WTF is with Nikhil Kamath

Three founders leading India’s skincare wave – Bhakti Modi (Tira), Shantanu Deshpande (Bombay Shaving Company), and Diipa Khosla (Inde Wild) join me to share the highs and lows of building beauty and skincare brands and the trends shaping this booming industry.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

02:39 - Bhakti’s journey & love story

05:14 - Diipa’s road to Inde Wild

10:34 - Persona’s role in brand building

15:07 - How Shantanu started

20:48 - Valuations & industry secrets

27:30 - Decoding the salon industry

34:58 - How Inde Wild made Champi cool again

38:01 - Market size & shifting narratives

45:14 - Marketing quality & building a community

52:41 - Why fragrance is exploding

1:00:42 - Community’s role in branding

1:08:04 - Cracking the BPC industry

1:22:26 - Omnichannel: A must-have?

1:27:15 - Tariffs, growth & social selling

1:31:00 - Can Indian brands go global?

1:34:51 - Cracking influencer marketing

1:42:15 - Sampling, distribution & minis

1:48:07 - Sustainability: Do founders still care?

1:52:54 - What’s the next wave?

2:04:39 - How the world perceives India

2:09:48 - Tech’s role in customising

2:16:10 - Nikhil’s & Diipa’s tattoos

2:18:14 - Why founders need grit

2:19:47 - Bhakti & Tira’s origin story

2:34:10 - Inside Tira: From concept to customer

2:38:34 - Do celebrity brands work?

2:44:51 - Why Diipa started Inde Wild

2:48:25 - Mass, premium, prestige: Which segment is winning?

3:05:45 - Quick commerce & Tier 2 markets

3:11:11 - Ayurveda: Still a novelty?

3:14:43 - The making of Bombay Shaving Company

3:21:39 - From idea to product: Manufacturing & patents

3:30:14 - Advice to aspiring skincare founders

#NikhilKamath - Investor & Entrepreneur

Bhakti Modi (Tira), Shantanu Deshpande (Bombay Shaving Company), and Diipa Khosla (Inde Wild) joined forces to answer one question:

What should 25-year-old Dilip build next?

Bhakti Modi

CEO, Tira

In this unfiltered conversation, we discuss bad bets, overhyped markets, and where VCs should actually put their money. I sat down with Deedy Das (Principal, Menlo Ventures), Nikunj Kothari (Partner, FPV Ventures), and Niko Bonatsos (Early-Stage Venture Capitalist) to get their hot takes on industries.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

00:58 - Deedy’s journey & the Anthropic story

05:10 - Nikunj’s background

11:32 - Niko’s story

13:31 - Sectors to avoid as an investor

23:17 - Today’s hottest sectors

27:31 - Emerging AI trends

38:37 - Declining birth rates + AI’s role

48:19 - Abundance & capitalism

53:19 - Raising kids in an Instagram world

55:39 - No tech: the next big business?

1:00:55 - The future of dating apps

1:06:52 - Key predictions for the next frontier

1:10:14 - Will urbanisation continue?

1:13:51 - Longevity & wellness industry

1:16:01 - Which sector will boom by 2035?

1:25:59 - Rethinking senior living

1:32:52 - Content vs. product: what builds a brand?

1:43:50 - Individual vs. legacy brands

1:47:30 - EVs & mobility: the road ahead

1:58:03 - Opportunities in beauty & luxury

2:02:17 - Where live events are headed

2:06:14 - Climate tech & its impact

2:11:49 - Data centers: the best bet?

2:15:13 - Vices as an industry

2:24:18 - Wrapping it all together

2:29:02 - Legal AI: opportunities & challenges

2:32:29 - India in the global AI race

#NikhilKamath - Investor & Entrepreneur

What industries will die out in the next decade? I sat down with three venture capitalists from Silicon Valley to decode.

#NikhilKamath - Investor & Entrepreneur