Ronnie Screwvala is a first-generation Indian Entrepreneur. In addition, he is a Philanthropist, Opinion Leader, and Author.
Mr Screwvala’s first foray was Cable TV in India. For the first two years of that journey, he found no takers. He received abundant advice to treat it as
a failed start-up. But he stayed on. He was subsequently credited as the Pioneer of Cable Television in India. He believes entrepreneurship is all about
finding and seizing opportunities and moving on from failures.
Mr Screwvala then saw an opportunity in toothbrush manufacturing. After many
setbacks, he went on to build one of the largest toothbrush operations in India, at a time when the landscape was devoid of a supportive ecosystem for
Private Equity Funding or accessible Bank Debt for start-ups.
The other opportunity was TV Home Shopping. But it was well before its time
and was a big failure. This was not enough for Mr Screwvala to shake his beliefs in entrepreneurship.
Next, he went on to build a media and entertainment company – UTV. This endeavour was marked by a series of strategic pivots, including four near
bankruptcies. After 15 years of focused work with strong co-founders and a large team, UTV scaled to a size encompassing all facets of Content and Platform. In
2012, Mr Screwvala divested UTV to The Walt Disney Company at a then enterprise value of 1.4 billion USD.
Having lived it and seen the misconception that it’s all about quick success,
and that failure is to frown on – Mr Screwvala authored two books. The first, Dream With Your Eyes Open as his commitment to champion entrepreneurship and
evangelize failure. And the second, Skill It, Kill It which aims to give you an insider's view of the 'invisible' skills sought and rewarded by global
businesses, top recruiters and leading CEOs.
Ronnie Screwvala, in his second innings, decided to deepen his commitment to making India a better place through a focus on two of the largest sunrise
sectors – Online Education and the Not-For-Profit Rural / Social Space. He is the Co-Founder & Chairman of UpGrad, established in 2015. UpGrad is now a
leading Skilling, Learning, Workforce Development and Placement Company.
In addition, Mr Screwvala, along with his wife Zarina, are the Co-Founders of
The Swades Foundation. ThisFoundation operates with the single-minded focus of empowering rural India. The Swades Foundation has adopted a 360-degree
model spanning Water, Sanitation, Health, Education and Livelihood to lift rural India out of poverty. Mr Screwvala Walks His Values. A Benchmark.
We congratulate Ronnie Screwvala. Our Qimpro Gold Standard 2024 for Business.