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👉Video Introduction
In this episode, we sit down with Tarun Sharma, Co-Founder & CEO of PEP Brands, the company behind two of India's most recognised D2C beauty and personal care brands, mCaffeine and HYPHEN.
Over a decade of building, Tarun has seen it all - the capital-efficient grind, the mistakes that cost hundreds of crores, the pressures of a hypergrowth market, and the discipline it takes to come out profitable on the other side.
This is one of the most honest, detailed conversations about building a consumer brand in India that we've ever had on this podcast. Tarun has never gone this deep before, and it shows.
What you'll learn in this episode:
1. Why Capital Doesn't Build Great Consumer Brands and What Does
2. The ₹300 crore worth of mistakes PEP Brands made so you don't have to
3. How mCaffeine was built to ₹100 crore with just ₹1.5 crore in capital
4. If Tarun had to start a brand from scratch today, what it would be and why
5. How to think about brand building vs. marketing spend in BPC
6. The unit economics framework every D2C founder needs to understand
7. Why India's beauty and personal care market is heading toward ₹50,000 crore and which brands will win
8. What Tarun looks for when building teams, culture, and the next generation of leaders at PEP Brands
Whether you're a founder, an operator, an investor, or just someone trying to understand how India's D2C economy really works, this one is for you.
Know Our Guest
Tarun Sharma is the Co-Founder & CEO of PEP Brands, one of India's most consequential D2C founding stories.
Under his leadership, PEP Brands built mCaffeine into an experiential and performance-driven personal care brand that started with India's first caffeinated skincare range and grew into one of the country's most loved D2C brands.
He also co-founded HYPHEN, a science-backed, solution-oriented skincare brand addressing real skin concerns like pigmentation, acne, and barrier care, which has become one of the fastest-growing D2C skincare brands in the country.
A decade into building, PEP Brands has grown over 100% year-on-year, is cash flow positive, and stands among the top D2C face care and body care companies in India.
Tarun is widely regarded as one of the definitive voices on what it actually takes to build a consumer brand in India.
Check out mCaffeine:
https://www.mcaffeine.com
Follow them on IG:
https://www.instagram.com/mcaffeineofficial?igsh=czZ3b2wwbzAxc2hz
Check out HYPHEN:
https://letshyphen.com
Follow them on IG:
https://www.instagram.com/letshyphen?
Follow Tarun:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarunsharma88/?hl=en
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
03:04 - My 300cr Mistake
03:41 - Biggest Misunderstanding of Beauty and Personal Care Category
15:01 - How numbers Lie to you about Growth and then Bankrupt you?
26:14 - The best method of Market Research
33:41 - How to find a gap in the Hyper-competitive market of Beauty and personal care?
39:19 - How to validate your Idea in less than 50,000Rs?
44:48 - Secret to EPIC Packaging
49:01 - The perfect Pricing Framework
58:18 - Is Quick Commerce the Worst Channel?
1:02:42 - When to kill your product?
1:11:00 - The hidden trap of Repeat rate
1:13:03 - Best Books & Resources for BPC
1:16:10 - My honest confession
Our must watch must episodes:
1. Super You's EPIC ₹100 Crore Blueprint: INSANE Marketing SECRETS Nobody Talks About! IBP 46
https://youtu.be/G8UK7WcdF1Y
2. 100x Your Brand in 60 Minutes with These PROVEN Tactics
https://youtu.be/H088ypbYuDw
3. OYO's Insane rise & Bankruptcy! ft. Ritesh Agarwal
https://youtu.be/TdQ2UD-U9rQ?si=KC7mU1SAf4zvV8MA
4. How to Build a clothing brand and make 500crores in India?
https://youtu.be/Vwl6ZETAf9s
5. Why is Boult still bootstrapped? ft. Varun Gupta
https://youtu.be/iH8IrBG4csM?si=W-EGheLcDjxX8fd-
✅Study Materials:
Think School is a Digital School that we all deserved, but never had
►►Check out Think School's Online courses: https://www.thethinkschool.com
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