The 6th edition of the FIAKS Leadership Conclave, held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, brought together industry leaders to discuss redefining success in the startup ecosystem. The panel, titled “Rethinking Startup Success: Beyond Unicorns and Financial Metrics,” encouraged a shift from traditional financial metrics to more sustainable success measures.
Anuradha Panditrao, Founder of FIAKS, opened the event by emphasising the organisation’s commitment to supporting those less familiar with technology. She highlighted FIAKS’s achievements, including over 800,000 knowledge-sharing posts and 200 e-panel discussions in 2024-25.
During the panel discussion, Priyanka Kanwar, Co-founder and CEO of Falcon, shared her experience of bootstrapping her company. She argued that unicorn status is merely a “VC status symbol” and urged the media to celebrate meaningful achievements such as innovation and customer value. “I am very hopeful that in the next decade, we will see a shift away from using that word and using a lot more buzzwords that matter,” she stated.
Kushal Rastogi, Founder and CEO of Knight FinTech, added that whilst funded businesses have certain advantages, bootstrapped ventures demonstrate significant resilience. “Building a business without external capital is 10x harder,” he noted.
Aditya Soni, CEO and Founder of CheQ Digital Private Limited, stressed the importance of recognising diverse success stories, whilst Sanjay Tripathy, Co-Founder and CEO of BRISKPE, highlighted the long-term value of building sustainable businesses.
The conclave underscored the need for a balanced approach to measuring startup success, advocating for recognition of diverse achievements beyond financial metrics.
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