Tanmay Yadav is the founder of Crave Nicotine, a consumer health startup building nicotine candies designed to help smokers quit in a cleaner, more approachable way. The idea emerged shortly after his previous startup shut down, when he began exploring new problems to solve and returned to one that felt deeply personal. He is a cancer survivor and wanted to create a product that could help others avoid similar health risks. Within weeks of validating the idea through conversations with nearly 100 smokers about their quitting journeys, he began building what would become a regulated nicotine replacement product positioned very differently from traditional pharmaceutical looking alternatives.
Drawing on earlier experience working with early stage founders and consumer brands like Oziva, Tanmay moved quickly from customer research to formulation and supply chain setup, though navigating licensing and compliance stretched the launch timeline to over a year. Instead of waiting for perfect conditions, he relied heavily on founder outreach, manufacturing relationships from his venture ecosystem experience, and hands on customer conversations to move forward. His biggest lessons came from underestimating timelines, overvaluing early branding, and learning the importance of building operational backups, but his core belief remains simple: most founders wait too long to start, when progress really begins the moment you pick up the phone, talk to users, and solve a real problem.