Is Mensa Brands truly worth its billion-dollar valuation? In this deep dive, we explore the strategy behind India’s leading D2C rollup company, Mensa Brands. From their acquisition approach and founder involvement to distribution advantages and capital strategy, we dissect what sets Mensa apart and the challenges it faces. We also dive into why D2C brands are booming in India, how traditional brand moats are changing, and if Mensa’s valuation holds up. Plus, we look at lessons from Thrasio and rollup opportunities across other industries such as software and food. 00:00 - Teaser 00:44 - Introduction to Mensa Brands 01:19 - What does Mensa Brands do? 02:44 - Is it primarily a finance play or are there deeper integrations? What value does Mensa add to the acquired companies? Are the founder still a part of the company? 08:52 - When these companies are acquired, what is the stage that these companies are at? 09:47 - What are the advantages that Mensa brings to the distribution of these D2C brands? 11:14 - How was the founder, Anand Narayanan, able to raise the capital needed to scale this business? 13:16 - Why are there so many D2C brands cropping up in India now? 16:10 - Does the moat for these vintage brands no longer exist? 20:09 - Does Mensa as a company make sense? Are these synergies between the segments they are operating in? 22:22 - Why didn’t Thrasio succeed? 23:54 - How much does Mensa pay for the companies they are acquiring? 26:34 - Do you think Mensa is worth a billion dollars? How large can it potentially get? 29:00 - Are the margins for D2C companies better than they are for vintage distributor-led brands? 30:59 - Mensa’s hidden advantages 31:55 - What are reasons to be bearish about Mensa Brands? 33:50 - Are you a buyer or seller of this business? 35:22 - What are the other kinds of industries where this rollup strategy can be employed? 38:54 - Are rollup companies a viable exit strategy for entrepreneurs? 42:10 - What would a rollup company for in the software space look like? 43:20 - Conclusion 👉 Note: We’re not affiliated with Mensa Brands—this episode reflects our independent research and insights from publicly available sources.