Thread by @aditya_kondawar

A really cool unheard story of Nykaa and the founder Falguni Nayar!

Mr. Uday Kotak speaks of Falguni Nayar's stint at Kotak -

"We had started a consulting division in KMFL. A year after she joined us, Sanjay Nayar, her husband, who was working in Citibank, was posted to London

Like a typical Indian wife, she wanted to join him. So, we took a view - We said, 'Falguni if you go to London, we will set up a London office. We want to do sales and trading in equities and in GDRs. Why don't you set it up?

So, Falguni set up our London office. Kotak Mahindra (UK) happened because of Falguni. After two years, Sanjay was transferred to New York. We said, Great! Falguni set up New York: By then, we had already set up a JV with Goldman.

I asked her to work for 6 months at the Goldman Sachs office. Then we set up our separate office in New York. When Sanjay returned to India as Country Head, Citibank, we brought her back as Head of our equities business in India.

She headed Kotak Investment Banking, a subsidiary of KMB.

In 2012, Falguni told me, 'Uday, I am happy with what I have been doing. I have done well, but I want to do something different. I won't compete with you.

I asked, 'What are you going to do?' She said, 'I am passionate about doing something in Internet and beauty"

While Mr. Kotak was surprised, he understood her desire to create something from scratch.

That's how Falguni, investment banker, who had traversed continents working with Kotak Mahindra for nearly two decades, started her entrepreneurial venture, Nykaa - the Indian retail outlet of beauty, wellness, and fashion products.

Damn cool, Right?

From the book - How Uday Kotak built a valuable Indian Bank