Radhika Shukla

In my career of 14 years, I have worked in Internet, Telecom, Media and IT industry in various roles like P&L Management, Business Development, Product Management, and Analytics. I have led entrepreneurial teams in structured and unstructured environments, while I have not shied away from bootstrapping a business in a competitive environment with limited resources. I am leading the Business Development for NewsPoint, a content engagement platform from Times Internet. NewsPoint, India’s fastest growing news app by Times Internet, provides latest news from trusted national and international sources in 14 Indian Languages along with content across astrology, bollywood and lifestyle genres, games, music and much more. Using machine learning technology, NewsPoint curates more than 100,000 articles & videos daily and provides highly personalised content to millions of users across various categories.
I bootstrapped the News Republic business in India, doing everything from Business Development, PR, User Acquisition, Marketing at no cost, events, hiring, selecting Office space to even getting the folders printed. Having only worked in large organizations before this role, it really tested me – I was working on vacations, on weekends but it never felt like a job as I only had one dream- to make News Republic a successful product in India. With the help from product team we also won the “Best News app award – South Asia“ from WAN IFRA in 2016 . I tried my hands at all tasks – from posting about the product on Product Hunt to talking to students about the product and gathering their ideas. Some ideas worked while others failed miserably. But in the end, it made me braver and calmer at the same time.
I have learned a lot from the small but incredibly talented News Republic team, comprising 38 people from 11 different nationalities. India was a hyper growth market and together we got a successful exit at 57 mn USD in July 2016 to Cheetah Mobile https://www.cmcm.com/, which is the third largest App provider after Google & Facebook by number of downloads with many successful products like Live.me, Piano Tiles, Clean Master, CM Browser, Cheetah ads etc. At Cheetah Mobile, I continued my journey to grow the Indian market for various products. It added to my multicultural experience and learnt how things worked fast and smart at Beijing office. Got opportunity to interact with very young and smart techies, marketing and
BD guys. It was so interesting to know their keenness in Indian market. We managed to sell NewsRepublic to Bytedance https://bytedance.com/, one of the most
valued Chinese companies. I also took charged of APAC Business Development and led very smart and motivated individuals in South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, India and Japan. I loved learning about new markets and new cultures
I love heights and depths. When I am not working, I am found trekking in Himalayas or diving deep beneath the sea. I am an avid swimmer and a long distance runner. I have participated and achieved podium finishes in many 10k and half marathon runs. http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/the-adventures-of-becoming-a-certified-scuba-diver-at-pondicherry/article6990481.ece A certified deep sea diver and an avid swimmer, have logged around 50 dives in last two years and plan to do more including learning how to free dive. I am very passionate about minimizing our environmental footprint – we have over 200 plants inside our flat and we have completely eschewed polythene bags; along with passively participating in wildlife conservation activities. I have worked with “Saahas” NGO in our society to start the waste segregation efforts as well as composting the wet waste. Thanks to the collaboration of various teams , the waste segregation project is going on in full swing in 1400 flats in our society. I believe we need more women and strong women in the workforce for the society to function better. I coach younger women within my organisation as well as outside to increase their share of voice as well as value themselves. Educating children about the preservation and protection of our environment is a big passion for me. I do many sessions like these with the neighbouring kids to help them realise that in a country like India, protection of environment is not a choice but a necessity , living in cities we may feel disconnected and not realise how a small toy we bought could create an impact.
I will be delighted to join the panel and learn from other women present and their contribution.