Biggest bank balance does not guarantee pole position: Anisha Singh

Anisha Singh, founder and CEO, Mydala

Claim to fame

Began her career on Capitol hill with the Clinton administration, launched her first venture in the US to provide digital content to real estate firms in 2004; started Mydala in 2009.

The lesson

The biggest learning from my rivals is that the biggest bank balance does not guarantee a market leader position. We've had several competitors who were more funded and had more cash power behind them. There weren't many who believed that Mydala would survive and our obituary was written several times. However, we knew we were solving a real need that existed on the merchant front as there were few ways for businesses to market themselves without upfront cash. We have constantly innovated to provide a great user experience. Not only are we still here after six years, we are by far the largest. The best lesson we learnt is just because there is someone with more cash in the bank cannot intimidate us. Our ability to not give up and focus on solving the problem makes us the force that we are.

(As told to Rajiv Singh)