Brands Decoded

Arjun is a rare breed having donned the hats of a founder, an angel investor, a Private Equity investor, a podcast host and now with his latest move as Ventures Lead @Verlinvest Ventures. All of this at an incredibly young age of 30. Tune in to this episode, where Arjun very candidly shares stories of his journey building Dr Vaidya's, why he exited that business and how he joined Verlinvest. We also take some tips from him for building the brands decoded podcast, as he runs Direct to a Billion - one of the best podcasts on consumer brands in India.

What is the difference between organic and being truly organic? What is the the difference between using natural ingredients and truly using natural ingredients? What is the difference between being a D2C brand and being a true D2C brand? What is the difference between being an effective product and a truly effective product? What is the difference between being world class and truly world class? The answer for all the above is a brand embodying each of these qualities and pretty cool name to go with it. We host Pritesh Asher founder of Juicy Chemistry, and learn why the brand has managed to tick so many of the above boxes.

Lenskart is a household name in India, but they almost never even started to sell to Indian consumers. In this episode we cover the journey of one of the truly iconic and visionary (pun intended) brands to come out of India. Amit shares with us many of key moments on Lenskart's product, growth and how they created one of the most differentiated experiences for consumers - doing D2C even before it became a popular trend.

Cappuccino, Mocha, Americano, Latte, Espresso, Flat white, Aeropress, French Press, Pour Over, Cold Brew, Medium Roast, Light Roast, Dark Roast, Decaffeinated - No we're not listing out a menu, but trying to share the many wonderful ways one can enjoy coffee. And who better than the cofounders of SleepyOwl to help us understand how the coffee category has evolved in India, and as a brand what are some of the innovations SleepyOwl is brewing. Tune in to this special episode, accompanied of course by a hot or cold brew!

A brand is psychological as much as it is physiological, and narrower the gap - better the brand. It is with this principle that Tarun set out to create what is one of the most differentiated personal care brands of today. Coffee is one of most celebrated products in the world. It has gone through different waves of evolution and is now considered a strong determinant of millennial and gen Z identity. Surprisingly, it was only after an experimental healing session with a bag of green tea that got Tarun to research and realise the potential for a world-class personal care brand. MCaffeine is one of the bestselling brands digitally, has one of the most innovative product lines, and knows what the modern consumers want.

Rohan had a vision for new age consumer brands in India, even when the ecosystem was closed to the idea of startups, to outsiders and to new consumer brands. Tech startups were somewhat heard of, but not so much on the brands side. On top of that, DRUMS Foods chose to enter one of the most complex supply chains models of ice cream (frozen) and yogurt (cold). At that time, very few folks could help them out and  DRUMS ended up creating their supply chain model from scratch. They created a startup within a startup and ended up being one of the top distributors in the space, winning accolades as they went along. Today, of course, the story has changed, with the ecosystem having matured - DRUMS is now known for being one of the most innovative companies, with products such as their ghee spreads and vegan yogurts. Do tune in and listen to one of the pioneers in the ecosystem, DRUMS legacy has surely paved the future for many of us in the D2C space.

Bala is a true maverick in the consumer space, with everyone looking to sell to Indians and their varied needs, Bala chose to take his vision for tea to the world. No wonder, Jeff Bezos himself awarded Vahdam India as Global SMB of the year! Dive right in to the podcast (with a cup of Vahdam of course!) and listen in to Bala share his journey with Vahdam. We'll also hear from him how he built his conviction for entrepreneurship and how perhaps some of us should take a leaf out of his philosophy.

Chakradhar gives us insight into building a full stack business model, a rare feat in the D2C space - owning the product and the consumer, it's no wonder then that consumers keep coming back to buy their products. We will also hear about his journey, the vision for Country Delight and how they are revolutionising the $100Bn Dairy industry in India.

Shashank shares his journey, gives us a 101 on building brands, his ideal organisation structure and the core insight driving the mission at The Whole Truth. Also, the content is explicit only because we are being brutally honest!