Today, Fastrack, Wildcraft and Licious are household names that we all recognize.Behind these iconic brands is the creative mind of Simeran Bhasin – and her story is one for the ages.After making a mark at Titan and Wildcraft, Simeran ventured into the startup world. In 2016, she launched India’s first and only young girl-focused innerwear brand. While she has made her fair share of mistakes, she has gained invaluable insights into what works – and what doesn’t.In our second episode of Interstellar, we talked to Simeran about her journey, her experiences as a founder, marketer, and business leader in a startup, and the lessons she has learned along the way.

Reach Simeran Bhasin:

X: https://x.com/simbhasin

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simeran-bhasin-2082397/

Reach Rahul Chowdhri:

X: https://x.com/rchowdhri

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulchowdhri/

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Episode Summary

(00:50) Welcome, Simeran!

(01:39) Simeran's leap into entrepreneurship

(03:24) The inspiration behind Brag

(05:00) Simeran's offline-first bet for D2C brands

(07:50) Simeran's advice to someone switching from a corporate career to starting up

(10:26) On the willingness to "unlearn"

(11:44) From Fractional CMO to Head of Business at Licious

(15:08) Why Licious?

(16:35) On Licious' alternative protein brand 'Uncrave'

(20:16) How did alternative protein & mock meat appeal to a meat-lover?

(22:09) Why "Uncrave" and not "Licious Green"?

(23:25) The story behind the iconic Fastrack advertisement

(27:37) How has the role of a CMO evolved?

(31:17) Advice to founders shifting from performance marketing to brand marketing

(32:39) Simeran on whether founders today care about brand marketing

(33:33) Org-building in a corporate set-up v/s startups

(36:03) What to expect when you're going to join a startup

(39:00) Rapidfire questions

(43:42) Closing comments

Find us on

Apple podcasts - apple.co/41HGKvU

YouTube - bit.ly/3DkQrbT

Visit our website at www.stellarisvp.com