Life is not a template and neither is mine. Like several who have worked as journalists, I am a generalist in my over two decade experience across print, global news wires and dotcom firms. But there has been one underlying theme in each phase; life gave me the chance to observe and tell a story -- from early days tracking a securities scam to terror attacks and some of India's most significant court trials. Besides writing, I have jumped fences to become an entrepreneur, as an investment advisor -- and also taught the finer aspects of business journalism to young minds. At Forbes India, I also keep an eye on some of its proprietary specials like the Rich list, GenNext and Celebrity lists. An alumnus of Xavier Institute of Communications and H.R College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai, I have worked for organisations such as Agence France-Presse, Business Standard, The Financial Express and The Times of India prior to this.
Managing director and head of India, Advent International
Shweta Jalan, 41, is among the few women heading a company in India’s challenging private equity (PE) space. Jalan has been at the helm of Advent International in India since 2009, and is a part of the senior team at the global private equity company.
In 2015-16, she played a key role in the successful completion of the Rs 2,000 crore Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals deal in which Avantha Group sold its entire 34.37 percent stake to Advent International and Temasek. She calls the deal—which took nearly 24 months to close—“challenging” but “very satisfying” and brought to the fore qualities of perseverance and diligence, which Jalan believes are critical to be successful.
Jalan was also part of the core team that built ICICI Venture into a leading PE player, before quitting in 2009 to join Advent International. Renuka Ramnath, a veteran PE fund expert under whom Jalan had worked at ICICI Venture, says: “Her ability to swing into action, get things done and identify value in a deal are what make her an asset.”
Born in Kolkata, this mother of two is both pragmatic and steely. “There will be some days which will be hard and you may feel like giving up… but stay strong,” she says.