On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Medianews4u.com caught up with Trupti Gandhi, Head – People Success Fynd.
Aligned with this year’s UN theme, “Give to Gain,” she shares a perspective-led interaction focusing on mentorship, opportunity creation, and inclusive leadership, along with reflections on the evolving Gen Z mindset—particularly on motivating and enabling Gen Z women in the workforce.
At Fynd, Women’s Day goes beyond commemoration and reinforces its long-term commitment to diversity, leadership visibility, and inclusive growth across teams.
It consciously builds pathways for women into leadership roles through structured development programmes, cross-functional exposure, and performance-led advancement, ensuring strong representation in decision-making roles.
Mentorship remains a key enabler—offering strategic guidance, confidence-building, and access to networks that accelerate career growth in dynamic startup environments.
The startup ecosystem continues to witness a steady rise in women entrepreneurs building scalable, tech-enabled and impact-driven ventures, while enhanced access to capital and networks remains essential.
It looks to foster an inclusive workplace grounded in equity, flexibility, and psychological safety. This it noted is central to driving innovation, retention, and sustainable business performance.
Q. How does Fynd approach Women’s Day in terms of not just being commemorative?
At Fynd, Women’s Day is not treated as a symbolic celebration or a one-day acknowledgement. We see it as a checkpoint — a moment to reflect on progress, reinforce our long-term commitments, and set measurable goals for inclusion.
Our philosophy is simple: We don’t see inclusion as a policy; we see it as culture. We don’t believe in separating roles by gender; we believe in equal opportunity, equal accountability, and equal growth. Women’s Day is not about celebration alone; it is about reinforcing a system where leadership is earned, growth is performance-driven, and flexibility is humane. Our goal is simple: build a workplace where talent thrives, regardless of gender. It’s less about flowers and panels and more about structural progress.
Q. How does Fynd actively build pathways for women into leadership roles?
Leadership advancement at Fynd is performance-driven. We do not reserve positions or create parallel tracks. What we do is ensure that every individual, regardless of gender, has equal access to the opportunities, visibility, and feedback they need to grow.
Growth here is data-backed. Promotions and leadership appointments are tied to impact and capability. Our job as an organisation is to remove structural barriers and then let talent speak for itself.
Q. How does strong representation in decision-making give Fynd a competitive edge?
The question we should all be asking is no longer whether women can thrive in demanding environments. That has been answered. The real question is whether organisations are building cultures where performance, clarity of goals, and mutual trust are what drive decisions, rather than outdated assumptions about who belongs in which role.
When diverse perspectives sit at decision-making tables, you get sharper thinking, more innovative solutions, and better outcomes. For us, inclusive leadership is not a diversity metric. It is a business imperative.
Q. What mentorship programmes does Fynd have?
At Fynd, mentorship is woven into how we manage performance rather than sitting as a standalone initiative. Leaders maintain an open-door approach to career guidance, making themselves directly accessible to team members who are navigating growth decisions. This direct access to leadership is something we actively protect because visibility and advocacy matter enormously in a fast-moving environment.
We believe that integrating mentorship into day-to-day management, rather than isolating it as a token programme, is what makes it sustainable and genuinely impactful.
Q. Should startups provide better strategic guidance and networks for women?
Strategic guidance is one of the areas where startups have both the greatest opportunity and the greatest responsibility to do more.
High-growth environments move fast, and visibility and advocacy are what determine who gets access to the right rooms and the right conversations. When startups invest in strategic guidance and deliberately build networks that include women, they accelerate individual careers and organisational capability at the same time. It is not charity. It is smart leadership.
Q. What trends are being seen in women entrepreneurship?
The momentum is real, and it is accelerating. We are seeing a steady rise in women founders building scalable, technology-led, and impact-driven businesses across sectors, including SaaS, fintech, D2C, and climate tech.
What stands out is not just the volume of women entering entrepreneurship, but the quality of how they are building. Strong operational discipline, data-led decision making, and a clarity of purpose are defining characteristics of many of the most compelling businesses being built today. The ecosystem is evolving, and women are at the forefront of that change.
Q. What tactics does Fynd use to foster an inclusive workplace rooted in equity, flexibility, and psychological safety?
We start from a position of treating everyone equally, without categorising people by gender. Beyond that, we are practical and human about what people need to perform at their best.
Work-from-home flexibility is available and openly discussed when genuinely needed, whether that is for maternity, menstrual health, or other personal circumstances.
There is no stigma attached to asking. That openness is something we actively cultivate because we know that when people feel psychologically safe, they contribute more honestly, more creatively, and more sustainably.
Psychological safety is not a soft benefit. It drives higher innovation, better retention, more honest feedback, and performance that lasts.
Q. Is work-life balance a challenge in startups with demanding cultures?
High performance should never be synonymous with burnout. Sustainable productivity matters more than performative hustle, and the best outcomes come from teams that are stretched appropriately, not run into the ground. At Fynd, outcome-driven management and genuine flexibility are how we try to hold that balance.
Talent today is highly capable, self-aware, and clear about their ambitions. They are not looking for exceptions or accommodations based on gender. They are looking for the same thing everyone else is: equal opportunity, honest feedback, and a culture where their work speaks for itself. Our job is to make sure that is what we deliver.
