Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: Entrepreneur & Biotechnology

• An entrepreneur is a person who runs their own business.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

• Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the founder of Biocon.
• Good role models can inspire you, ignite your imagination, and instill the desire to rise above the ordinary.
• Take the best traits of your role models and imbibe them in your life.

My Early Years

• Kiran was fascinated by science and grew up in Bengaluru, the science capital of India.
• Her good science teachers made science exciting through a curiosity-driven approach.
• She frequently visited the city's science museum and the brewery where her father worked as a managing director.
• Kiran was fascinated by the unique processes and smells associated with brewing, the oldest form of biotechnology.
• Biotechnology uses biological processes, organisms, or systems to manufacture newer and better products.
• Biotechnology is used to produce new drugs, engineer cells to regenerate damaged tissues, develop environment-friendly fuels, and in agriculture to develop pest-resistant and drought-resistant crops.
• As a student, she enjoyed reading "Understanding Science" because it explained things simply.
• She wanted to become a doctor, but didn't have the grades to gain admission to medical college.
• Her father refused to secure a seat for her by paying a capitation fee, emphasizing that money can not buy favors, but the effort to make a difference to society can.

Making a Difference

• Kiran's father advised her to pursue a career in brewing and biotechnology.
• Brewing was a nascent stream in India in the 1970s, with few professional brewers.
• Kiran graduated from the Ballarat College of Advanced Education near Melbourne in Australia in 1975 as a Master Brewer.
• After returning as India's first woman brewmaster, she discovered there were no jobs for women in the brewing industry.
• She focused on finding a job outside India and landed a role at a brewery in Scotland.
• Fate intervened when an Irish biotech entrepreneur wanted a partner in India.
• Kiran was reluctant but accepted the challenge and began her journey in business with no prior background.
• Biocon was born in a makeshift office in Bengaluru in 1978 with ₹10,000 investment.
• Kiran became the Managing Director of a biotech start-up that would become Asia's leading biopharmaceutical enterprise.
• When she started Biocon, she was driven by the spirit to create a business that would leverage science for the benefit of society.
• Strong grounding in biological sciences and fermentation (brewing technology) enabled her to pursue biotechnology with understanding of the life sciences.
• Biocon's initial mission was to 'green the world', using biotechnology to produce eco-friendly products.

Industrial Enzymes

• Biocon became the biggest enzymes maker in India, supplying industrial enzymes for food and textile makers.
• In 2007, the enzyme business was sold to a foreign competitor.
• The next part of the journey was to leverage the innovative power of biotechnology to make medicines.
• Affordable, lifesaving drugs were developed for patients across the globe.
• Biocon makes high-quality medicines for diseases like diabetes and cancer at the lowest cost for the poor.
• The company decided to use a part of its profits to help the poor and the needy,
• The Biocon Foundation was established in 2004.
• The foundation makes a social impact in healthcare, education, and civic infrastructure.
• Kiran is involved in philanthropic activities.
• In 2005, she established the Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre in Bengaluru, which provides affordable and high-quality cancer care.
• Kiran is actively involved in restoring the glory of Bengaluru.
• She set up the Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC) with like-minded citizens to improve governance.
• Kiran received the Padma Shri (1989) and the Padma Bhushan (2005) from the Indian government.
• The US-based Chemical Heritage Foundation conferred the Othmer Gold Medal (2014).
• Germany's Kiel Institute gave her the '2014 Global Economy Prize'.
• Enzymes are chemicals that act as catalysts in chemical reactions.

Be a Leader

• My ability to face and learn from failure helped me a great deal.
• In my life's journey, I faced many challenges in my early years as a businesswoman. Banks did not want to give me loans.
• Companies did not want to do business with me because I was a twenty-five-year-old woman who was trying to sell products based on a novel technology called biotechnology!
• This did not deter me; in fact, it inculcated a spirit of challenge and a deep sense of purpose that pushed me to my goals.
• It is this sense of determination that can spur you to overcome failure.
• Remember, failure is temporary but giving up is final.
• Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw's established the Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre in 2005.
• Her commitment to improving governance of Bengaluru comes through BPAC.
• Determination can lead to success.
• Leaders who have made a difference and steered their organisations to new horizons have rarely been conformists.
• Spurred by the courage of conviction, they have the zeal to confront all odds. They are the entrepreneurial risk-takers and innovators. It is this spirit that enables them to stand apart
• You must channelise the innate leadership instinct that all of us possess and try to make a difference in your own life as well as in the lives of others.
• 'Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.' I believe that self-belief and hard work can help you become that leader.
• Conformists are those how behave in a way that most prople think is correct.
• Innate is natural.