Today, Fastrack, Wildcraft and Licious are household names that we all recognize.Behind these iconic brands is the creative mind of Simeran Bhasin – and her story is one for the ages.After making a mark at Titan and Wildcraft, Simeran ventured into the startup world. In 2016, she launched India’s first and only young girl-focused innerwear brand. While she has made her fair share of mistakes, she has gained invaluable insights into what works – and what doesn’t.In our second episode of Interstellar, we talked to Simeran about her journey, her experiences as a founder, marketer, and business leader in a startup, and the lessons she has learned along the way.

Reach Simeran Bhasin:

X: https://x.com/simbhasin

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simeran-bhasin-2082397/

Reach Rahul Chowdhri:

X: https://x.com/rchowdhri

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulchowdhri/

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00 ) Episode Summary

(00:50 ) Welcome, Simeran!

(01:39 ) Simeran's leap into entrepreneurship

(03:24 ) The inspiration behind Brag

(05:00 ) Simeran's offline-first bet for D2C brands

(07:50 ) Simeran's advice to someone switching from a corporate career to starting up

(10:26 ) On the willingness to "unlearn"

(11:44 ) From Fractional CMO to Head of Business at Licious

(15:08 ) Why Licious?

(16:35 ) On Licious' alternative protein brand 'Uncrave'

(20:16 ) How did alternative protein & mock meat appeal to a meat-lover?

(22:09 ) Why "Uncrave" and not "Licious Green"?

(23:25 ) The story behind the iconic Fastrack advertisement

(27:37 ) How has the role of a CMO evolved?

(31:17 ) Advice to founders shifting from performance marketing to brand marketing

(32:39 ) Simeran on whether founders today care about brand marketing

(33:33 ) Org-building in a corporate set-up v/s startups

(36:03 ) What to expect when you're going to join a startup

(39:00 ) Rapidfire questions

(43:42 ) Closing comments

Find us on

Apple podcasts - apple.co/41HGKvU

YouTube - bit.ly/3DkQrbT

Visit our website at www.stellarisvp.com