Shruti: Channeling Anger into Entrepreneurial Success

From a young age, Shruti learned that people could be relentless in their attempts to stoke her anger. Growing up with an IAS officer father who had three daughters often led to comments that enraged her. Little did she know that these jibes would persist throughout her life, manifesting in various forms and places, including school, where she encountered gender bias. During her senior secondary years, Shruti encountered a different kind of challenge. Her teacher’s comment, “Girls are not good at maths,” and unsolicited advice to choose an easier subject like chemistry began to affect her confidence. Despite scoring well in math, Shruti started to internalize these biases, highlighting the societal pressures girls face in STEM fields.

Shruti’s journey took her to IIT-Delhi, where subtle gender biases and taunts she had experienced earlier became more direct. Phrases like “In IIT, there are males, and then there are non-males” were not uncommon. Despite the challenges, Shruti and her friends worked hard and proved their capabilities, winning trophies and breaking gender stereotypes. After completing her education, Shruti entered the professional world, where she encountered the age-old adage, “The boss is always right.” Her independent and opinionated nature clashed with this belief. She learned that expressing her ideas could be perilous, leading to labels like “arrogant.” When her colleagues, adept at sycophancy, received promotions and hefty raises, Shruti felt the sting of being talented but straightforward.

Undeterred, she left her job and joined a non-profit organization with a fair-minded boss who mentored her in the fundamentals of results-oriented problem-solving. His advice to earn an MBA and work in a for-profit environment stuck with her. Shruti followed his guidance, gaining admission to Harvard Business School (HBS). As a brown immigrant woman, she found herself at the bottom of the pecking order, facing yet another form of bias. However, her performance improved, and she understood the importance of businesses making a positive impact.

Returning to India in 2019, she launched ‘Sair,’ a tour and travel startup. Despite facing numerous challenges and a financial crisis during the pandemic, Shruti displayed resilience and resourcefulness. However, an investor’s rejection due to her Harvard background raised questions about gender bias in funding. Undeterred, Shruti co-founded ‘ApnaKlub’ in late 2020, a B2B wholesale platform for FMCG products aimed at semi-urban and rural areas. The startup has raised $20 million and gained recognition for its impressive performance, processing over two lakh orders and onboarding more than 38,000 partners. While Shruti acknowledges that her anger was her escape velocity for a long time, propelling her to prove her detractors wrong, she also recognizes its limitations. She advises channeling anger productively, emphasizing the importance of being known as an entrepreneur rather than a woman entrepreneur.

ApnaKlub‘s early success has garnered attention for all the right reasons, proving that Shruti’s determination and ability to navigate chaos are assets in execution-heavy businesses. Despite the headwinds she may face, Shruti’s mission-driven approach and resilience are likely to steer ApnaKlub toward continued success, demonstrating that channeling anger into productivity can lead to remarkable achievements.