From Boardrooms to Blush Palettes: The Unlikely Entrepreneur
In 2012, at the peak of a two-decade-long corporate career, Falguni Nayar made a decision that stunned her peers. She resigned from her post as Managing Director at Kotak Mahindra Capital, where she had advised billion-dollar companies on IPOs and M&A deals. She was 49, with no tech background, no experience in e-commerce, and no roadmap for what came next.
But she had a vision — to create a beauty platform for Indian women, something she felt India sorely lacked.
“I didn’t want to retire with the regret of never trying. I wanted to be the entrepreneur I had helped others become,” she recalled in later interviews.
Thus began the story of Nykaa — not just a beauty platform, but a symbol of bold reinvention.
The Founder Mindset: Why She Started at 50
Falguni saw a gap: Indian women were underserved in beauty and personal care, both in product availability and shopping experience.
She also noticed how global trends were shifting — Sephora and Ulta were exploding in the West, but India didn’t have a modern equivalent. Beauty products were scattered across chemists, unorganized retailers, or tucked away in departmental stores.
“I wanted to create a platform where women could browse without judgment, learn without shame, and shop with trust,” said Falguni.
She bet ₹2 crore of her personal savings. No VC money. No co-founder. Just conviction.
Building Without Buzzwords
Falguni chose an inventory-led model — a rarity in the Indian e-commerce world then. It meant Nykaa would buy, store, and sell products directly rather than relying on third-party sellers.
This was expensive and complex but helped her control authenticity and customer experience.
In a society where beauty was often seen as “frivolous” or “vain,” she went further: Nykaa created content — tutorials, reviews, interviews — to educate and normalize beauty as self-care and empowerment.
She worked 16-hour days. Learned tech on the go. Hired from scratch. And in those early days, even packed boxes herself from a small Mumbai office.
Facing Resistance — and Rising Anyway
Being a woman founder in her 50s, with no tech background, Falguni was constantly questioned:
- “Isn’t this too risky at your age?”
- “Why not take it easy now?”
- “Beauty? Really?”
She ignored it all.
What the market didn’t see was Falguni’s resilience, honed over years in the investment world. She wasn’t chasing hype. She was building slow, sustainable, profitable growth.
While others burned cash, she kept the company lean and revenue-focused.
Becoming India’s Beauty Queen
From 2015 onward, Nykaa began turning heads:
- 100% YoY growth in GMV
- Launched own-label products
- Expanded into Nykaa Fashion and Nykaa Man
- Built offline stores in 45+ cities
- Raised funds from Steadview, TPG, and others — but retained control
In October 2021, Nykaa went public. The IPO was a blockbuster, and Falguni became India’s richest self-made woman, with a net worth of over ₹58,000 crore (~$7 billion at the time).
At 58, she became a founder-CEO who had built a unicorn from scratch, retained majority ownership, and led the company to a successful IPO.
The Woman Behind the Brand
Unlike many flashy startup founders, Falguni is quiet, thoughtful, and deliberate. She prefers calm over chaos, reflection over reaction.
She believes in:
- Leading with clarity, not charisma
- Consistency over hype
- Building a brand that women trust, not just transact with
Even today, she walks the floor of Nykaa’s warehouse, meets interns, reads customer complaints personally, and mentors her leadership team with precision.
What Founders Can Learn from Her Journey
- It’s never too late to start. Falguni built a $10B business in her 50s.
- You don’t need to be technical to be visionary.
- Brand is everything — especially in trust-driven industries.
- Own your business, literally. She kept a majority stake even after IPO.
- Make profit your habit. Nykaa was profitable before it was popular.
Legacy in the Making
Falguni didn’t just change the way India shops for lipstick — she changed what Indian entrepreneurship looks like.
She proved that you can start late, grow slowly, lead calmly, and still win big.
And most of all — that women can build for women, on their own terms.
