How does an Indian sports nutrition brand end up in the Indian cricket team's dressing room without ever pitching for it? This is the Fast&Up story.

In this episode of One in a Billion, Kapil Thirani sits down with Vijayaraghavan Venugopal (Vijay), co-founder of Fast&Up, to discuss building India's sports nutrition category from a gap almost no one was serving in 2015:the space between medical electrolytes and bodybuilder whey protein.

Vijay breaks down the journey:

→ Spotting the market gap as a marathoner and betting on effervescent tablet technology that was new to India

→ Launching Reload as a low-sugar, contrarian electrolyte when sugar was the norm

→ How the brand reached the Indian cricket team organically:spotted on a dressing-room table on live TV

→ Becoming one of the first electrolyte brands in India to get anti-doping certified

→ Riding the Vitamin C wave through COVID by preparing supply early

→ Taking an Indian nutrition brand global:Reload now sells across 30–40 countries

Chapters:

0:00 Coming Up

1:35 Welcome to One in a Billion

2:23 Vijay's Story: A Late Entrepreneur at 40

3:44 The Market Gap: The Missing Middle in Nutrition

6:44 Discovering Effervescent Technology

10:15 Building the First Product: Reload

15:14 The First Launch & the Running Community

20:54 Choosing Which Products & Cities to Focus On

25:20 How Fast&Up Reached the Indian Cricket Team

30:43 Getting Anti-Doping Certified

34:36 How COVID & Vitamin C Changed the Business

39:29 Surviving the Post-COVID Nutrition Boom

46:13 Going Global: Reload in 30+ Countries

55:00 The Future of Sports Nutrition in India

59:40 The Role of Marketplaces

A conversation about category creation, product experience, and building a global nutrition brand out of India.

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#OneInABillion #FastAndUp #SportsNutrition

What happens when one of India’s biggest cricket icons sits down with the leader of a global sports brand?

In this episode of One in a Billion, Kapil Thirani speaks with Harmanpreet Kaur, Captain of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team, and Ramprasad Sridharan, Managing Director, PUMA Group India, to talk about cricket, leadership, pressure, brand partnerships, and the rise of women’s sports in India.

The conversation covers:

- Harmanpreet’s journey from playing with boys to representing India

- The mindset behind performing better under pressure

- The iconic 171 against Australia and the growth of women’s cricket

- How team culture and confidence shape high-performance sport

- How PUMA and Flipkart are making world-class sporting products more accessible across India

Harmanpreet also reflects on how much the ecosystem has changed, from struggling to access quality cricket shoes in smaller cities to seeing the same products worn by top athletes become available across the country.

At its core, the conversation explores one larger shift: how athletes, brands, and platforms are together shaping the next generation of Indian sport.

A must-watch for cricket fans, athletes, sports marketers, brand leaders, and anyone following the rise of women’s sports in India.

Chapters

0:00 Coming Up

1:46 Welcome to One in a Billion

3:54 Harmanpreet's Story: The Hockey Stick

8:43 Sport, Business & Team Leadership

11:03 How Her Coach Spotted Her

13:56 The Importance of Grassroot Sports Culture

16:09 The India Debut & Access to Good Gear

21:45 The 171* vs Australia

26:49 The 2017 World Cup & Women's Cricket's Rise

32:06 The 2025 World Cup Win & That Final Catch

43:29 Puma, Leadership & the Underdog Mindset

45:04 A Message to Parents & Young Athletes

#Harmanpreet Kaur #Indian Women’s Cricket #Women’s Cricket World Cup PUMA India #Team India #Women in Sports #SellonFlipkart #FlipkartSellerRegistrationProcess #FlipkartSellerHub

The Indian Skincare Brand Sitting Beside Bioderma, How did a dermatologist-first business grow 35–40% of its revenue online?

In this episode of One in a Billion, Kapil Thirani sits down with Shaily Mehrotra (CEO & Founder, Fixderma & FCL) to break down how an Indian dermaceutical company grew from just 8 products into a portfolio of nearly 150 skincare solutions.

The journey began with a clear market gap: pharmaceutical skincare looked medicinal, while cosmetic brands focused largely on beauty and trends. Fixderma chose a different path, building problem-solving dermaceuticals backed by scientific formulations, dermatologist trust, and long-term product efficacy.

What followed was years of patient category-building:

- Growing from 8 products to nearly 150 skincare solutions

- Using in-vivo and in-vitro sunscreen testing before these concepts were widely understood in India

- Building trust through a network of around 15,000 dermatologists

- Moving towards in-house manufacturing after one failed batch exposed quality-control risks

- Growing online sales from almost zero to 35–40% of the business

- Facing dermatologist backlash after entering Blinkit and e-commerce

- Taking an Indian skincare brand to global shelves beside Bioderma and Eucerin

Shaily unpacks the real challenges behind building a skincare business: creating a new dermaceutical category, finding product-market fit, maintaining formulation quality, managing online and offline channel conflict, expanding through marketplaces, and building an export-ready Indian brand.

It all builds toward one larger idea: Indian skincare brands can compete globally when product science, manufacturing, distribution, and consumer trust work together.

A must-watch for D2C founders, e-commerce sellers, marketplace operators, skincare entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and anyone building a consumer brand from India.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Coming up

01:20 Introduction

02:15 The Failed Business That Changed Her Approach

06:33 The Market Gap Behind Fixderma

12:04 How Fixderma Won Dermatologists’ Trust

19:49 How Fixderma Expanded Into Global Markets

26:10 Why Sunscreen Became Fixderma’s Hero Product

31:29 Why Fixderma Is Successful in Vietnam

32:59 Shaily Mehrotra’s Shark Tank Journey

34:56 How COVID Forced Fixderma Online

42:10 The Future of India’s Skincare Industry

47:01 The Story Behind Nigrifix

49:44 Flipkart and the Growth of Online Beauty

55:06 Closing Thoughts

#Fixderma #SkincareBusiness #Dermaceuticals #Dermatologist #EcommerceSeller #D2CBrand #MarketplaceSeller #IndianStartups #SkincareBrand #entrepreneurship

The Brand Older Than Independent India… How does a 90-year-old name end up in every Indian household without a single ad?

In this episode of One in a Billion, Kapil Thirani sits down with Dhruv Kharbanda (Product Development Officer, Nivia Sports) to break down how a family business born in Sialkot in 1934 became the brand behind football, basketball, and volleyball in school grounds across India.

Nivia started under great-grandfather Nihal Chand, survived Partition, and rebuilt from scratch when the family migrated to India and settled into the new sports manufacturing hubs of Jalandhar and Meerut, and the mission has stayed the same since 1960: build a sports brand made for India, by India.

What followed was six decades of quiet, stubborn category-building:

• From India's first stitched leather volleyball in 1960 to the country's first moulded basketball unit
• Replacing Puma as the official ball of the ISL, even when players first refused to play with it
• The 2011 FIFA friendly, when India watched Messi play with their ball
• The Dominator, now one of India's top-three footballs, born from an American export order
• Becoming the #1 selling badminton shoe brand in India, quantity-wise
• A partnership with Flipkart that built entire categories, gym gloves, orthopaedics, and bags that didn't exist in India before

Dhruv unpacks the real barriers holding Indian sports manufacturing back: commitment, capital, and mindset. Why FIFA-grade balls took six years to master, the philosophy of criticising your own product before the market does, and the museum that houses Dhyan Chand's Olympic hockey stick, a Pele-signed ball, and Sachin's double-hundred bat.

It all builds toward one audacious goal: India's first $1 billion sports brand by 2034, the company's 100th year.

A must-watch for founders, manufacturing operators, and anyone building a brand for India that the world will eventually notice.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Coming Up

01:20 Introduction

02:27 How Nivia Started 90 Years Ago

06:40 How Nivia Built Affordable Sports Goods for India

12:00 How Nivia Navigated Global Sports Brands Entering India

19:53 How Nivia Made FIFA Quality Footballs Using Its Manufacturing Expertise

24:33 Nivia’s Expansion Into New Sports Categories and Flipkart’s Role in Growth

30:16 How Nivia Became a Household Brand Without Celebrity Endorsements

37:50 The Story Behind Nivia’s Museum

40:50 Nivia’s Online Journey and Its Ambition in Shoes

50:12 Nivia’s Goals for the Coming Years

52:57 How Nivia Thinks About Premiumisation and Building Brands on the Platform

1:00:56 Closing Thoughts

#NiviaSports #StartupStory #MadeInIndia #IndianSports #FlipkartSeller #Entrepreneurship #SportsManufacturing #IndianStartups #BrandStory #ISL

India's kids' personal care market sits in a strange gap. For school-going children aged 3 to 13, almost nobody built anything. Why?

In this podcast of One in a Billion, Kapil Thirani sits down with Chanakya Gupta (Co-Founder, Tuco Kids) to break down how a former Flipkart VP and Unilever veteran built India's first dedicated kids' personal care brand, now racing toward a ₹100 Cr run rate. From being part of Flipkart's first Big Billion Day team in 2014 to co-building Tuco Kids alongside his wife Aishwarya Murali, Chanakya shares the highs, failures, and hard-earned lessons behind creating a category from scratch.

This is not just a conversation about shampoo, sunscreen or body lotion, It's about category creation, winning parents' trust, surviving a market that didn't exist, and building a D2C brand the right way in India.

Inside the episode:

• How Tuco Kids started as The Unbottle Company, a sustainability mission against plastic waste • Why they sell to parents first and let kids have fun second

• The 4-stage testing process behind every product launch

• The ₹4500 sunscreen filter that defines the brand's DNA

• Why their quick commerce launch failed, and what they learned

• How Farah Khan became a no-filter brand voice for parents

• Why baby care and adult care do not fully solve for 3 to 13-year-olds

Whether you're a founder, D2C operator, marketplace seller, FMCG enthusiast, or simply someone curious about how real consumer brands are built in India, this episode offers an honest look at the grit behind the numbers.

Plug in your earphones, hit play, and listen to the story behind building a brand in a category most people thought didn't exist.

Follow the show on Spotify so you never miss a conversation.

Chapters

00:00 Coming Up

01.12 Introduction

03:27 From Corporate to Startup: The Learnings from Unilever, Flipkart & Cult

08:40 The Backstory: Goa, Plastic Waste & The Unbottled Company

12:58 Hero Products, the 4-Step Testing Process & Dadi-Nani Ke Nuskhe

21:34 Parents vs Kids: The Tripartite Strategy & Conscious Marketing

26:18 Joining Aishwarya: The Husband-Wife Co-Founder Decision

40:51 Bootstrap vs Funding: Choosing the Right Partners

51:04 Farah Khan: The Face of the Brand

01:00:00 The Flipkart Story: Big Billion Days, Empowerment & ESOPs

01:03:49 Closing Thoughts

India’s mobile accessories market is worth thousands of crores. Yet almost nobody can name a brand they truly trust in the category. Why?

In this podcast of One in a Billion, Kapil Thirani sits down with Vikram Jain (Founder, Sprig) to break down how a former Flipkart category leader built a ₹22 Cr mobile accessories business in one of India’s most commoditised markets. From being part of Flipkart’s first Big Billion Day team in 2014 to building a ₹22 Cr mobile accessories business from scratch, Vikram shares the highs, failures, and hard-earned lessons behind the journey.

This is not just a conversation about chargers, tempered glass, back cover categories, or the Sprig liquid silicone case. It’s about understanding consumer behaviour, surviving brutal competition, and building a brand in a market where most players race to the bottom.

Inside the episode: • How the business scaled from 20–25 orders a day to nearly 900 orders daily • Why Sprig focused on underserved demand instead of crowded categories like iPhones initially • The strategy behind increasing ASP from ₹300 to ₹500 • How materials like Asahi Glass and liquid silicone helped create differentiation • Why the company chose sustainable growth over funding-fuelled expansion

Whether you’re a founder, D2C operator, marketplace seller, or simply someone curious about how real businesses are built in India, this episode offers an honest look at the grit behind the numbers.

Plug in your earphones, hit play, and listen to the story behind building a brand in a market where most people thought branding was impossible.

Follow the show on Spotify so you never miss a conversation.

00.00 Coming Up

01.05 Introduction

01.26 From Flipkart boardrooms to the Electronics Industry

04.20 Leaving Corporate to Build a Business

06.10 Finding the Right Category Before Starting Up

12.24 Research Behind Mobile Accessories & Asahi Glass

15.38 China, Catalogue Marketing & Brand Growth

19.53 Sprig’s Strategy to Scale Across Categories

25.46 Starting with OnePlus & Scaling Through Research

31.45 Building a Brand in India’s Price-Sensitive Market

37.07 Revenue Growth & Category Expansion of Sprig

39.13 From a Motorola Mistake to Partnering with Motorola

42.39 SKU Growth & The Quick Commerce Journey

44.43 Solving the Screen Guard Buying Problem Online

47.35 Sprig Products Demonstration

51.50 Quick Commerce & The Next Ecommerce Wave

54.40 Final Thoughts

Discover the incredible journey of Nutraj, one of India’s leading dry fruits brands, built by Gunjan Jain, MD & CEO of VKC Nuts Pvt. Ltd.

Starting as a small barter business in 1926 and rebuilding from just ₹45 lakh in the 90s, Nutraj transformed a largely unorganised dry fruits market into a trusted FMCG brand. Today, Nutraj is a ₹2000+ crore brand with a strong presence across India and a ~35% share in the walnut market India.

In this Video, explore how strategic brand building, distribution expansion, and platforms like Flipkart helped scale Nutraj into a modern D2C brand India and FMCG success story. With a multi-brand portfolio including Anmol, Snackrite, and For Good, Nutraj continues to lead innovation in the snacking category.

Watch this inspiring business success story India to learn how to build a powerful consumer brand in India.

00:00 Coming Up

01:22 Introduction

02:04 Nutraj origins and India’s dry fruit rise

07:13 Global sourcing and Indian adoption

14:29 Evolution of the dry fruits industry

19:27 Post-90s boom and Nutraj’s growth

25:22 Category creation journey

28:40 Growth phase and branding strategy

38:41 Entry into the snacking category

43:50 Role of online in scaling

49:26 Global vs India commodity gap

51:50 Nutraj product showcase

54:39 Vision for next 5 years

55:41 Price strategy across markets

01:01:22 Final thoughts

#Nutraj #StartupStory #FMCGIndia #BusinessSuccess #FlipkartSeller #Entrepreneurship #D2CBrand #IndianStartups

What happens when a fashion brand gets a 30x spike overnight after Shark Tank?

In this episode of One in a Billion, Kapil Thirani sits down with Siddharth Dungarwal (CEO & founder, Snitch) to unpack how a 350 sq ft store and a supply chain insight turned into one of India’s fastest-growing fashion brands.

Snitch didn’t start as a D2C brand. It began with surplus inventory, scaled through manufacturing and B2B, and pivoted to D2C during COVID with just 35 products and a 4-member team.

What followed was relentless experimentation and scale:

• From 50 orders/day to a ₹1000 Cr fast fashion brand

• 30x traffic spike after Shark Tank

• ₹15L to ₹1 Cr/month offline store growth in 90 days

• 110+ stores across 45 cities in just 14 months Built on supply chain strength,

Snitch broke the traditional fashion model by launching new styles every day instead of seasonal collections. This episode is a deep dive into:

• Building a speed-driven supply chain moat

• From B2B to D2C and then the offline scaling strategy

• Product, pricing, and content-led growth • Mistakes made while scaling too fast

A must-watch for founders, D2C operators, and anyone building in fashion, retail, or consumer brands.

#SellonFlipkart #FlipkartSellerRegistrationProcess #FlipkartSellerHub

How did a ₹300 T-shirt turn into a ₹100 crore brand?

In this episode of One in a Billion, Kapil Thirani sits down with Madhusudhanan Shanmugam, Founder of Tripr, to unpack how a small idea from Tirupur became a high-volume e-commerce fashion brand.

Tripr started in 2016 with just 20 orders on Flipkart and a simple insight: if you win the ₹200–₹300 price bracket, you win visibility on marketplaces.

What followed was relentless experimentation and scale:

• One printed T-shirt sold 10–15 lakh units

• 15–16 lakh pieces sold during a single Big Billion Day

• Today Tripr processes 15,000 orders every day

Built without venture capital, Tripr is now approaching the ₹100 crore mark with a 120-member team and a long-term vision to build a ₹500 crore apparel brand.

This episode is a deep dive into:

• Marketplace growth strategies

• Pricing psychology in Indian fashion

• High-speed product experimentation

• Scaling a mass-market D2C brand

A must-watch for founders, marketplace sellers, and D2C operators.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Coming Up

1:08 Introduction

1:57 From London to Tirupur: The Foundational Journey of Tripr

4:35 How the Family's T-shirt Business Helped Build a Fashion Brand

6:52 The Benefits of Starting an Apparel Brand in Tirupur, India's Textile Hub

8:52 Affordable T-shirts: The Initial Journey from Manufacturing to Selling

14:22 First Launch on Flipkart in 2016: 20 Orders on Day One

19:18 From Solid to Printed T-shirts: Scaling Up and Expanding Categories

25:11 Building the Design Team Behind New Creations

1:01:30 Is Quick Commerce Overtaking E-commerce?

1:03:53 How an Apparel Brand Transitions from E-commerce to Quick Commerce

1:05:20 A Tamil Version for New Startups Looking to Start Their E-commerce Journey

1:06:27 Closing Thoughts

From a ₹9,000 salary to a ₹150 crore water purifier brand, this episode reveals the real story behind Super Aqua. In this episode of One in a Billion, Kapil Thirani sits down with Akhilesh Kumar (Founder, SuperAqua) to unpack how a simple middle-class insight led to a nationwide brand.

The journey began with a ₹2,499 launch on Flipkart, 7 early orders that changed everything, and a brutal phase where 80% of products were getting returned. What followed was operational grit: fixing packaging, solving service blackmail, building a network of 800+ technicians across India, and scaling aggressively during lockdown. In 2022, SuperAqua saw 1,300 purifier orders in a single day.

Today, the brand sells RO technology at ₹3,699 in a market where competitors charge ₹15,000+, runs with 250+ team members, and clocks ₹40–45 lakh in daily orders. A sharp conversation about pricing, marketplaces, service economics, and building a ₹150 crore brand from the ground up.

Chapters

00:00 Coming Up

01:18 Introduction

01:54 How SuperAqua Started

04:29 Why Sell Water Purifiers on E-commerce?

08:51 The Struggle to Get the First Order

13:40 Family Resistance and Support

16:51 How the Brand Name “SuperAqua” Was Chosen

18:18 The Massive Return Problem

19:58 How Packaging Issues Were Fixed

21:38 Fixing Technical Defects and TDS Problems

24:25 Building Customer Trust and Service Network Across India

29:10 Scaling from Lockdown to 2022 Growth

38:58 Water Purifier Product Demonstration

43:49 Product Cost, Selling Price & Affordable Strategy

46:20 Starting In-house Manufacturing with 5 Machines Setup

50:18 Inside the Water Purifier Service Ecosystem

55:18 2-Year Unconditional Warranty at an Affordable Price

56:53 Growth Plan for SuperAqua

59:08 How Flipkart Helped Reach ₹150 Cr

1:00:44 How Marketplaces Select Brands & Find Margin in Low ASP Products

1:04:58 SuperAqua Vision for the Next 5 Years

1:06:53 Final Thoughts

#SellonFlipkart #FlipkartSellerRegistrationProcess #FlipkartSellerHub