Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the founder of Biocon and India's richest self-made woman, aims to be remembered for her impact on global healthcare and affordable innovation in biotechnology. Facing challenges such as sexism and lack of equal opportunities, she has built a successful biopharmaceutical company and advocated for cost-effective cancer treatments inspired by personal experiences. Her leadership emphasizes the importance of supportive networks, innovation, and social contributions beyond her business endeavors.

1. TOTAL LEADERSHIP
Leadership Biography
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Shashwata Narain
04.11.2017
“I want to be remembered as someone
who put India on the scientific map of
the world in terms of large innovation.
I want to be remembered for making a
difference to global healthcare.
And I want to be remembered as
someone who made a difference to
social economic development in India.”

2. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw & Biocon
 Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Limited
 Biocon is a global biotechnology & biopharmaceuticals
company headquartered in India. It uses biotechnology to
develop & manufacture biopharmaceuticals for chronic and
advanced diseases such as cancer, diebetes & auto-immune
conditions
 Pioneered the concept of “affordable innovation”
 At a net worth of $2.3bn, she is India’s richest self-made
woman
 Awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest national
civilian awards for her outstanding contribution to
bioscience
 TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world
 Forbes Most Powerful Women
 Financial Times’ Top 50 women in business
 Awarded the Knight of Legion of Honour, France's highest
civilian honor
“Biocon …is committed to ensure a global right to healthcare
by addressing the worldwide need for safe, effective and
affordable biotherapeutics”

3. Early life – seeking inspiration from family, inroads into a ‘man’s field’, the
importance of being different
Born in 1953 in Bengaluru, India to a Gujarati-Brahmin middle class
family
Inspired by her father, a brewmaster at United Breweries, she chose
to study Malting & Brewing, going against traditional values around
women and alcohol
Could not find work in India as a brewer and was told “it’s a man’s
work.” Found a position in Scotland and returned to India after a few
years
Founded Biocon as an enzyme-manufacturer, aged 25, out of her
garage with Rs. 10,000 seed money
Learnings
Used her family as a key source of inspiration
for her future career
Majumdar-Shaw remembered having to leave
the country to find a suitable job & has since
made it a Biocon employee priority to destroy
the notion that to work “at the cutting-edge of
science or to even earn a decent living, one had
to necessarily emigrate”
Her family instilled in her the values of doing
things differently & creatively – of developing
her own perspective. These are traits underlining
her push for innovation even today
“It was [my father] who encouraged me to take the road less traversed
and gave me the confidence to pursue my path of entrepreneurship”

4. Expanding Biocon – building supportive networks, struggle with cancer
Collaborated with Les Auchincloss, the founder of Biocon in
Scotland, closely throughout her career. Became her first mentor
“He infused a tremendous sense of confidence in me… It was he who
gave me the break and the challenge that gave me a strong sense of
purpose.”
Having seen the landscape of poverty that most patients in India
deal with, she has advocated the need for cost-effective drug
development procedures
Watched her husband and best friend, Rovshen, battle cancer for
numerous years. Rovshen succumbed to the disease after
struggling with expensive treatment. The experience inspired
Majumdar-Shaw to establish a cancer hospital in India & expand
Biocon’s products into cancer treatment
Learnings
Mentors have provided important
support throughout her career – Les’s
support was invaluable in raising
funding initially
Rather than treat low willingness-to-
pay as a handicap in India, she used it as
a competitive advantage and made
drugs at a novel low-cost scale
Used her personal experience to drive
her in the fight against cancer

5. Personal Life – her work & life partner, speaking up about causes
• Describes her husband of 18 years, John Shaw, as a “very strong and secure
human being. [He] has invested in me in every way, and inspires me every day.”
• John Shaw helped her secure financial ownership of Biocon by investing in the
buyback from Unilever in 1998.
“We balance and complement each other: I am a scientist and he has a strong financial
background. ”
• Has instituted a variety of arrangements at Biocon to increase flexibility for
employees & wor/life integration. For e.g., 8am to 4pm work days to get ahead
of Bengaluru traffic
• Has founded and plays an active role in a variety of other social organizations
in India such as the Biocon Foundation (affordable healthcare infrastructure
for rural areas of India), Bangalore Political Action Committee (identifies and
supports candidates for public office), microfinance health insurance and
Mazumdar-Shaw Medical Foundation

6. Integrating the domains
•She is able to devote time to
causes that are important to
her. She balances her time
between work and self by
making it a policy at Biocon
• Her marriage
provides her support
stability to succeed in
other parts of her life
•She lives her values of innovation
and integrity through her social
work. She derives inspiration from
her networks & friends to fuels it
towards her career
• Biocon’s affordable
innovation in cancer &
employee policies reflect
her philosophy
Work Community
SelfHome

7. Lessons Applying these lessons
Be Real
- Identifying what matters to me most & focusing on it
regardless of external circumstances
- Seeking inspiration from and making a difference in areas
other than my area of expertise, e.g. politics and environment
are 2 areas I care about, outside of healthcare
Be Whole:
- Building a supportive network that reminds about what is
important, e.g. staying in touch with Wharton & undergrad
classmates from whom I can derive inspiration
- Being upfront about my priorities with future
spouse/family/stakeholders so that they can support my
leadership vision
Be Innovative:
- Use challenges to fuel experiments on how things can be done
differently
- Instead of treating the Indian business landscape as a handicap,
view it as a key differentiator for future endeavors
Kiran Majumdar-Shaw is inspiring to me because she has lived
out my leadership vision:
 She went against the wisdom of her time to do something she
felt passionate about
 As a self-made woman, she has persisted in the face of
challenging circumstances, including sexism, to emerge
succesful
 She has used India’s unique landscape to mold Biocon –
instead of being disheartened by issues like lack of startup
infrastructure, gender inequality and poverty, she has
creatively innovated to differentiate her company
 She has managed to find support and ongoing encouragement
from her marriage and from her friends
 She has contributed extensively to issues outside of
biotechnology as well, speaking up for important causes

8. Sources
• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/how-biocons-kiran-
mazumdar-shaw-battled-cancer-plaguing-her-husband-best-
friend/articleshow/34138170.cms
• http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/06/18/women-at-work-biocon-
founder-on-philanthropy-sexism-and-politics/
• http://www.forbesindia.com/article/india-rich-list-2016/how-biocons-
brewmaster-kiran-mazumdarshaw-made-it-a-global-force/45183/1
• http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/the-success-
code/healthcare_innovation_an_interview_with
• http://archives.digitaltoday.in/businesstoday/20060312/cover2.html
• https://www.forbes.com/profile/kiran-mazumdar-shaw/
• http://www.vagabomb.com/Kiran-MazumdarShaws-Story-Is-the-Inspiration-
You-Need/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiran_Mazumdar-Shaw