At 28, one book and two-start-ups later; the one thing that author- cum-theatre artiste-cum-entrepreneur Sharmin Ali has in lumpsome is self-assurance. A staunch believer of ‘going and getting it,’ the enterprising Bengalurean is soaking up all the congratulatory messages coming her way — after being one of the 30 start-ups entrepreneurs from across the world to be selected for Start-up Chile, early this month. Sharmin has received an invitation by the Chilean government to run her start-up in Santiago with an equity free funding. In a freewheeling interview with Bengaluru Chronicle, she tells us more...
Enthusing how it all rolled out as a sheer case of serendipity, Sharmin shares, “I had applied to the Start-up Chile programme earlier this year, after I overheard two entrepreneurs talking about it at a bar in Bengaluru. Being the opportunistic person that I am, I immediately interrupted and self-introduced myself to know more about it. They happily shared a lot of information with me. It so turned out that the deadline of the application was in two days and there were about a hundred rows of information that had to be filled up. Gathering the data took me about a day and then entering it with all the due diligence and recorded videos took me another. I submitted five minutes before the deadline. After a month, I received an acceptance letter. the rest is history!” The start-up Chile is an accelerator programme where the Chilean government gives an equity free funding to the selected 30 start-ups from across the world. “ In return, we have to live and run our start-up in Chile for four months. Also, the start-ups that perform exceptionally have a chance to secure another round of funding.”
As stoked as she can be, Sharmin has no hopes to give authoring books a backseat. “My second book is in the printing press right now. I hope to launch it in Chile soon. My start-up goes on the same lines,” she says. Sharmin was the recipient of the Build India Award in March’17 (under the Women Achievers category for 2016.)
Speaking of how she’s always loved to multi-task, she quips, “My company is around writing, so it falls in sync with my writing career, and art and literature go hand-in-hand, so it’s been like the Bermuda triangle for me! Once I get in, I just get absorbed, only difference being that this is on my own free will!” Work aside, satiating her wanderlust is one of her favourite off-beat passions, learning new languages, the other. “Travelling has been on top of my bucket list, learning Spanish and surviving in a Spanish speaking land is my number one priority.”
Signing off, Sharmin concludes, “I cannot let my country down at an international stage. I’m here for a reason and I want to work towards my goal and build my MVP (minimum viable product) soon.”
