Episode Details

Check out Oddo: https://www.odoo.com/app/ecommerce?utm_campaign=ecommerce9-thinkschool&utm_source=YouTube-description&utm_medium=influ-mkt 👉Think School’s flagship Communication course with live doubt sessions :https://thethinkschool.com/sp/communication-masterclass/👉 Who would you like to see next on The Indian Business Podcast: https://forms.gle/37daEPEy7mAzhvv29 👉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 Does2. The ₹300 crore worth of mistakes PEP Brands made so you don't have to3. How mCaffeine was built to ₹100 crore with just ₹15 crore in capital4. If Tarun had to start a brand from scratch today, what it would be and why5. How to think about brand building vs. marketing spend in BPC6. The unit economics framework every D2C founder needs to understand7. Why India's beauty and personal care market is heading toward ₹50,000 crore and which brands will win8. What Tarun looks for when building teams, culture, and the next generation of leaders at PEP BrandsWhether 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 GuestTarun 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 Chapters00:00 Intro03:04 My ₹300 Crore Mistake03:41 Biggest Misunderstanding of the Beauty & Personal Care Category15:01 How Numbers Lie About Growth and Bankrupt You26:14 The Best Method of Market Research33:41 How to Find a Gap in the Hyper-Competitive Beauty & Personal Care Market39:19 How to Validate Your Idea in Under ₹50,00044:48 The Secret to Epic Packaging49:01 The Perfect Pricing Framework58:18 Is Quick Commerce the Worst Channel?1:02:42 When to Kill Your Product1:11:00 The Hidden Trap of Repeat Rate1:13:03 Best Books & Resources for BPC1:16:10 My Honest Confession