Pioneers and Builders in India - Stories that Inspire

Indian Entrepreneurship Ecosystem is rooted in the stories of?

daring, relentless and visionary founders who went on to become pioneers in some of the industries of current times.?

There is a breed of people who wants to do 1000 things in a lifetime and even a life span of 100 years appears very short.

They want to open businesses in 10 different industries, write, become kickass athletes, work with inspiring leaders, become public or motivational speakers, and experiment with innovative ideas.?

Lekin Zindagi toh ek hi he, and that's where you live it by reading stories of people who have done something pathbreaking or who have pioneered their industries, and aim to learn more about their value creation journey - so that you experience bits & pieces of different lives in one way or another.

I do come from that breed and that's where I undoubtedly derive inspiration from some of the most pioneer leaders of the Indian startup ecosystem - some of whom are driven with vision and others with their own philosophy and bringing their world view to life.?

From solving most fundamental problems to scaling ventures across the nation amidst constraints –?

these stories not only inspire MBAs but also everyone interested in the world of creation & innovation.?

In this article, I aim to capture some of the most inspiring founders for their pathbreaking journeys and stories that led to the creation of purpose driven ventures.

1. Venkat Krishnan - Give India

IIM A Grad went on to revolutionize the domain of Giving and Donating with one of the most mission-driven ventures.?

Venkat not only amassed phenomenal goodwill by creating donating ecosystem starting from corporate donations to now mainstream donations, but his advice on taking risks for serving humanity at large and actually implementing the same at scale is also one of the most path-breaking stories of entrepreneurship.?

Hailing from IIM A, it is a privilege for budding entrepreneurs like us who derive inspiration from leaders like Venkat who have spent some of the most productive years creating ventures with purpose and mission as the core backbone.?

If a top achiever in the field of education with accolades from IIM A developed one of the most path-breaking ventures and derives joy from giving, his entire journey of building give-India is a very good message for entrepreneurs that mission-driven enterprises can be created and at the same time one can lead a balanced personal life.?

The story of Give India makes us understand that there is indispensable joy in giving.?

2. Anand Halve - Chlorophyll

What sets apart Chlorophyll is its pioneering foothold in the space of branding. The core principles that we see in brand-building are deeply brought into practice by the founders of Chlorophyll.?

Building a brand is an exercise of giving soul and identity to a particular entity.?

IIM A Grad Anand Halve and Kiran Khalap led Chlorophyll is an inspiration to multiple brand marketers and leaders in the domain of marketing.?

Being a curious learner in the field of branding, I have derived stupendous learning not only in the field of branding but from the humble nature, curious thought process and frame-work based approach to create pillars of brand identity.?

3. Vardan Kabra - Founder of Fountainhead School

An IIT- IIM grad Vardan created one of the most purpose-driven ventures in the space of education and building young Indian minds.?

Education is one of the spaces that is very close to me, since both my grandparents have spent a considerable amount of their professional journey in the field of education and building careers.?

When I came across Vardan's story of having clear priorities in terms of touching young minds of India by imparting education - it touched my inspirational nerves.?

Today, the Fountainhead School has deeply impacted lots of careers and young minds of India with its stupendous education curriculum and imparting holistic development to kids.?

Hailing from one of the top educational institutes that is deeply revered and have led the foundation of the technology pillar of India - IIT, it is an inspiration to learn from his journey of creating a phenomenal impact in the space of Education and shaping young minds with his own approach.

4. Ranjeet Pratap Singh - Founder of Pratilipi

What got me extremely fascinated by the story of Ranjeet was his approach to building Pratilipi where he says, we were sure of the problem and knew it exists - however, we had to come up with a solution.?

Starting with the first principles, Ranjeet had firm conviction in the problem he was solving for.?

On top of that, the solutions were not very explored before and required a completely experimentative mindset.?

Having the humility to start from scratch and get to the roots of the problem, it is inspiring to see Ranjeet and his team creating a two-sided marketplace for publishers and readers in vernacular languages.

By bringing PMF from paper to reality which most non-English users today read online, Pratilip has solved using the first principle approach. The extreme humility of the founding team, the conviction in their problem statement and the resilience to achieve their vision is one of the most coveted journeys for founders of the present times.?

5. Sharman Ali - Founder of Instoried

Sharman led the foundation of one of the most new-age platforms solving for the contextual way of writing content and using AI to understand and suggest deep-rooted emotions in writing.?

Entrepreneurship is not an easy ride, but the vision to create value at scale using technology and striving for it through all ups and downs - Sharman is an inspiration for fellow founders who are ambitious, who don't want to compromise on their dreams, who will go on to hustle till their last breath, who will keep their team at first and personally ensure their well-being, who will never take No as an answer and at the same time maintain candid and empathetic attitude.?

Sharman makes us understand that dreams do work out if we keep on hustling with the right approach and stay focussed for sustained periods of time no matter the highs and lows.?

6. Aman Gupta - Founder of Boat

By making Indians Boatheads, Aman not only created a path-breaking venture by creating an affordable, iconic and holistic brand around wearables but what personally makes me inspired by his journey is his heart-driven leadership.?

As a Boathead personally as well as "BoatHeart" owning to the humorous nature of the founder, Aman makes it very easy for present-day founders to dream big and achieve their vision.?

From listening to various podcasts as well as capturing his phenomenal take on distribution, marketing & sales - it is inspiring to see Aman leading Boat in the crowded market with more than 200+ brands.?

Creating Consumer Facing Brand at an affordable price-point and a very good experience is one of the core learning for fellow founders. By building a strong brand by touching two main gasps of India - Cricket & Bollywood as well as creating a strong online and offline distribution - Boat is an inspirational venture for budding entrepreneurs.?

7. Annurag Batra - Founder of BW Business World

What sets apart Media Moghul is not only his pioneering ventures but also his continuous development of fellow entrepreneurs and graduates with business and life lessons.?

Doing hard work, wishing and thinking well of everyone around you, especially your friends, business professionals, and batch-mates and keeping a positive mindset across all stages of life - are some of the simple yet very important nuggets of lessons that can be captured from the veteran of the media industry.?

His kind and humble attitude coupled with a spirit to coach & mentor leaders at scale makes him one of the front faces of the Indian Internet ecosystem.?

Continuously striving to become a better human being - both personally and professionally, the veteran entrepreneur is a great inspiration and online coach for several entrepreneurs.?

8. Mukul Rustagi - Founder of Classplus

Seeing disruption closely and witnessing growth curves in a short span of time for both educators and learners by Classplus is one of the most jaw-dropping venture-building stories in its truest sense.?

Not only from the product side but also from the distribution side of things and speed of scaling - the Classplus team is one of the most inspiring ventures who has created value at scale in the education industry.?

Very few founders and their teams take complete advantage of chaotic times and Mukul with his venture launched during the peak of Covid - facilitated online learning for various learners and educators.?

The adoption time curve shortens itself with the increased maturity of Indian mobile consumers, the propensity to pay online as well as high adoption of new consumer apps solving core problems.?

9. Ashish Hemrajani - Founder of Bookmyshow

Starting an online ticketing platform and finding PMF when India was still exploring early days of e-payments - this is how I condense the pioneering journey of Bookmyshow.?

It takes immense guts to be a pioneer in an industry when the holistic ecosystem is still in the early days and riding the adoption phase in the trust-lacking Indian consumer market.?

Ashish mostly witnessed all phases of venture building, but his vision to create a ticketing platform in the 20s is in itself one of the most inspiring and daunting stories of Indian entrepreneurs.?

10. Sarvesh Shashi

Sarvesh is not just an entrepreneur, he is a yogi who has led the revolution of taking Yoga from India to the world with his immense hard work, personal improvement journey and phenomenal heart-driven leadership.?

Being a purpose-driven leader who has led from the heart and aimed for holistic wellness with an innovative approach - Sarvesh's story and journey are an inspiration for all founders of present times.?

Sarvesh is making everyone addicted to practices that are meant for their holistic improvement and it is one of the most daunting missions where he has created strong roots with purposeful brand and product.?

Indian Startup Ecosystem is having 1000's of stories of path-breaking founders and how they have led immense value creation for nation at large. It is their enterprising attitude, hard-working nature, humililty, curiosity to learn and adapt with market drivers as well as having deep consumer insight required to build ventures at scale.