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Billion-Dollar Founder: Why Success In India Is So Hard | Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw | FO537 Raj Shamani
18 July 2026

Billion-Dollar Founder: Why Success In India Is So Hard | Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw | FO537 Raj Shamani

Raj Shamani's Figuring Out

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Disclaimer: This video is intended solely for educational purposes and opinions shared by the guest are his personal views. We do not intent to defame or harm any person/ brand/ product/ country/ profession mentioned in the video.



Our goal is to provide information to help audience make informed choices. The media used in this video are solely for informational purposes and belongs to their respective owners.




(00:00) - Intro
(02:37) - Childhood, Family Values & Father's Life Lesson on Merit
(07:41) - Rejected by Breweries for Being a Woman
(12:29) - Gender Bias in Funding & Starting Biocon Against All Odds
(27:08) - The Art of Pitching: Telling Your Story Right
(29:57) - From Enzymes to Pharma: Cracking Statins
(31:15) - The Insulin Breakthrough That Disrupted Global Pricing
(34:18) - Entering Cancer Biosimilars After Losing a Friend
(40:29) - Why Being First (Not Just Best) Matters
(43:52) - Building Affordable CAR-T Cancer Therapy (Immuneel)
(45:46) - The GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drug Debate
(53:13) - How Pharma Pricing & Margins Actually Work
(58:20) - A Near-Financial Crisis: The Loan Default Scare
(1:03:45) - How Can People Who Have Self-Doubt Build Confidence?
(1:07:13) - Why India Undervalues Innovation vs. the US
(1:13:51) - The AI Pathology Startup India Let Slip Away
(1:20:50) - Proving Global Pharma Giants Wrong
(1:26:43) - Bengaluru's Infrastructure & Civic Problems
(1:30:14) - India's Civic Sense Crisis
(1:35:44) - Why India Is Losing FDI to Vietnam & Indonesia
(1:38:03) - Has She Ever Felt Humiliated?
(1:41:58) - The Harshest Truth: Gender Bias in India
(1:50:51) - Big Pharma Ethics & COVID Vaccine Inequality
(1:55:52) - Choosing Her Successor: Niece Claire Mazumdar
(1:58:54) - The Power of Authentic Networking & Friendships
(2:02:47) - Separating Her Identity From Biocon
(2:04:52) - One Advice No One Should Follow
(2:06:03) - Outro


In today's episode, we sit down with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson of Biocon Limited, to talk about rejection, risk, and how she built India's biggest biotech company from a garage.



Follow Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kiranmazumdar_shaw/

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Raj Shamani is an Entrepreneur at heart that explains his expertise in Business Content Creation & Public Speaking. He has delivered 200+ speeches in 26+ countries. Besides that, Raj is also an Angel Investor interested in crazy minds who are creating a sensation in the Fintech, FMCG, & passion economy space.



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About Figuring Out


Figuring Out Podcast is a Candid Conversations University where Raj Shamani brings raw conversations with the Top 1% in India.