We Acquired Distribution and Consolidated it all to Build One Brand Ft. Bhavna Suresh

[00:00:00] Thank you, Bavna for joining us today. I know that we have been in touch for a very long

[00:00:10] time but finally good to have you in-house and our series is all about women who have

[00:00:15] wiped out the norm clearly. Your story is one such where you have taken many unconventional

[00:00:20] twists and turns in your life and now you are building a 10 club representing a brand

[00:00:26] color also today. So, I am very glad to have you and I would like to start by asking

[00:00:33] you about your childhood journey because more than the technicals, I really want to know

[00:00:38] the person behind you what values did you learn in your childhood that is still happening

[00:00:43] and how did people in your life influence you from childhood till now?

[00:00:48] First, thanks for having me. Second, thanks for like chasing me for like a really long time.

[00:00:55] It's very busy building here and I'm not ready to talk here but now I am. So thanks

[00:01:00] thanks for having me. The question is about my childhood. Man there's so much about my childhood

[00:01:06] who do I say? I think it was I grew up in the Middle East. Okay your parents were working there?

[00:01:13] Yeah, they were both working there and my dad was actually about three years ago. So you know he's

[00:01:20] spent most of his life there but I spent a large part of my childhood there from the time I can

[00:01:26] remember so it was it's like India but extremely protected. So I think I want to say I grew up in

[00:01:35] an extremely protected environment by protected I mean everything right? You're in an AC car

[00:01:42] going somewhere getting out in a protected environment it's too hot to do anything else but I went

[00:01:47] to an Indian school so it was as good as growing up and very protected India. But yeah, it was a

[00:01:54] simple childhood you know I'm an only child so it's not that I have siblings or anything

[00:02:02] but I've said this many many times and I think I was a single child to very young parents

[00:02:09] and I think that was where life became very interesting because most young parents when you have

[00:02:17] single children you get very protective but mine were just I don't know they treated me like an

[00:02:23] adult since I was very young so you know I thought that's how the world worked. I think from a

[00:02:29] really young age I found it really important towards my opinions yeah and yeah that's how I grew up

[00:02:35] so I think the fight kind of summarized my childhood and my learning from my childhood is

[00:02:42] from a really young age I was asked what I wanted and became very clear to me what I wanted

[00:02:47] and when I don't know what I want I get a little confused and I get a little worried but when I

[00:02:52] know what I want I make it very clear everybody in the room knows what I want traveling the world

[00:02:56] obviously became the most exciting thing and rather than saying hey I will own well enough to travel

[00:03:02] and on my own terms I wanted to get under the merchant navy that's how I kind of ended up doing my

[00:03:08] mechanical engineering because my sound father rather than saying no you cannot you're being

[00:03:13] ridiculous he was like why don't you go do your engineering at the end of it if you want to for sure

[00:03:19] so at the end of engineering obviously I was like no chance in hell there is no way I'm getting

[00:03:25] on a boat and getting stuck so how did you have the realization after spending four years with 300

[00:03:32] boys I think I was like I'm done how many girls were you in your batch three out of 300 yeah

[00:03:38] which institute was this I was in it was in Krunataka in Bangalore just think this college called MSRIT

[00:03:46] Ramaya it's a very boisterous mechanical engineering school and I think four years of engineering

[00:03:54] cemented life from you know where I think after that experience nothing can make me more uncomfortable

[00:04:01] and I had so much fun by the end with it that yeah I think when something's uncomfortable I have a

[00:04:06] lot of joy saying okay I'm going to figure this out and make it fun after that I got recruited I

[00:04:12] didn't know where I want I didn't know what I wanted to do the usual suspects came to college all

[00:04:18] of the recruitment I went and sat in a recruitment firm because they were making you play football

[00:04:24] as part of the recruitment process and I just thought it was fun so I played football and it ended up

[00:04:29] being Mahindra and Mahindra that was recruiting yeah so my first job was at like the most male

[00:04:37] company that could come to college there also you were like one of the few women only

[00:04:42] so I think the way Mahindra and any of these corporates higher is they usually hire in truck loads

[00:04:48] like not from our college but in general every year they hire 200 300 young graduates from around

[00:04:54] the country you get put into one like training institute together so it's almost like

[00:04:59] easing you out of college so there were two three months where all of us from around the country

[00:05:04] kind of came and trained together as trainees and then after that they kind of split you

[00:05:09] and put you in different spaces obviously I didn't make it to R&D and not did I make it to design

[00:05:15] I made it to production I made it to sales and marketing of course but remember one of the most

[00:05:24] interesting questions that you were asked in the interview process I was made to play football

[00:05:32] I thought that was the most I mean I think I still till today think it was one of the most interesting

[00:05:37] interviews because it was so cool it was a room and everybody were like everyone was writing

[00:05:43] papers and people were in form was answering questions and I remember the recruiter too he's a friend

[00:05:49] now he came and he was a young guy he said this is so boring shall we go outside all of us

[00:05:56] and it was a bunch of boys and me and yeah he was like how I want to see how you all play

[00:06:02] and what your dynamics are so can we play around the football and I started raining and all

[00:06:06] of us were playing football in the rain it was really cool I thought it was a very interesting process

[00:06:11] of course we had a written interview and we had all of the questions but I think that set such an

[00:06:17] interesting ground work did not turn out to be anything like that so I was in my head I was like

[00:06:24] wow the recruitment process is so fun how fun is work going to be and I think on day one I was in shock

[00:06:33] what we lost to do on day one no I mean the first 45 days is always training right so

[00:06:40] it's exactly like you trained for in your school with different subjects and different programs

[00:06:44] they kind of put you in here and they teach you a little bit of everything that the company does

[00:06:49] and depending on what you're good at and what you get allocated right so that's how you get the

[00:06:54] engineers and the R&D people go into R&D and the design people go down and the production people

[00:06:58] go down day one I got slaughtered into sales and marketing they're like this one can talk just

[00:07:05] please send her there yeah but I think the answer for me there was at the end of 45 days and you

[00:07:11] get trained on the factory on the ground you get to test you get to drive you get to do everything

[00:07:16] right for me I think I thought and I was very fascinated with why there were no women

[00:07:24] field engineers I also one of my friends just became one and I was like I want to go too

[00:07:29] and they were like no women don't go and I think something in my head turned and I was like why

[00:07:36] yeah and I think as whatever a young 20 year old I was like no I want to do it

[00:07:39] right and yeah I think I fought and I became Mahindra Mahindra's first woman after sales engineer

[00:07:46] which is basically my job was to go into new areas and run service stations so not sales in

[00:07:53] the showroom but service station so I was behind with the mechanics okay so where your car comes

[00:07:58] to get serviced I used to run those for Mahindra in some regions right okay and obviously women

[00:08:05] were not allowed for not allowed but usually never opted to do something like that because it's

[00:08:10] generally the dirty job and it's usually customers not coming happy to buy what customers coming

[00:08:17] complaining about something broken so it was not the fun part of the job it was complaining customers

[00:08:22] angry customers all of that so I think was an incredible I so I chose Goa I lived in Goa

[00:08:29] and I set up service stations in Goa and it's Mahindra and Mahindra so these are not even

[00:08:35] passenger car these are like heavy SUVs and commercial vehicles so it was very it was very

[00:08:42] uncomfortable but I had so much fun by the end of it and then when did you decide to leave

[00:08:49] Mahindra and then pursue your MBA oh no Mahindra one and a half years two years somewhere between that

[00:08:56] one and a half and two years it's a little rig because I don't fully know when I actually left okay

[00:09:02] there was a handover period there was all of that but why did I leave arms I done it I done it for

[00:09:10] one and a half years it was fun it was all of that and then I think I came to Bangalore for the

[00:09:17] summer and I ended up meeting a very young cool founder a friend of mine was working with them

[00:09:25] and he kind of introduced me and he said I think you should just have a chat you will I feel like

[00:09:30] you'll have a great time and yeah I met Vinit Vinit and Deepak yeah they were they were starting

[00:09:39] 2009 2010 they had just set out to kind of work with digital they were the digital agency one of

[00:09:46] the first few digital agencies in India and they were working with some of the coolest brands I'd

[00:09:50] heard often digital was just starting so I think I walked into that office I saw the team there

[00:09:57] were 10 12 people very few all young it was such exciting work that yeah my brain was just like this

[00:10:05] is more fun and gonna come here okay so I think it was a very quick decision in my head saying I

[00:10:11] did that I was great but this seems cooler and it seems so new yeah so yeah it was just a very

[00:10:18] quick decision of try and it was like tasting blood right like it was our version of stuff I mean

[00:10:26] it was a startup you know it was the same energy the same confusion the same breakage the same stress

[00:10:33] but very good friends and everybody at the same wavelength and working with doing some really

[00:10:39] cool work with agencies and brands so I had a great time like one and a half years two years there

[00:10:45] and in that journey I saw they got acquired we got acquired and yeah it was it was so it was so

[00:10:55] interesting for me to watch out for those because I've never seen anything like it

[00:11:00] and I saw the high of like building something building it from zero

[00:11:05] um getting acquired by ddb group which was one of the biggest media firms in the world

[00:11:11] and you know I think it was just how is that agency doing different work how we all like

[00:11:17] different from the other well-known established agency because I think 22 feet was uh

[00:11:23] it was a pure digital agency it was not an advertising firm with creative but it was pure

[00:11:29] digital so okay back in the day you're talking about websites and microsites and campaigns and

[00:11:34] content strategy and stuff which wasn't nobody was doing it okay so you know it was yeah

[00:11:40] which was this 2012 okay yeah very nice interview yeah my hands are was in 2010 and this was 2012

[00:11:49] okay long time uh yeah bold yeah yeah what do you mean that's my life how do you know what I remember

[00:11:58] your life some people forget instances I'm not that old you exactly remember so many details of it yeah

[00:12:08] so yeah it was great I did that and then made some money in the process um oh you had stock options

[00:12:15] of the company well very young yeah that's why I said it was proper like startup right so like

[00:12:20] you know just solve it watch it happen and then I think it was just one of those periods like

[00:12:27] something happened I mean I fell medically ill like I was really uh unwell and this was when I was

[00:12:33] 24 25 okay uh I had a tumor what kind of tumor it's on my face it's my facial so I just had

[00:12:43] I've had it I had a tumor that kind of grew and became quite serious how did you know about it

[00:12:50] it was a very painful large tumor that was interfering with my full life so everybody in my life

[00:12:57] knew it was there um and yeah I mean it was it was it was a tumor uh and something needed to be done

[00:13:04] so life stopped like Jan 2013 life stopped um yeah I got it operated uh I think it was one of

[00:13:13] the stunning points in my life where I watched everybody in my life just melt and crack and break down

[00:13:20] and I think everybody was like oh my god are 25 year old young girl like obviously right who will

[00:13:26] get married to her what will happen to her life everything and it was on my face so um yeah but

[00:13:34] yeah Jan 3rd 2013 I'll never forget uh I don't know I think it was just one of those very again

[00:13:42] I remember in December just before the thing my mom and dad were traveling because I'm I don't

[00:13:48] remember where but I was feeling it was a temple it had to be they were praying I'm sure

[00:13:53] I remember I walked to the I went and met a doctor on my own I went and kind of scheduled my date

[00:13:59] on my own and I said no one's gonna sign this off I'm now 18 and above I can sign yeah uh get it out

[00:14:06] of me and yeah block the date for 3rd of Jan everybody came I think my parents were terrified I've

[00:14:14] never seen them were terrified yeah it got removed um I still live with facial paralysis it's 10 years

[00:14:23] later so it's much better but half my face was paralyzed for really I mean it continues to be but

[00:14:30] it was much worse than but yeah I think something in my head torn that day I was just like man I survived

[00:14:36] this I'm alive and you know like there was so much drama and crying and freaking out and yeah

[00:14:42] something changed but there's now life ahead what stage did you figure it out at so I always had

[00:14:51] it but it was in me for like two and a half three years and it had started to get very serious

[00:14:57] oh my god because it was my facial nerve nobody could do anything it was it grew on my facial

[00:15:02] nerves but you always had it feelings no no I got it when I was I think it was detected when I was

[00:15:07] 21 22 okay very very small and it was not um it was not dangerous uh it was something that people

[00:15:16] brushed away right it was oh uh I didn't show it to the doctor as I did I think I think there was one

[00:15:24] year of active like doctors in my life um and that's why I think something in my head just torn but then

[00:15:31] it started getting cancerous right like it started getting it started getting serious yeah um so yeah

[00:15:39] I think it was just one of those things where you just have to stand and say whatever has to happen

[00:15:42] will happen uh just do it uh so yeah I see the nice story to tell right now but it's such a

[00:15:50] painful process to go through and it requires so much of resilience strength to overcome those days

[00:15:57] I was too young nothing was being processed I don't think I was seriously contemplating the

[00:16:02] consequences or anything and I think it's an interesting place to be in life where

[00:16:07] some things you don't have a choice you have to do it what is the point of overthinking it

[00:16:12] like you will just freak yourself out yeah so that's what I'm saying I met this doctor he was fantastic

[00:16:19] he was very very senior and very old and I remember it was a very long surgery um how long did you

[00:16:27] I think it was like 11 or 12 hours surgery I don't remember I mean it was my face to know it was big

[00:16:32] gone uh I was in the hospital for weeks together therapy was six months um but you know it's all a

[00:16:39] process but I think when life kind of goes on you remember the funny things like um I will never

[00:16:45] forget and my dad and I laugh about it even now is the surgery got over and I think a few hours

[00:16:52] when I could wake up of course everybody came you know it's and it's kind of sweet right in

[00:16:58] your hospital inside everybody's fussing over you and everybody from everywhere is coming to me too

[00:17:03] and I remember my voice from engineering came and they were the idiots like I had tubes all over me

[00:17:10] and they've come into the room and they were making fun of my face they were like they were like

[00:17:13] your face and that's what friends are for it like nobody came and cried and was sad but they ended

[00:17:19] up coming and they were just making fun of me like everything was normal and I think those are the

[00:17:24] memories I have which is day two I could not eat the hospital food anymore I was losing it

[00:17:31] where my dad actually sneaked me out of the room and we went to the canteen and we ate chicken

[00:17:37] so you know those are the memories I have yeah so for me it's yeah coming back to your like story

[00:17:43] at HEC tell me how your experience there was what was some of the memorable most memorable experiences that you had

[00:17:53] I mean HEC was a blast um I think the average age of school was about 32-33 is it yeah it's not

[00:18:02] European schools are not young okay you know I mean I think and I don't I actually

[00:18:08] in hindsight I think it's extremely important to go to business school when you're a little older

[00:18:14] because when you're younger there's nothing what experience do you have what are you going to talk about

[00:18:19] like I was completely useless in my class like a lot of times like I partied like

[00:18:24] my whole business school of course I started my first business a month into school

[00:18:29] because I was bored like you know I had so much time yeah and people don't say that about

[00:18:35] business schools but I think I went to Europe and it's not as fast-paced as the rest of the world

[00:18:42] so I had I had paid internships because I wanted to make money um yeah so I think school was

[00:18:50] I was in school it was not really about the classes which I regret and I think anybody I need today

[00:18:56] I say please go to school like when you're a little older because I would die to be back in those

[00:19:03] classes right now because those case studies would make sense to me today they really did not make

[00:19:08] sense to me when I was 25 like it really did not make sense to me but I really truly appreciate it

[00:19:14] today so if I could turn back in time I would go back and sit in more classes business school was

[00:19:19] just like a big party um and there was so much travel and so it was really exciting it was a really

[00:19:25] exciting 18 20 months in my life and I had started my first company in school one studying one

[00:19:33] month into school yeah so my entire business school I was also running my first company um value

[00:19:40] were also parties I was doing everything I don't know where time came from like that's what

[00:19:44] saying that I don't know where I produced hours from I wish I could now uh yeah so it was internships

[00:19:53] uh business class party travel I don't know how 24 hours uh there was so much fun what business were

[00:20:00] you running uh so I think I went to Paris um a month into class like everyone was because there

[00:20:10] was we I was definitely one of the younger people in class and I think some of the older ones

[00:20:16] they were so clear right they were on a career path so they knew exactly what they wanted to do

[00:20:22] which is they were very clear whether they wanted to get into impact or the great thing about

[00:20:27] HEC was it's a very small class it's only 120 people and from everywhere around the world yeah

[00:20:33] so and a little older yeah so it was really diverse it was really interesting and all of us

[00:20:39] lived together in the same building for a really long time so everybody got very close um so for me

[00:20:45] was just exposure at a very different level right because the way people think the way people

[00:20:49] behave and because it's your it's a little bit more you know inclusives and it was it was really nice um

[00:20:58] but I think in the middle of all of this I was very clear I'm not a consultant I'm not a banker

[00:21:04] and I for the first time had no idea like I was just like what what do I do

[00:21:09] and I think in one of those classes maybe because Varun was with Uber and the shared economy was kind

[00:21:14] of playing in really big and I was very fascinated watching his journey with Uber he was

[00:21:21] he was one of first employees in Asia so he was in the launch phase where he was having so much fun

[00:21:27] so I think part of that was in my brain yeah um I was in Paris where fashion was everywhere it was

[00:21:33] two expensive rent the run we was blowing up in the US at that point so I just kind of put it all

[00:21:39] together and I said listen can I buy stuff in Europe and get it to India and can I kind of create

[00:21:44] a rental service for India I mean I was I was obsessed with the idea I was obsessed with

[00:21:51] it's like drop shipping types it was proper buy in when she set up shop rented to like young girls

[00:21:59] in India it was rent the runway for India it was called style back yeah I just got one one thing

[00:22:06] I was obsessed with the idea like every class that's all I spoke about I was building business models

[00:22:11] only for it I only kept talking about it till my professor sat me down and he was like you know

[00:22:17] you have to do this right because you're obsessed with it so HEC kind of that's that's a great

[00:22:23] thing about doing something like this in business school right like the incubation team kind of

[00:22:27] found me made me build it out I found investors uh very early investors um yeah I found a business

[00:22:37] partner back home she was my colleague from 22 feet yeah so it was really exciting did all of that

[00:22:45] and it was such a high and finished school and came back immediately to run it in India and it

[00:22:51] scaled a little bit bomb really badly uh India was not ready to rent western clothing at all they

[00:22:58] wanted Indian clothing okay and I don't think I was excited about building Indian clothing and

[00:23:05] I don't think anyone's been able to do it it's very difficult okay it's not easy uh you need to take

[00:23:12] an Indian Indian garment and rent it out 20 times to break even and if somebody wore an Indian

[00:23:18] garment with heavy emerald already 20 times you're ruining the garment yeah it's not possible

[00:23:23] you can do it with western clothing you can't do it with Indian clothing and that was my first

[00:23:27] lesson in unit economics what's the business partner on this how you have a bank of clothing

[00:23:34] right like you have clothing accessory shoes bags yeah and women don't need to buy right like fast

[00:23:41] fashion is extremely unsustainable to buy yeah and everybody wants different clothing correct and

[00:23:46] especially in today's day and age nobody wants to repeat clothes so it was almost like a bank where

[00:23:53] it's usually a subscription service yeah like a one-time where if you rent a piece of garment you pay

[00:23:58] one tenths the cost so if you buy for a thousand rupees you can rent it for a hundred rupees okay

[00:24:03] you use it 48 hours later you have to return it yeah so that garment has to be rotated

[00:24:08] 10 times for you to break even at the cost of the garment okay but this is so that's from

[00:24:14] our side but from a user point of view it's still a very interesting concept you know very hard to

[00:24:20] execute which is like what were the pain points apart from the ones you mentioned I think it's a

[00:24:27] the back end of this is logistics to you're expecting the user to handle the garment with cash

[00:24:36] three sizing is always going to be a problem yeah four it's almost like running the largest laundry

[00:24:42] it is laundry at the end of the day it is about can you dry clean and do laundry at scale and do it well

[00:24:48] the cost for India was not adding up at all like yeah I mean the laundry cost is to the company I mean nobody

[00:24:54] spaying for it so we built it all in but I think that's the idea right like it was just we got

[00:25:00] tired of she got partnerships yeah we were doing it at a really cheap cost but it was still not working out

[00:25:07] like how many customers did he still have in India I we only did banglo so we did outside we started

[00:25:16] we started with all cities yeah we started with 10 cities we realized it was extremely

[00:25:21] unsustainable yeah across cities then we did banglo I think there was a point where we scaled to

[00:25:26] about five thousand customers in banglo that actually would use regularly and kind of but

[00:25:32] we're just not adding up like at that point I had to raise like a few million and it was ridiculous

[00:25:37] like when I think about it now yeah the VCs that I went in sat too and some of them know me today

[00:25:43] right they remember me from 20 whatever 14 yeah and like I think cover from fire said I actually very

[00:25:51] recently had lunch with him and I showed him one very very cute image or message I had sent him on

[00:25:57] LinkedIn back in 2014 saying this is what I'm going to build and you know you should bank me and

[00:26:02] he was very nice even back then said shock kind of talk to me and here's my team but I was like who

[00:26:07] would have thought like a decade later you would be on my cap table the way you are yeah but yeah

[00:26:13] you know or did you actually speak to him back then I spoke to a bunch of people oh yeah so I did

[00:26:20] I did my early rounds and you know to the same folks that I saw see now then I'm just like okay

[00:26:26] you know that's so interesting yeah and then how did you when you shut down your business how did

[00:26:31] you return the capital back we were taking we so we are only two angels like two serious angels

[00:26:38] we gave back money right we had very little like less than a crore or something in the bank

[00:26:43] less than a crore or something in the bank which was still a lot of money back then yeah we gave it back

[00:26:49] we I think you know it was all shattering right like suddenly for me I mean suddenly a gong I've done

[00:26:59] all of this I said I'm gonna change the world and I've come back and it's ground zero you're like oh my

[00:27:04] god I have failed yeah how did you decide that it's time to now roll it up it was just not working

[00:27:11] you know you could we could not see traction it's going to cost money I think I was sitting in

[00:27:16] these rooms with all of the VCs and I was hearing the feedback and I think it's very important to

[00:27:23] hear feedback right yeah there were enough people saying that this is not gonna work how's this

[00:27:28] going to work and I think Sequoia had back one of the players with two or three million dollars

[00:27:34] and they had scaled at that point and I think all these signs of them not doing well also had started

[00:27:39] to come so in general after a year of running it all of us were like this is not working it's

[00:27:45] very difficult and I think it became that point where the pivot was to move from west on to

[00:27:51] Indian and I think both of us were very clear we didn't I just my heart was just not in it I could

[00:27:57] not pivot or I didn't want to do Indian floating and I was I didn't believe it was possible so I

[00:28:03] think that was that was the time to call it so we called it and yeah I told myself never again

[00:28:10] that I this entrepreneurship is too difficult I can't do it so you never want to become an entrepreneur

[00:28:17] again of course I think everyone who fails the first time will say I would never again I don't know

[00:28:22] anybody who will see I will do it again I think your heart is broken into a million pieces

[00:28:27] confidence is gone you're like it's very hard to give up something the first time yeah right and

[00:28:33] then you grow up a little bit and you're like you need to let go to be able to move on I think

[00:28:38] that takes time to realize but yeah I think then I was like never again and I got this

[00:28:45] random again really like universal random email in my inbox from a private equity firm that said

[00:28:54] listen that I mean I've said the story a few times which is when you go to business school in

[00:29:00] Europe and I was kind of plugged into the startup ecosystem because I was working with a venture

[00:29:06] plus I was trying to build my own thing so I was meeting a bunch of people in the ecosystem so they

[00:29:11] kind of knew who I was somebody had my CV somewhere so they would kind of message me often enough

[00:29:16] to say hey are you still building are you free are you available because I think everybody was not

[00:29:21] going to work okay so one of those days I got an email saying listen a private equity firm bought

[00:29:29] a venture a distressed venture and they're looking for somebody to come take over and change

[00:29:35] like run it yeah it's in the Philippines what industry was it real estate how didn't no logic yeah there's

[00:29:46] no logic there's no logic and I think that's the thing about entrepreneurs right like I was so young

[00:29:51] like I was I was young where you bet I think 27 you you got this opportunity of a CEO 27 yeah

[00:30:00] I mean it was not like he was not a CEO of like a big company right it was a distressed form like

[00:30:05] yeah nobody in there right mind would have taken that job right it's already distressed giving you so

[00:30:11] much stress that how yeah and there was like you you can't it's a it's a distressed buyout which basically

[00:30:17] means a majority of that company is owned by a private equity firm and they just need somebody to come

[00:30:22] run it and it's not in a major like developed country it isn't the Philippines Philippines and

[00:30:28] Indonesia and they basically said listen we have a couple of million dollars that we're going to put

[00:30:33] in would you want to come try giving this a shot yeah and I had that as an option and the alternate

[00:30:42] option in my inbox that I will never forget this because I took off holiday to decide what I want

[00:30:47] you to do okay actually my interview for this was in Indonesia so I went and I got this job

[00:30:55] and I and they kind of said can you start next week which was the other option you might say

[00:31:00] and in parallel I had spent some time interviewing for a VC in Bangalore yeah

[00:31:06] okay and I got an offer to become an associate with them and associate and a CEO these were the two

[00:31:13] but associated at a very reputed VC firm you can't take the name I won't okay I'm trying to be

[00:31:21] diplomatic here that I won't take it so really reputed VC firm a partner that I really looked up

[00:31:28] to I think I pitched to them a few times and I'm not going to fund your company but why don't

[00:31:32] you come join and you know you can so I think my path was very clear I was like oh this is exciting

[00:31:38] I can do this but then obviously I ended up picking the stupid like why how did you choose that on

[00:31:44] your holiday say I remember we're getting both jobs and I remember I took a holiday alone because

[00:31:49] I was in Indonesia after the job interview and I had both the offers and I was like this makes sense

[00:31:55] I can be in the same country as Varun I can work for a reputed VC firm I can live a normal life

[00:32:01] and I can do it or there's an option to kind of take a flag move to Philippines never lived in

[00:32:07] that country before it's in real estate it's a distressed form everybody is in confused like in

[00:32:13] a confused state what would I do and yeah I remember picking up the phone and telling Varun that

[00:32:19] I'm gonna take a few days and I went to gilly in because I was in Jakarta I took a flight to gilly

[00:32:24] and I spent a few days alone and I remember calling Varun and I was like I really feel like I

[00:32:30] want to do the other thing and not this and I will never forget the silence in his voice he was

[00:32:37] are you serious I was expecting you to come to Bangalore no I think everybody in that right mind was

[00:32:43] like this world it's like this makes sense but I think everyone was amazing they were like okay go do

[00:32:50] it we know you if you don't do this you will so yeah in a week or something I was in Manila and

[00:32:59] you've been like this no that you'll always do something which is a little difficult and want

[00:33:03] to figure it out and how can you yeah so I think but that's the answer right every breath in my life

[00:33:09] also being supportive of it like I don't know another person in Varun's position did not lose his mind

[00:33:15] after hearing your option I think that's what I said there was silence yeah but I think

[00:33:21] those acceptance very quickly right like I think I remember my mom and dad and like my larger

[00:33:27] family telling my mom and dad what is wrong with you like can you just control your daughter a

[00:33:32] bit she's going to some part of land she has no idea what's happening this this sounds completely

[00:33:37] nonsensical but I think everybody who knew me kind of they were like dude she has to do it if she

[00:33:44] hates it she'll come back but yeah I'll change my life too so how long did you spend in Philippines

[00:33:50] for a half years four years four and a half years we we turned the business around we became the biggest

[00:33:56] we are the biggest player in the Philippines and Indonesia today we but for me things changed right it was

[00:34:05] I had limited money so and the good thing there was I knew nothing so I had to only ask questions

[00:34:10] correct and I was so careful because culturally they're so different

[00:34:15] ah it was nice you know I had a different idea from India everything about them is different

[00:34:21] everything like I I'm fascinated I'm fascinated because I feel if I had a stereotype

[00:34:30] the country I think they've cracked the code to happiness which I think India is not

[00:34:36] I think there's there GDP is just as much as us of course population isn't

[00:34:41] they have the same problems as us maybe there are a little bit more homogeneous as a country

[00:34:46] because of religion and language and India's very heterogeneous because of religion and language

[00:34:53] but in general like I can give you a simple example the first thing I learned is when you hire somebody

[00:34:58] they care about work life balance like really you cannot you cannot entice them with 15% more salary

[00:35:05] correct they will take 15% lesser salary and say I will work two hours lesser

[00:35:10] and this is across the board and that's not so these are the things you know like how do you

[00:35:16] how do you hire a team how do you motivate a team how do you run a venture that is distressed

[00:35:21] and turn them around so it's a very people give yeah 2019 three months before end of 2019

[00:35:28] we actually signed we got acquired end of 2019

[00:35:32] the investors only found the acquired so the role was very clear in my head it's a distressed asset

[00:35:39] we needed to sell it there was no growing this for eternity it was we need to sell this asset

[00:35:45] to recover our money yeah it was a very clear turnaround story build to sell yeah and the timeline

[00:35:53] was we had only this X amount of money which basically meant anywhere between two to four years

[00:36:00] and those were the time guys we were profitable we were okay you know so we

[00:36:05] went along so I think it was very clear that my job was to build their job was to sell did you ever feel

[00:36:11] lonely in your time at Philippines I mean I'm sure I don't know no I

[00:36:21] so why don't I travel a lot you know and that was the interesting thing at that time

[00:36:27] yeah because we were living in different countries on the way we made peace with each other was

[00:36:31] we would meet every month in some other country yeah so we were moved midway okay but that's what I'm

[00:36:37] trying to say right it was we said we will do it but we will make life interesting okay so we met

[00:36:43] every month so yeah you know I was in a new city I was trying to figure out work I was meeting

[00:36:50] my boyfriend and husband every month in a new country so life was very exciting oh

[00:36:56] and I like being alone I have no problem being alone so and I'm pretty okay at making

[00:37:01] new friends so yeah it was all very exciting for me yeah and that at that young age when you're

[00:37:08] working making that money and traveling the world yeah what else do you want yeah it was a really

[00:37:13] it was a very interesting high like I don't regret it at all yeah and then after that your role

[00:37:19] was assumed to be over there and then no actually 2019 we sold and see by then the baby was mine

[00:37:27] right it was it was fully mine like I it was mine and I'm not saying I wanted to live in the Philippines

[00:37:34] forever or anything but it's a nice little cozy like country you know in a way where I had become

[00:37:41] very integrated with the real estate whether it's government whether it's the real estate

[00:37:46] I knew everybody and it would come really comfortable and nice we sold I think with acquisition

[00:37:51] surveyed poses they always need the management to stay and build right so but as soon as we sold

[00:37:59] Varun and I went we traveled to South America to celebrate okay and the pandemic hit and we got stuck

[00:38:07] in America South America yeah okay we were in Argentina we were in Peru and it got

[00:38:12] the pandemic officially hit yeah so we could not come back like the Philippines had locked down

[00:38:20] Philippines was one of the first few countries to shut down so we were stuck Varun and I ended up

[00:38:25] spending 18 months homeless on the road through the pandemic we didn't have home to go back to

[00:38:33] we came to India for a bit but here to go back again yeah I mean you know we sold

[00:38:37] but I spent six months after that on the road trying to manage a merger through a pandemic where

[00:38:47] Philippines was one of the first I remember then I will never forget this Philippines shut

[00:38:52] end of February 2021 I think okay 2020 yeah 2020 I remember India shut in March

[00:39:01] correct Philippines shut in February okay so it was one of the first few countries and all of

[00:39:06] us were like oh the government is panicking more than it should you know so it was one of those

[00:39:12] situations yeah so in my head I had a house I had to go back I had a team I had a company we were

[00:39:20] we still had a complete merger and I think there was just insane panic because we had done so much

[00:39:25] to sell yeah I get acquired and suddenly it looked like we were all confident it would happen

[00:39:31] because I spent to paper and the back on so good like there could be no company left everything was

[00:39:37] shut right so I think for us I remember being on calls in South America trying to manage time

[00:39:45] with the Philippines and it's like 14 hours I don't even know how many hours we had

[00:39:51] anyway it was a lot of that ended up finding ourselves in Dubai because it was the only place

[00:39:56] that was open and we were popping around everywhere we were and I spent time in like Maritime Italy

[00:40:03] whichever country was allowing us inside we were going okay it was fun again but by the end I was

[00:40:09] done I was a sec I just need to be at home I just stayed so again a really good story to tell

[00:40:14] in hindsight when we were living it it was not that much fun but yeah I found myself in Dubai and

[00:40:22] that's where I'm at Joel my co-founder of a 10 club and my thesis with India was very simple I think

[00:40:28] maybe because of style bank I was very clear I will not do fashion again I was very clear I will

[00:40:34] not do fashion I was like it's a great industry I can't do it again there's too much baggage

[00:40:41] I think beauty for me I just was it was not making sense to me plus I think it was there were too many

[00:40:47] players and I was just like I don't know if I want to but because of real estate because if

[00:40:53] just personal like always being very attracted to spaces and home and like I said I'm a very visual

[00:40:59] person so I think my brain just kept going into this category and it kind of kept nagging me why no one

[00:41:08] was able to crack it like no one's been able to like there are many people who've tried and many

[00:41:14] people who failed like extremely badly right it's a very difficult business to build what is the

[00:41:22] foundation of for roll up e-commerce business so not see that's the thing I didn't say even for us

[00:41:28] said I'm trying I'm trying to explain the category I think for me it was not as much about roll up

[00:41:34] or not roll up right for me it was about which category you wanted to build in see roll up was

[00:41:41] a very loosely used term where everybody was buying everything we have the fashion and beauty

[00:41:46] and the home and everything right but I think for us like I said we picked a niche and we said there is

[00:41:53] home and it's fully broken and everyone that's trying to build something is trying to build something

[00:41:58] in the furniture sector which personally for me I think is super exciting but there's more to a

[00:42:04] house than furniture there's so much more that goes into your house and no one was really cracking

[00:42:09] that so for me that is what part my interest and I said why is no one cracking this because it's

[00:42:16] just so big and it's so unorganized and there is no brand here and it's such a huge opportunity

[00:42:22] it's like thirty billion dollars today right so I think that's what got stuck in my head

[00:42:28] and as we spoke to people we realized that this category is not a branded category it's a distribution

[00:42:35] okay you need to be where the customer is the customers are going to remember which brand but yeah

[00:42:40] if it's there and you're a good quality piece they will start buying you and over time maybe

[00:42:44] they will remember you but you can't play the regular fashion this is my style this is my product come

[00:42:50] to me game right it is not as simple as that so I think it's a little bit more complex as a

[00:42:56] category and everyone who's tried building it over the last decade and I'm very clear that I say

[00:43:03] this again and again right that India's like every other consumer market that has stages

[00:43:10] as spending power increases you first spend on yourself yeah you then like first clothing then

[00:43:15] beauty electronics travel all of that and then comes your home right homes are second day

[00:43:23] of spending piece right like you'll see a lot of people spending serious amount of money on

[00:43:28] clothing and beauty but their spaces will still look like crap yeah so it's a journey right

[00:43:34] and post-COVID I think suddenly the interest in spaces has become correct a little bit more

[00:43:39] and as our spending power increases it is going to start getting better and better and I think

[00:43:44] that's the opportunity I bet on saying this is what we want to build now how do we build it

[00:43:50] everybody out there who tried building zero to one failed because it's a working capital game

[00:43:57] huge right it's not it's not like you can have four pieces or 20 products you need to have hundreds

[00:44:02] of products you can't have 20 products in this category you have to have hundreds so it's a little

[00:44:07] like fashion where you need to have choice but unlike fashion it's also very difficult with logistics

[00:44:13] because it's heavy and bulky yeah like clothes can get folded and said correct correct and they will

[00:44:18] not get damaged on the way but this is as a category sending it and coming back will damage the

[00:44:24] product yeah so it's a lot more complex as a category and by now if you've not seen the pattern

[00:44:31] I will not be easy I was like ooh why has everybody died in this category can I figure this out so

[00:44:37] I think that was the thesis and that is what I had told Joel I'd said listen this is exciting

[00:44:42] something here is exciting to build so rather than going and buying brands that everybody was

[00:44:49] yeah can we go buy distribution okay and buy distribution in this category and that's what we did

[00:44:55] and I think that was my wide idea even back in 2021 if you ever heard anything I said

[00:45:03] you know when everybody used to call us house of brands I used to keep going back and saying

[00:45:07] guys we didn't buy brands we bought these businesses out a hundred percent they were businesses

[00:45:13] and that is why we paid only one x multiple for them we never paid brand multiples for it because

[00:45:19] these are not brands these are labels we only bought them for their distribution okay right so we

[00:45:26] bought all of it on day one we had eight thousand skews and the answer I will not complicate it but

[00:45:34] there was a lot of noise right what I did not know is whether we will buy four businesses eight

[00:45:39] businesses twenty businesses a hundred businesses we didn't know I think as soon as we got into

[00:45:44] market it may start it building it we were very clear we would buy these businesses out a hundred

[00:45:48] percent and which we did and the reason for that was very simple I had just walked out of a company

[00:45:55] that I had sold because I was like I can't do it and I was like listen if you're going to pay money

[00:45:59] to an entrepreneur and say stay and build I can't take the risk of that person walking out so I was

[00:46:05] like I will pay this by the whole thing and we knew we had to break it and you can't ever break a

[00:46:11] founders company in front of their eyes like they will not let you do it that's for us the answer

[00:46:16] was very simple we needed to buy it a hundred percent because we knew we needed to break it keep

[00:46:21] what's good let go of what's bad I think what I did not know back then was whether we would build one

[00:46:27] brand or multiple brands okay which is we didn't know whether so we were building an operating system

[00:46:34] where we said it's almost like a conveyor belt where you put everything on one you have to make

[00:46:38] central operations or where everything you need to learn for scale you need to

[00:46:42] make systems processes do all the boring boring work and the boring work was very important because

[00:46:48] that is what killed this category always it was not brand correct right and I still believe

[00:46:54] our customers don't deeply care about the brand yet it's too newer category but it's distribution

[00:47:00] which is if you're a brand and you can give them the rice fries and they bought from you once they'll buy

[00:47:04] again but at this stage that we are they may not still go looking for you if you happen to be where

[00:47:10] they are they will buy you yeah and that's the difference about this category I think as we did

[00:47:16] this and I say I don't know whether I wanted we were going to build one brand or multiple brand

[00:47:21] is the question we had is does one brand need to be made for kitchen one brand needed to be

[00:47:26] made for decor one brand for gardening we were thinking that way we thought we needed to make

[00:47:32] different brands out of this but I think as we kind of built it out and as we learned

[00:47:39] we realized the power of one brand is much much stronger and that's why this year we kind of

[00:47:45] took everything that we liked 8000 skews went down to 200 we kind of reduced it yeah

[00:47:53] oh we kept kept revenue and we kept the goal was to make whatever was winning deeper

[00:47:59] and whatever was just noise cut it so that was the hardest thing for us to learn to do but that is

[00:48:05] what we had to do it simplified operations it simplified everything yeah and everything that was winning

[00:48:13] we kind of bet on it and we let it grow and we learned how to introduce new products so we built

[00:48:18] that engine now the last question for us was brand whether one brand or multiple brands and I

[00:48:25] think it became very clear for us that building one brand in India is very difficult and it's like a

[00:48:31] long-long journey and it's going to take a lot of money so we just decided to put everything under

[00:48:35] 10th love homes okay and yeah we're now one single brand 10th love homes calm and yeah

[00:48:43] that's where we are what like India's first and largest seed out funding right in back in 2021

[00:48:50] series answer is I think we announced funding one month later three people came at five times

[00:48:56] the size of it they were just not series seed or something they were series A already okay so I

[00:49:01] think it was just a crazy year where there was just so much funding noise but yeah we were a blend

[00:49:07] I think the part again I said this in 2021 also we were the largest but we had a lot of debt

[00:49:15] we were not equity like I think you know it was written there in the press release that

[00:49:21] it was a blend of debt and equity and serious debt not you know we had international debt okay

[00:49:29] so our structure was a little different it was I think a lot of people who joined us also they

[00:49:34] were like 40 million dollars and I'm like wait guys it's not 40 million in equity there's a lot

[00:49:39] of debt here you cannot waste this money yeah yeah yeah and how it's it's a long term loan right yeah

[00:49:48] it's like venture debt it's long yeah and it's it's when you type that came in even before the company

[00:49:54] was formed right so it's not linked to anything it's as good as equity but it's dead okay

[00:50:00] that's interesting but how did you have like did you always have investor support through

[00:50:06] these pivotal times and I mean see I don't think I could have done this alone right there's a reason

[00:50:11] why I convinced you will to be my co-founder yeah like I mean I had to do the pitching because

[00:50:17] you already not no India but there was no way we could have I could have put this to somebody else

[00:50:23] could have but I could not because this is not what I knew but I think him and I working together

[00:50:30] could put this together did you tell me about one of your most interesting pitching sessions that

[00:50:35] you had I mean I say this very openly I think people think that I whipped out 40 million from nowhere

[00:50:41] we did 260 pitches really yeah it's a long time tradition one year oh one year I did 260 pitches and

[00:50:53] fireside was one of my last Indian investors where I had almost given up hope because

[00:50:58] but they got it they were consumer business investors and they were just like okay she's

[00:51:02] they like forget all this roll-up and all they didn't care I we cared about the home

[00:51:06] category they cared about what I was saying about distribution and they just got it and for me

[00:51:10] I didn't go to them because I was like man I'm not buying brands and they are never going to believe

[00:51:15] what I'm trying to do but my mistake and my learning there was they got it like instantly

[00:51:21] and I don't think I could have done any of this without them because I was running blind

[00:51:26] a fair amount but I think because they know so much about the market we cannot work together right

[00:51:32] yeah but yeah 260 pitches so and then tell me when someday is when the

[00:51:39] business is not doing that well as you aspire it to be how do you navigate those conversations

[00:51:46] and take it on a path where you see some good light ahead with who there is the team

[00:51:54] there is yourself there is the board

[00:51:56] everything well actually well I think honest the on this what I mean by

[00:52:02] most of the time what I tell my board my team knows my management knows and I know it's the same story

[00:52:06] across the board right which is nobody I don't think boats freak out when they like they've done

[00:52:15] this more than you they're seeing 20 come 100 companies at one time yeah like nobody's an idiot nobody

[00:52:20] thinks everything is always rosy right so I think that's the answer like maybe the first time

[00:52:26] they'll seek out but if they know that you're a founder who can say okay I'll figure it out once

[00:52:31] I know what to do I'll figure it out and I will execute I think it's that right I think even with

[00:52:37] teams like we've not had a rosy like journey right it's been hard because the ecosystems

[00:52:45] broke in the you know the market's changed there's online sales fell after COVID there were so many

[00:52:52] things that happened but I think the rule with our team is mostly everybody knows most things

[00:52:59] everybody has access to most information because we're like man if you're going to freak out

[00:53:04] about this then you please leave yeah don't be here and freak out you stay so I think that's

[00:53:12] the thing the investors who backed you they backed you basis the category that you were in where

[00:53:17] they saw the potential or what was it that yeah so I think see I think the answer was a couple

[00:53:25] of things that I said made sense right and it's playing out now it was not playing out in 2021

[00:53:30] which was home this is what's broken you cannot build it yeah ground up you need to kind of put

[00:53:35] it together you need to fix distribution and operation you don't fix brand first no one's

[00:53:40] paying extra for brand right now you don't face money on cack because no one like you're not going

[00:53:46] so I think some of these fundamentals that it's not something I said it's what I learned after

[00:53:51] talking to so many people that it sounded like that is what killed everybody yeah I think the ground

[00:53:56] fundamentals were there I think that was and I think they've I mean yes there's a little bit of

[00:54:03] history of if you've run a distressed company have taken it out chances are you have some kind

[00:54:08] of all kind of leverage and I think slowly with that I mean this I still do long term

[00:54:15] pictures and like I still do all of that but yeah I think I think everybody's accepted that I

[00:54:22] can't do the like I can't out of come a consultant I can't do that but we'll get it done

[00:54:28] it's the answers I'm not a bad story I can tell a story yeah so you know I think there are

[00:54:33] a couple of things that so I think it became very clear that I can build a team like I do a

[00:54:40] track decent team members I have always been able to hire above power people have stayed through

[00:54:47] like really distressed times so I think these are all the things that investors look at right they

[00:54:52] just don't look at a pitch deck that is fun yeah yeah yeah that's true I know there is no

[00:54:57] departments as such in startups but what kind of teams do you have operationally no no we have very

[00:55:05] no no we so however unstructured I see

[00:55:11] because I am so unstructured in my thoughts systems and processes are very clean yeah it's we have

[00:55:20] proper project management tools that run across the company

[00:55:23] so we have functions we have of course now it's completely an operating company right so there are

[00:55:28] revenue teams whether a market place team is there are directly consumer teams now and now

[00:55:33] there is a retail team so there are three lines of revenue okay there are revenue teams

[00:55:37] there is one central operating team which is the supply chain team so from procurement to

[00:55:41] warehousing to vendor relationships all of them that's the central team then there is the entire

[00:55:47] planning team which is the bridge between the operations team and the PNL team which is

[00:55:54] pricing planning all of that then there's of course a supply team and then there's a brand team

[00:55:59] those are the broad buckets and of course there is the data and strategy team that works and

[00:56:04] everything else okay that's very interesting got it because our show is titled is wiping out

[00:56:10] the norm one instance where you think you wiped out the norm my favorite word and I think I coined

[00:56:17] I want to say I coined it I don't know somebody has coined it is the guilt monster I think women have

[00:56:24] I think women have this inbuilt guilt monster all of us have it like we so easily feel guilty about

[00:56:31] things and I don't know it's so easy for the world to like make you feel guilty or you for yourself

[00:56:36] to feel guilty I think I've broken it I still feel it but I feel it when I feel it arise I very quickly

[00:56:45] recognize it and I'm like I will refuse I refuse to feel guilty about this how did you build that I

[00:56:51] think just acknowledging it so I that's what I'm saying I don't know it's something that's happened

[00:56:56] and for me if I have to say about wiping out norms and I've started noticing this a little bit more

[00:57:03] every time I meet women older younger my age I think the minute I speak about this openly I think

[00:57:10] they realize and they resonate because for some reason women are can always feeling guilty they're

[00:57:16] feeling guilty about being ambitious they're feeling guilty about not being at home they're feeling guilty

[00:57:20] about something else they're constantly guilty yeah right so yeah I think it's that I think it's this

[00:57:28] I'm on this journey of controlling my guilt monster and I'm like it's my life I cannot feel guilty

[00:57:34] about yeah anything unless I need to feel guilty about it and I think the second one is it's new

[00:57:42] and I don't think I've broken the norm yet but it's a new one for me which is a kind of offshoot

[00:57:47] of the guilt monster is I think I posted about this recently because I'm so fascinated by it is

[00:57:54] I've not seen women chill like women just can't chill right where like I'm not on my work but in

[00:58:02] general we're always freaking on you know and we just can't give ourselves a break so I think

[00:58:08] I just put this out and I'm just like on this thing saying I'm gonna control my guilt monster

[00:58:12] and I'm gonna chill yeah if I want to chill I will be 100% okay with chilling correct correct

[00:58:19] so yeah I want to see more chilled women and yeah just be okay with doing nothing if that's

[00:58:26] that's what you want to do yeah that's a very interesting answer actually yeah a lot of people

[00:58:32] have answered this in a professional context but I'm very glad to know this from a personal

[00:58:37] context you know whatever I answered in a professional context in the last two hours that I'm

[00:58:43] talking to you yeah I think it was already answered before like my full life is intertwined in everything

[00:58:48] like I was like this is all there is personal professional everything is come yeah everything's come

[00:58:54] you know but thanks a lot Bob now for speaking so openly honestly and transferently with me I really

[00:59:00] love speaking to you and I'm sure when our people watch the show they're gonna love the way

[00:59:04] you have answered all our questions today so thank you

[00:59:13] thank you for listening to this conversation I hope it allowed you to dive deep in

[00:59:18] in the mind of a senior woman leader we are hopeful to see more such women leaders in the future

[00:59:23] who have piped out the norm if you love this episode please share it with your friends who might

[00:59:27] be fundraising or building a business also tell us if you have any questions that you would like us

[00:59:32] to ask our women leaders till then stay tuned for our episodes where we speak with global women

[00:59:37] leaders from countries like Palestine or Jettina Mexico America India and others

[00:59:48] thank you for listening why we hope this conversation was helpful and allowed you to deep dive into

[00:59:58] the mind of a senior woman investor we're certain that we will soon see more women wiping out the

[01:00:03] norm I'm becoming senior leaders in investing if you think you did I great learnings from us in

[01:00:09] this podcast please share it with your friends who might be fundraising or I just want it to get

[01:00:13] that push to get started also tell us if there's any questions you would want us to ask our

[01:00:19] transnational women leaders in our next interviews till then stay tuned for our other episodes where we

[01:00:25] speak with women investors from places like Palestine Brazil or Jettina Mexico and others