The Exchanges

Q And one, if you can share, you know, your initial journey, uh, from zero to one CR of, uh, monthly net revenues, and then one to 10 CR, and 10 to now 50 CR of monthly net revenue, how would you split that up? What are the things that you did for distribution, especially, right? What are the channels you tapped into at each stage of the journey?

A From a, from a, from purely a distribution perspective, Uh, zero to one was largely led by third-party channels like, you know, Amazon, First Drive, Flipkart. Um, we were, we were fairly, you know, new then. We were also, um, we were also sort of, you know, largely bootstrapped in terms of the funds that we had raised. Um, and, uh, uh, from that perspective, hence it was very important to get efficient P&L going. Um, which is where all of these channels where traffics were already there. People were already looking for such product, uh, helped. Uh, and hence largely the focus in zero to one was the, um, was the e-commerce platforms. And, um, one to 10 is where we strongly started focusing on our D to C, uh, channel. We realized that, you know, one control over on your own data experience for the consumer. Is far higher when it comes to DTC. Secondly, your ability to scale is, is far higher because it's again, uh, a hundred percent market share channel, right? Um, and, and thirdly, your, your dependence, uh, is, is reducing on others, which is also helping you de-risk the business. So that, that, that was our focus from a one to 10 journey perspective. And 10 to 50 is when we also started focusing on offline. Um, as a segment. And, uh, we have, we have expanded to almost 10,000 stores now. And, uh, that has, uh, that has driven a lot of growth in, in, during, during that journey…

AI assessment note: “zero to one was largely led by third-party channels... one to 10 is where we strongly started focusing on our D to C”

Q And can you share about the key fundraisers? Like, when did you raise from Fireside? When did the next Thomas Savalas happen? And at what milestone did you raise from Sequoia?

A So Fireside we raised largely, uh, you know, when, when we, uh, um, when, when we were seeing what you call product market fit, right? So I would say we were at, uh, uh, revenue run rates about 25, 30 odd lakhs a month, right? About six months into our journey, seeing really good feedback on our products, right? Now wanted to execute a few things and go out in the market, Get some, you know, marketing at scale going, which is when Fireside and Titan, uh, came on board, right? Uh, gave both money as well as guidance in terms of how do you, um, sort of, you know, do things in the right manner. Um, and then, uh, Stellaris, uh, uh, round happened when we had hit the one crore a month kind of mark. And, uh, where again, then we were looking for growth capital to sort of scale to the next level. And, Um, and we were also looking at scaling and building the D to C channels. We were also looking at someone who has more technology orientation and skill to sort of come in and partner with us. Um, And then Sequoia happened once we were closer to a hundred crore run rate, um, which is where we saw, you know, them as a great partner who's got, uh, um, strong learnings around taking, you know, building companies from a hundred to a thousand crore kind of run rates. And, uh, secondly, strong global connections as well as learnings and they can open doors and, Um, also, they're a large fund, s…

AI assessment note: “Fireside we raised largely... Stellaris... happened when we had hit the one crore... Sequoia”

Q So, so for the, you know, D to C entrepreneurs listening to the podcast right now, what were the first right things that you did, you know, back in 2016, back in 2017 that laid the foundation of distribution product and branding on all of these three aspects?

A So, uh, you know, I think, I think from a perspective of what we did right, um, I'd say, um, one, our, our whole focus on building the right brand construct and story, right? Um, why does the brand exist? What should people remember about the brand once they have heard or use the brand? If they had to tell the story of brand to others, what is that story that they will tell? Crafting that entire piece. Crafting then the mix, which is packaging, design, pricing, in line with that story. I think, I think that's one thing which, which was, um, which has been a core success factor of what we did right then, and have been continuing to do it since then. Secondly, I would just say, you know, paranoia around product quality. Um, and, and paranoia around getting feedback from consumers on, on that quality as well. Um, you know, I, I still remember, um, you know, you know, especially Guzzles used to have like these hundreds of calls every week, which were with consumers, influencers, were sampling our products and, um, you know, to, to ensure that we're getting the right feedback, which will go into product development. So I think that is, that is something that we did right then and has been helping us, uh, Uh, even today, because it almost becomes a part of your DNA. Um, and then I think third, uh, um, just, just, uh, um, getting the right people in whenever you can, man. I mean, I th…

AI assessment note: “one, our, our whole focus on building the right brand construct and story”

Q And, uh, from a, you know, from a mom and baby care brand, now you have extended and opened up another brand called the Derma Company. How has this transition worked? What was the idea and insight to work on, you know, these different dimensions?

A I think for, for us, uh, you know, we, we started realizing, um, uh, said that, that clearly we were building center of excellence is right. We were building certain playbooks and, uh, because of what we have learned on Mama Earth. And, uh, once we sort of, you know, had comfort around some of those playbooks, and we started looking at, um, you know, the, the consumers that we service, which is the millennial cohort. And started saying, hey, what else are they looking for? Um, what kind of either propositions or products or problems are they going through, which we cannot solve for because of the way Mama on Brand is constructed. Um, and which is where we realized that, you know, there was, there of course was a large cohort of people who is looking for natural as an option. Um, but then there is also a large A lot of people who are struggling with problems like acne or pigmentation and are looking for the science-based, you know, solutions which are potent enough to sort of solve some of those problems, right, and are comfortable applying, you know, uh, um, acid peel or something like that, which will actually solve what they're going through, which is when the, the whole idea of, uh, um, building the Derma company as a separate brand sort of, you know, came in and used, you know, The strengths that we already had. Um, and, um, you know, we, we now, after seeing the success of…

AI assessment note: “the whole idea of building the Derma company as a separate brand sort of came in”

Q And one, you have been, uh, able to leverage, uh, the influencer marketing really well in the journey of Marmar. If you can share, you know, what, what are the different, uh, Uh, stages that in 2017, 2018, 2019 and the last year. How you leverage influencer marketing to build the branding as well as distribution?

A More than, uh, you know, stages here. I think, I think since day one, we've been committed to this whole Insight that millennials trust other millennials, right? So it started with the insight that moms trust other moms, and, and then of course, as we continue to scale our portfolio, It went into the larger insight of, you know, millennials trusting other millennials. And, uh, you know, we have been sort of, you know, building our, our influencer programs, uh, on the top of those insights. We, uh, we sample extensively with influencers, get them to try our products, uh, share our story with them. And, and that's how that, that whole channel has been built. Um, and over time as the influencer ecosystem in India expanded, right? And I remember when we were launching at that time, blogging ecosystem was far bigger and other ecosystems were far smaller. Um, but over time then, um, blogging became less so, uh, Instagram influencer became bigger and then blogging became bigger, which was video blogs, et cetera. And so wherever We could execute that communication inside that we had, and we just, we just followed, uh, how the ecosystem was shaping up.

AI assessment note: “over time then, blogging became less so, Instagram influencer became bigger”

Q So on, you know, as you shared, what does the next five years of MAMA look like? Most important question on the listeners mind would be, when are you going IPO? What are the other new brands that you are launching?

A So from, from a, I, I wouldn't say next five years just of Mahmoud, I'd probably then talk about, because it's the company, not just the brand, and where, where the household brand strategy would be implemented. So from a company, from Mahmoud perspective, I think we, we just will continue to focus on, um, serving the consumers in the right manner, growing our consumer fraternity, and hence growing the brand, um, you know, disproportionately. Um, but from a company perspective, I think, yes, we are looking Um, to, to launch or, or build more brands, which, which connect well with our cohort of millennials. Um, on the IPO question, I, I really don't have a answer right now. From a, um, from a company, uh, you know, readiness perspective, I think we are, we, we would be ready, uh, as of, as of yesterday also, right, from a, Sai is the fact that we are profitable, but, um, we, we just don't feel that we need to raise from public markets as we speak, um, because the businesses is fairly strongly funded from, um, the private markets that we have raised, right? And, uh, we would want to focus on getting the growth, getting our narrative, and building some of these new brands up also, uh, going over the next five years, right? And, um, then as and when we feel, okay, now we're, we're, we're sort of, uh, in a position where we have been able to set all our narratives right, and is when…

AI assessment note: “on the IPO question, I, I really don't have a answer right now.”