her family

YS: What has been the influence of your parents in shaping

you to be the fearless person you are?

Kiran: My parents had a great influence on me. My father was a man

ahead of his times. He would say to me just because you are my

daughter doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have an aspiration to pursue a

career. In fact, I want you to pursue a career.

He was also a brew master and he wanted one of his children to be

a brewer so he said, you do it. And I was like but I am a woman. And

he said, ‘why shouldn’t you? It’s all in your mind. You can be a very

good brew master.’ He had that kind of faith in me. My father also

taught me a lot of good values. He used to say, “I’ll tell you

something, there is good in every human being, and if you’re a good

manager you bring out the goodness in people. A good manager is

someone who brings out the good in everyone. And it’s for you as a

manager to actually bring out that goodness.” I always thought that

was such a telling a piece of advice.

Kiran with her parents

He also instilled high ethical values in me. He used to say, “There is

no point in taking shortcuts, there is a good way of doing business

and a not so good way of doing business. And I want my daughter to

run her business in an honest way. And I want my children to have a

very high sense of integrity in society.”

Kiran with her parents as a child

My mother was always there for me. She believed in the same

values as my father. She believes in self-reliance. After my father

passed away, my mother started her own venture to keep herself

mentally engaged positively (she had never worked previously and

was a homemaker). She runs her own business even at the age of

82. She said one day to me, “You know I read that Alzheimer’s and

Dementia happen to people who don’t keep their minds engaged

and I want to keep myself really busy, and if I run a business, it will

keep me fully engaged.” (Laughs

fondly.)

(We will bring you the story of Kiran’s mother shortly, she

runs an automatic laundry business, Jeeves)

YS: Being a woman in business, successful entrepreneur and

role model, what has it been from a gender lens? What

would you tell all the upcoming women professionals out

there?

Kiran: When I went to Australia to do my brewing course I was on

my own. I was the only women in my class. That was a very

transformative time for me because I suddenly realized that I could

stand on my own. I could basically match one for one with men and

with my male colleagues. I topped the class even though the others

had a lot of experience — they had all come from breweries. It

taught me that being a woman does not have to be a handicap or a

disadvantage. Being a woman has actually helped me gain

confidence.

I always tell women, it’s all in your mind. Why should you feel that

because you are a woman you can’t do certain things? What can’t

you do? Please tell me.

What I think you have to learn (and many of us out there) to do is to

basically almost turn a deaf ear to criticism that makes you feel

different, that makes you feel that because you’re a woman you’ll

have problems.  I learnt to do this early on. I found myself in a

position that I was technically very competent at, so it gave me a lot

of confidence. When I would go to breweries and I had to do

business with brewers and technical people, I could speak their

language.  And I could actually have a very engaging conversation

with them, and I knew that quite a lot of the times, I had an upper

hand because their technical knowledge was not as good as mine. I

worked on my strengths. Work on your strengths and take

advantage of it.

I always say that as a woman if they treat you like, poor thing, you

need help, then take the help (laughs). You may not need it, but

take it. I remember I used to take full advantage in the government

offices. I used to go to the government offices for licenses. I

remember going to a senior bureaucrat and telling him, ‘you know

I’m feeling very intimidated.’ Why?’ he asked. I replied, “When I’m

sitting in your corridor waiting for you to call me in, some of these

real new fixers and all come and tell me, you have to bribe to get

this permission. My God, I’m getting quite scared, if I have to bribe

then I don’t know whether I should run a business. The bureaucrat

said, ‘No, no, no…don’t believe anybody, you don’t have to bribe.’ I

said, ‘Oh great, I’m so happy then!’ He said, ‘Now don’t sit in the

corridor, from now you sit inside my room. Don’t let people bug you.

No, you don’t have to bribe at all.’

And the best part is that there are really good government people

and folks out there. We just need to learn to see it constantly. You

think everyone is bad, but it’s not like that. I would say the majority

of government people are very helpful, very good also. And I still

remember, when I got my approvals, this poor chap sent me a

telegram saying ‘congratulations, we’ve approved your company

licence.’

Kiran at Biocon construction site

Similarly, in Bangalore every time I used to go to the industries, the

secretary’s office, there would be a whole bunch of people, but I

would always be asked first because I used to be the only woman

there.  It’s a great advantage being a woman. We just need to see it

differently.

And I never had to bribe. I would get all my stuff done. My male

colleagues would be like, we are very envious of you and it’s not

fair, you never have to pay a bribe and we have to. Once they told

me, ‘oh this fellow, he’s a real corrupt guy, I challenge you, let me

see how you will get away without paying this guy a bribe. He

demands at least 10% cut of the subsidy otherwise he will not even

give you the cheque.’ And I would walk in and get the cheque

without doing anything. The guys would tell me, ‘this is not fair, how

come he gives it to you and not us.’ and I remember replying, ‘yeah

because I’m a woman. He has no guts to ask me for bribe.’ ‘But I’ll

tell you the real reason,’ I said. ‘I go personally and do all this work,

you guys send your peons, your clerks, your subordinates. It serves

you right.’ The moment you send in your subordinate, they will ask

for money. But when you go on your own, who will ask you for

money. That’s a very important lesson that I taught myself and I am

sharing it with you; if you want things done, do it yourself.

My father also taught me one more thing, he said, when you ask for

certain things from the government, don’t do it with a vested

interest for yourself, do it with a vested interest for the entire sector.

I have learnt to do that, and today whenever I talk to the

government, either the state government or central government, I

don’t go and say Biocon needs you. Maybe some of it Biocon doesn’t

even need, but I talk for the industry because I want the industry to

grow.

Embrace this mindset of growth for all and see how growth

embraces you in abundance.

In a way, I fully subscribe to what Prime Minister Narendra Modi is

doing in terms of dealing with crony capitalism. I’ve always had a lot

of, you know, skepticism for this close nexus between industry and

government. I’ve seen too much, where industry is constantly trying

to corrupt the government to get a few freebies for themselves. I

think that’s wrong. I believe you have to do it for the whole sector so

that whatever you’re asking for, let everybody benefit, not just

you. Although a lot of people might say Kiran is stupid, she

doesn’t realize how business works, but those are  the

values I’ve grown up with — ask for everyone, not just

yourself, and see how you can impact all.