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Shradha Sharma: The Visionary Behind YourStory, Giving Entrepreneurs a Voice
Shraddha Sharma is an Indian journalist and entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of Your Story. It is India's biggest platform dedicated to fostering the startup ecosystem via entrepreneurship-related stories, resources and products. Shradha’s journey from a small-town girl to the founder and CEO of YourStory is nothing short of extraordinary. She has emerged as one of India's most influential voices in the startup ecosystem. Shradha’s journey was as personal as it was professional.
Early days and Education
Shraddha was born in Patna, Bihar, in a lower-middle-class family, she was raised with humble means but big dreams. Shradha's early life in Patna was marked by both limitations and dreams. Despite coming from a lower-middle-class family, her parents emphasised the importance of education and ambition. In 1997, she moved to New Delhi to pursue her higher education at St. Stephen’s College, where she majored in History. Later, she went on to complete her Master’s in the same subject. However, her academic pursuits didn’t stop there. Shradha also studied design management and digital creative management (DCM) at the prestigious MICA in Ahmedabad.
From Corporate Ladder to Entrepreneurial Leap
Shraddha had a stellar career in media and branding. She worked as a brand advisor at The Times of India from 2006 to 2007 and then as an Assistant Vice President at CNBC TV18 from 2007 to 2009. During her stint in media, she realised that while mainstream news channels and publications covered large corporations and established figures, the stories of aspiring young entrepreneurs often went unnoticed. Shradha felt there was a void, a space that could be filled by the compelling stories of everyday dreamers who were building businesses from scratch.
Story of Yourstory
In 2008, YourStory was born. YourStory was not started to build a business; it was born from the heart. The heart of a 3rd-grade child who experienced pain and rejection. This platform is the result of that child's deep desire to give a voice to those who, like her, have stories that deserve to be heard. The stories of resilience, dreams, and triumph over adversity. At its core, YourStory is fueled by a passion to illuminate the extraordinary in everyday lives. But the path to creating India’s biggest platform for startups and innovators wasn’t an easy one. With the help of two IITian students, she made a website and turned a simple idea into a digital empire, but only after battling scepticism and numerous challenges.
A year later in 2009, she quit her high-profile secure job to focus entirely on her new venture. She called her mother for support but her mother started crying. She was worried about her daughter. It made Shradha feel responsible like she had to make sure she didn’t let her mother down. Her mother remained her pillar of strength until her passing in 2010. She promised herself that she would make her mother’s dream come true, to see her daughter successful.
In the early days, YourStory struggled to gain traction. Shradha used to approach entrepreneurs, eager to share their inspiring journeys but was often met with indifference. People used to refuse her because her website wasn’t generating much traffic and was not popular then. Some even refused to give her interviews and dismissed her platform as insignificant. “No one took me seriously in the beginning,” Shradha recalls, “but I believed in the power of stories and kept going.”
Hardships and Resilience
Shradha Sharma’s journey is a story of resilience. Behind her success lies a deep well of hardships and moments that tested her strength. One such incident occurred during her childhood when she was in the 3rd grade. Excited about a dance competition at her school, Shradha teamed up with a friend for a duet performance. Her partner appeared glamorous in a beautiful outfit, while Shradha, due to her family’s financial struggles, had to borrow her sister’s old uniform to participate. After the performance, a teacher humiliated her in front of the entire class. She felt very bad and cried a lot. This incident followed her and helped her achieve the success she has now.
Yourstory and Money-making
Shradha’s entrepreneurial journey was fueled more by passion than profit. When she first started YourStory, she wasn’t focused on making money. One day, an entrepreneur who admired her work asked her a simple but crucial question: “How are you making money?” Shradha responded, “I’m not. I’m just telling stories.” Understanding the importance of financial sustainability, this entrepreneur connected Shradha with Bakshish Dutta, a businessman who believed in her vision.
Bakshish generously provided her with ₹1 lakh to run a campaign and offered much-needed financial support to keep her dream alive. Despite the backing, YourStory remained a profitable startup, even during the pandemic. Shradha recalls that except for a brief period between 2015 and 2017, when the company was expanding, the venture always operated with the challenges and uncertainties that come with a startup.
Shradha's belief that “people are just as extraordinary as they believe themselves to be” has shaped the very essence of YourStory. What started as a passion for sharing unheard stories of entrepreneurs has become one of the biggest digital platforms for startup stories, showcasing over 100,000 stories of entrepreneurs, innovators, and changemakers.
Today, YourStory has grown beyond anyone’s imagination. With over 10 million monthly readers and 5 million subscribers. Her journey from a small town in Bihar to the helm of Yourstory is a story of triumph over adversity. Later to become a figurehead in the startup world wasn’t easy, but it was marked by an unwavering passion for storytelling and entrepreneurship. She is a true inspiration for aspiring people.
Start-up entrepreneur Shradha Sharma spends half of her life on the road. She shares how she finds her balance.
The founder and CEO of YourStory, a media platform for entrepreneurs and change-makers, Shradha Sharma has navigated a fascinating path over the past decade – from old media to leader of a multi-million-dollar enterprise. In a nation where only seven per cent of CEO or MD roles are held by women (and many of those are inherited), Sharma has blazed her own trail, raising two rounds of venture capital funding and expanding into Europe.
Based in Bangalore, Sharma is a true road warrior. She spends at least half of her time away from home, typically catching between 12 and 16 flights a month. Every inch the modern business traveller, Sharma works hard to maintain health and wellbeing on the road – and also find the time to enjoy her temporary surroundings.
For Sharma, the simple act of walking delivers many benefits: it clears her mind, keeps her fit and enables her to discover a city. “Especially when I’m travelling outside India, I like to walk a lot. I walk for at least 10-15km a day,” she says. Occasionally to the vexation of her younger staff, Sharma arranges her meetings so she doesn’t need to take a car and can soak up her environment as she strolls – a flawless combination of business and leisure.
Meditation has thousands of years of history in India and Sharma maintains a daily practice, meditating for about 20 minutes every morning and at least half an hour in the evening. “When I travel, I ensure that I keep the early morning free for myself as much as possible, because I like to spend an hour with my own self,” she says. “I like that quiet space to read in the hotel room, or if the hotel has a garden I like to go and sit there.” A work on running and meditation is at the top of her reading list on her iPhone, which doubles as her Kindle.
Like most frequent business travellers, Sharma grapples with maintaining a healthy diet on the road and resisting the urge to overeat. “I don’t eat late at night; I try to do early dinners,” she says. “Even if there is an event or a party I ensure I don’t eat after 8pm.” As overeating cuts her energy levels, Sharma avoids the snacks that accompany every business event in India.
For Sharma, work-life balance begins in the mind. When mind and spirit are at peace, then life finds its natural flow. Both she and her husband work long hours and, as they do not travel together on business, making time for one another is essential.
“I try to be very mindful: I get very little time with my husband and the less time we have the more I value the time that we have,” she says. “Even if we are talking on the phone for just two minutes, I ensure that I’m present, not looking at work things. If I’m listening to him, then I’m listening to him.” Needless to say, fast, always-on wi-fi is a must in hotels to help the couple stay connected.
Being present, for Sharma, extends to appreciating her surroundings, wherever she may be – Berlin, where YourStory Media has an office, is her favourite stop on her regular travel beat. “I love Berlin because it has this vibration, this energy about it and it’s very inclusive,” she says. “I love going for a long walk in Berlin. There’s a very old creativity to the city.”
Another favourite is New York, which Sharma recently visited for the first time. “I didn’t feel I was coming to the city for the first time because it had a vibe to it: the scenes on the road, the things written on the walls,” she says. “One thing I’ve realised is that when you walk in a city as opposed to taking a vehicle, you get to see a lot more things – and it’s more ecological than in a car.” For someone whose business depends on understanding a city’s start-up culture and its entrepreneurs, the insights walking provides deliver both personally and professionally.
Like many next-generation business travellers, Sharma loves to discover the secret places that locals frequent, prioritising the back streets of Berlin’s Kreuzberg over the Brandenburg Gate. “I like to see the local nuances rather than all the historical and big attractions,” she says. “Of course, those are attractive, but I like to see people, I like to see how people behave on the road, I like to see the shops, the colours, the textures, the walls, because those elements reveal a lot about people.”
When it comes to hotels, however, Sharma prefers spaces that put the emphasis on the international business traveller. “I like simple places, simple rooms, nothing gaudy or intrusive – and convenience,” she says. “I like to be able to go down and go to nature if I want to, but go to meetings if I want to.” She finds 10 minutes of cardio helps her rest, so a gym is another essential. Sharma loves to luxuriate in hot showers – she enjoys at least two a day – so bathrooms matter.
As an entrepreneur with little time to waste on trivia, efficiency is absolutely central to the travel experience. “I’ve had a very good experience in Crowne Plaza hotels,” Sharma says. “The people were very hospitable and helpful. For me, these things matter: how quickly you check me in and how quickly you address my questions. The staff in the hotel were very prompt, and that was a big plus point.” In the business travel space, which can often be devoid of humanity, she values perceptive service and reactivity.
Yet there are two things that really serve to keep Sharma grounded and focused while on the road: her eight-year-old cocker spaniels Abby and Phoebe, who sleep beside her every night she is home. “They’re my life. They’re my only weakness. They’re my soulmates, the only creatures I miss on this planet! When I’m travelling, my husband puts the video WhatsApp on and I talk to them,” she says. Staying connected wherever she is in the world helps Sharma travel further, both in her home life and at work.
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