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