Valerie Wagoner, 

Wagoner, a master’s degree holder in economic sociology from Stanford, moved to India seven years ago because she loves solving problems and building disruptive businesses. She had already worked for technology startups such as Ning, SayNow, and later, eBay. Her first job in India was with mobile-payment pioneer mChek. ZipDial, a mobile marketing and analytics firm, was started in 2010. The company now operates across five different markets in Asia and South Africa, and has more than 90 clients, including the likes of Pepsi, Nestlé, L’Oréal, HUL, Disney, and Star. Ask Wagoner to demystify her business and she says her services help drive new users to companies or brands through her platform. Investors in Zip- Dial include 500 Startups, Jungle Ventures, Blume, and Unilazer. Though she runs a tech business, Wagoner thinks she is less of a techie and more of a follower of disruptive business models. She is intrigued by emerging markets as they have many more big problems to solve compared with the developed world.