Shaily Mehrotra, co-founder of Fixderma, advises young women: 'You don't need to be perfect'

Shaily Mehrotra, Co-founder – Fixderma and FCL, has joined Shark Tank India Season 5. She is one of the new sharks on the show. LiveMint spoke with the entrepreneur leading a ₹1,500-crore company.Q: You grew up and studied in Varanasi before going to Southeast Asia at 24. How did that shift in environment change your thinking about ambition and scale?A: Varanasi gave me my foundation. It’s a city where life moves at its own pace, and you learn patience very early. I grew up seeing people value sincerity over showmanship, and that shaped how I look at work even today.But, moving to Southeast Asia at 24 felt like someone suddenly widened my field of vision. Until then, I had ambition, but it was quiet, almost private. Stanford taught me that it’s okay to dream loudly. I saw people my age building things for the world with so much confidence. That changed something in me.It made me realise that if you approach a problem with clarity and honesty, scale is not a far-fetched dream. It’s simply the result of consistent work.Also Read | Stand-up comedian Kullu gets trolled for Shark Tank India; Tanmay Bhat reactsQ: Fixderma was bootstrapped for 15 years in a space crowded with shortcuts. What were the hardest moments when staying honest with sourcing and R&D felt risky?A: Just to also rectify, we remain bootstrapped only till 2020; in 2021, we did have funding from Lotus Herbals. But, nevertheless, when you are bootstrapped, there were many moments when choosing the harder path felt almost irrational.I still remember times when we couldn’t compromise on raw material quality even though it would have made our margins look “healthier” on paper. Competitors were launching cheaper, faster versions, and here we were obsessing over every active ingredient.The truth is, I had sleepless nights. But I also had a very clear line in my head: dermatologists trust efficacy, and consumers trust integrity. If we lost that, we’d lose everything. That belief kept me steady through the toughest phases.Also Read | Shark Tank India: Judges slam ‘Naturopath’ influencer – here’s what went wrongQ: As a founder without a legacy business background, how did you earn trust from dermatologists in the early years?A: Honestly, I had no playbook and no industry surname to lean on. I started by simply showing up at the clinic, city to city, with humility and curiosity.In those early years, I didn’t talk as a salesperson; I spoke as someone genuinely trying to understand real skin concerns. If a dermatologist was unhappy with a formulation, I took that feedback straight to the lab. If something wasn’t ready, I said so openly.Over time, doctors realised that Fixderma wasn’t here to just sell; we were here to solve. Trust, I’ve learned, grows slowly and silently one honest conversation at a time.View full ImageFixderma co-founder Shaily MehrotraQ: As a founder without a legacy business background, how did you earn trust from dermatologists in the earl in a formal or creative style for better SEO.Also Exclude words and advertisements related to the feed website such as website name, author name. You must only respond with the modified content. Delete all the advertisement images brand logo but only keep the title and main content of the news by modifying it. You must only respond with the modified content. Block any jump outside of the site adarshnews.com. Basically remove any content or link related to original site. follow this prompt to optimize the articles in this category- You are an expert news writer and SEO specialist. Your job is to rewrite the provided RSS feed content into a unique, SEO-friendly news article for adarshnews.com. 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