The Measure of Success
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” ― Robert F. Kennedy
The mettle of a leader is tested when negotiating choppy waters. A true leader is one who is able to steer his team toward sustainable growth through the hurdles on the way. In this issue, we celebrate such leaders from the startup space and more specifically, from among Unicorns. The last couple of years have seen this space light up. We have witnessed a Unicorn boom. As of July 2022, India is home to 105 Unicorns with a total valuation of $338.50 billion. Of course, they have benefited from India's digital push and policies conducive to the ease of doing business. The growth of Unicorns is good for the economy as a whole. There is, however, a slowdown in funding owing to the challenges facing the global economy, but despite these headwinds, the outlook is promising.
Unicorns are an interesting lot, and we wished to get to the bottom of what makes them tick. We interacted with some of the biggest names in the space to understand how they think. The one thing common to them all is that in addition to having a profit-mindset, they place immense value on consumer centricity and on giving back to society. The pages ahead offer you a peek into these brilliant minds and their work ethos. We also introduce you to the winners of the BW Unicorn Summit & Awards 2022. At this event founders and venture capitalists shared insights on the changing paradigms of innovation, revenue generation, building brands and scaling up.
Funding for startups may have slowed down across the world, but FinTech as a sector continues to thrive in spite of economic headwinds and the RBI’s recent crackdown on PPI credit lines. As a matter of fact, a large number of Unicorns in India are from the FinTech space. Industry reports suggest that India’s overall FinTech market opportunity will be around $1.3 trillion by 2025. In this issue, we also profile leaders who are making a mark in the FinTech space. In May 2022, the BW Festival of FinTech brought together leaders who are driving innovation powered by FinTech and contributing to sustainable economic development. Read about them in the pages ahead.
Of course, as usual we bring to you all the regular features and columns that you look forward to. Our league of seasoned economists, scribes and thought leaders, examine the nuances of the fuel-price triggered inflation and the ballooning crude oil import bill, the unemployment conundrum and the need to re-evaluate the television audience measurement system. We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we did putting it together.
Happy Reading!
