Vijay Shekhar Sharma | Embattled entrepreneur Premium
The Hindu
Vijay Shekhar Sharma's emotional journey from rags to riches with Paytm, facing regulatory hurdles and investor confidence issues.
Witnessing their company’s introduction on bourses can indeed be overwhelming for any entrepreneur. This was no different for One97 Communications’ founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma who anyway had a reputation for wearing his heart on his sleeve. He burst into tears when the national anthem was played on the day of One97’s listing — November 18, 2021.
The 43-year-old from Aligarh said in an interview the lines ‘Bharat Bhagya Vidhata’ got him teary. According to him, the lines that translate into ‘India shall define its own destiny’ best conveyed what Paytm aspired to achieve.
He built Paytm into a digital payment powerhouse. But more than two years after it was listed, the powerhouse is facing many headwinds, including regulatory hurdles and shaken investor confidence.
For Mr. Sharma, the journey has not been easy. His entire schooling was in Hindi medium. The smooth sailing went for a toss when he had to adapt to English medium of instruction at the Delhi College of Engineering.
“I moved from the front bench, to the last and ultimately out of the class,” he told YouTube channel MindBatteries. He found solace at the computer centre where he would do programming.
He thought he faced little prospects for a placement. That’s when the entrepreneurial knack sought if he could become a ‘job provider’ instead. Back then, he was already working on his venture ‘XS’, building a content management system. In 1999, he sold the company receiving “a couple of lakhs” every week as instalment payments.
One97 Communications was founded in 2000. Initially, he was making about ₹10,000 a month. Facing financial hardships, the young entrepreneur was compelled to sell a 40% take in his company for ₹8 lakh ahead of his sister’s marriage.