TOP Business Insights & Competition Hacks ft.The Mom's Co's Mohit Sadaani | Raj Shamani | FO 122

India is a large market and the number. of states in India is almost equal to. the number of countries in Europe we are. very very complicated country to solve. for why did Hyundai succeed in India. Shahrukh Khan. innovated and the santro if you remember. was the first hatchback. they see Indian families career genuine. the Indian Insight if you can do that. then I think you can succeed.

someone in my team said I am frustrated. she sent an email to Jeff Bezos Jeff. Bezos forwarded the next day it got. solved what they will do everything. possible to make sure my customer has an. amazing experience because they are very. proud saying we are the most. customer-centric brand in the world. welcome to figuring out the Indian dream. a good series episode. I.

mean. Indian companies. business.

from the lens of international big. companies and from Indian startups as. well. before you start the show please go. subscribe.

Channel episode. tell me tell me a quick journey of. actually let me put it in a hard hard. way okay when did you start 2016 2016.

2017 March we launched okay 2017 new. March we launched so this was the idea. Honest Company so. um. had was born in London from India and in. India we discovered very quickly that. she actually has eczema okay right when. she was a baby doctor doctor said. actually. please don't use any of that important.

so we started importing like any other. parent would do. then my younger daughter was born Sana. she was born with baby asthma and again. went to the doctors doctor said they who. at the end of five years she will grow. out of it and not have asthma for rest. of the day but five years you have to be. very very particular. so madika my wife and then co-founder.

she got very particular about care. product use Curry looking at the back of. the tables. and she was going down this journey and. almost became a cosmetologist singer. products. so she started that path against me. in Paris I joined Snapdeal snapped with. me I was heading growth heading strategy. uh after seven years in McKinsey. foreign.

and we came together with her ideas on. product and brand and me on growth. and social media.

so 2017 with that idea we launched. India's largest range of pregnancy care. products to start very Niche very Niche. so we said we because no one can compete. with us. pregnant mothers are so small at any. point of time is such a short phase of. life. we competing because. as the moms go that's smart yeah so we.

started with only pregnancy first. and then. uh going back to those wow moment ideas. we said yeah. we said what we do is JoJo pregnant. Mother's Day. babies. we are starting our baby brand because. you win a customer of us and you trusted. us we want to thank you for sending your. free baby sample kit so individually.

mother can be made WhatsApp lists looked. at every single one Google street. automated message. and we sat and punched six thousand. orders or rosari mothers now mothers go. mom's cooking free baby product and that. was our effect to the zero cost. marketing launch of the brand of the. baby care brand. so that's how then this happened baby. happened then mothers came back and said. yeah.

but why are you stopping what happens. after not pregnant baby what about me. I'm having hair for them having Face. issues I'm having pigmentation. she said okay so then we expanded the. definition of mother from pregnancy to. post pregnancy then uh older mothers as. well so today moms go is a very clear. brand we talk to mothers only. of all ages starting for pregnancy. onwards still once you're a mother. you're a mother for life right so. pregnancy onwards we talk to mothers and.

we solve for genuine concerns for. mothers and babies that's it that's. that's right. the mom's company. because you always said. at some point of time we can go into. other categories the mothers have every. participle need. um.

so we never thought the brand is. limiting we said that TG is fantastic. we want to solve for Indian mothers. we solve for whatever needs she has. interesting that's so you thought this. is a big obviously this is a big enough. market because you thought key. to this consumer group because I care. about this consumer I will go very wide.

on categories I can give her everything. right whatever she needs consumer is. sorted but that makes it so easy and. good life yeah because now your. communication assorted. um. foreign.

I have to talk to a college going kid I. have to talk to my mother I have to talk. to somebody who's just an early job. going I have to talk to my grandmas. a Brand's basic job in life is to. minimize risk for the consumer right. McDonald's.

it may not be the tastiest food but I. know I'll get decent safe food at a. decent price. that's the brand value that McDonald's. offers to a consumer to anywhere you are. in the world true same thing with. Starbucks right you know the character. experience you will get okay coffee but. the experience will be great images. allow me to sit foreign.

because you are everything to everyone. um our logic was my job is for the. mother the moms go should be her version. of natural safe product.

right any product any category when I. launch a product she should have the she. should be able to do it furiously okay. for this particular for my needs. to be natural. and it is solvent this is the risk that. I never take with the Moscow I like how. you put it Brand's job is to minimize. the risk. that's I don't know how often people use. it I've heard it for the first time I. really like it.

up second question when you start it. right. now. I think it's too bold of a statement. probably I'm just talking about from a. consumer. lenses. like whatever happened happened with. them right but. Johnson Johnson then your Himalaya was. there these are the last two Brands. I think Chico or something.

and at the same time. did they start at the same time. foreign.

foreign.

so that belief and then Translating that. belief into actual execution on the. ground how the team behaves the products. that is on for the categories think. about it that makes a difference. so I think the interesting. companies. it takes time so India make can you.

imagine this. we were the first company that created. the model of shops inside hospitals. so we went to the hospital we spoke to. the doctors. let no other mother say that I'm not. there.

so with that very simple we started a. kiosk we trained our mom counselors and. she was a counselor she wasn't a. salesperson. how does the moms go solve for it and we. just went and offered a sample packs and. her next visit she would come and buy. because she said you solved my problem. hospitals.

so it took time now there was a point of. time after three years. they paid lots of money so what you said. happened. my job was done I've already established. same thing with products we were the. first person in the country that said. for pregnancy product example data for. pregnancy a body butter is actually. great for stretch marks better than a.

stretch mark oil okay okay but body. butters are very heavy Indian climate. which is very hot which is very rainy. body butter beans. we worked on it we did research with. customers that said. a very simple solution single pack which. is stretch mark bundle we spoke to. customers came up with the inside tested. and launched. our number one stretch mark solution in. the country online.

but again by that time I had moved on. right so. what we were relying on was compared to. other competition we would be closer to. the customer and we will be faster to. execute. Cycles will be okay nice. I like it. we went and spoke to all sort of Friends. Network in fmcg the best advice we got. was don't be in love with your problem.

don't be in love with your solution yeah. and because as founders. this will solve all of your problems and. the customer says. yeah you made a problem here but not so. painful that I'll spend so much money on. it. yeah.

right so that's an interesting fact. that's that's true you know there's one. inside I remember there was this I think. koi Germany. can you tell me the story Amazing Story. So rocket didn't basically started and. they said. uh the two brothers and the friends so. three of them they came up with an. Insight saying.

the basics are changing at the same. speed smartphone. mobile network right that is changing. technology all of that because. technology is changing. at the same sort of speed everywhere the. same new business models should come up. everywhere right so they created rocket. internet in Germany. I don't want you to innovate they have a. massive super Playbook like fashion.

Marketplace this is a Playbook month on. month and month this is how you build a. fashion e-commerce Marketplace company. anywhere in the world they said okay go. and hire very smart people so they hired. only from like the top investment Banks. right the consulting firms saying I. don't want to take risk on person. because I don't want you to use your. brains and execute week on week this is. the Playbook. that's what they started with they were. very successful for some time but then.

they didn't do well because I think then. what happened was after the basics are. done then there is a culture of the. Nuance do China with Basics the first. wave of e-commerce if you see is. Amazon first way of e-commerce right. Amazon clones work or Amazon itself has. taken over yeah but if you look at. second wave of e-commerce social. commerce in China it's completely. different from social commerce in India. true completely different from what Tick. Tock shopping is now doing in us so the.

second wave here. not building on technology change inside. that people in China shop from. influencers at Mega scale right there. are influences in China today who are. bigger than e-commerce companies in. India yes right it's obscene but that's. how China shops so that's cultural. Insight yeah and there was I forgot this. lady. who's doing live Commerce in Chinese. it's mad I never thought. she sells kitchen appliances or.

something I forgot a name because it's. not a name where you can easily remember. right. my name is.

so now we're getting to this this. interesting time in the world. usually. [Music]. foreign.

um. in the early days. we actually use two handwrite cards and. gift cards.

so what we started doing on the website. was we started taking names of people's. babies. that's in your name address. then in that we used to write a letter. to the baby oh as the first letter right. thank you for joining the family right. we are so blessed that you're part of. our life right and we hope you like our. products and all of that nice and so we. had the people sent us videos of mothers. reading those cards to their babies.

that's so good I'll give you the best. example early days. um she looked at us Malika was. recognized by then she said are you the. momsco founder like I said oh better. better. she made us sit she went and said. she the Bachi came out she looks said.

and then the mother says. she's the founder of the mom's company. she looks at her and she says. and then she opened up and she had saved. the letters. wow and so those were those moments were. amazing because it kept coming back to. this realization that you are never. selling a product you are selling a. status symbol.

or you are selling someone's Identity or. you are selling an experience. the biggest problem is when you think I. am only selling a product and it's a me. to product in today's world you are. never ever selling just a product. you have to go beyond the product to the. experience. I look at the OG in the space here Nike. if you look at Nike's ads they are never. about the product they are about the. feeling that everyone is an athlete yeah. emotion it's always emotion it's always. the story.

moms go the reason momsco spread was. always the story associated with the. products and what we did. and how it was created and how it made. the person feel it was never the product. damn but what about. a lot of people talk about their. their feature which maybe can be. distinctive correct. fog no gas perfume huh do you think. people should talk about that because.

it's a they're just trying to talk about. products if it's differentiated enough. yeah. okay if it's not differentiated then. status Identity or experience so you. will always get there right. [Music]. always Source status identity always had. yeah. 20 women after him they always said that. right the reason acts got completely. ravaged in the market and four came over. because fox fox said yes but by the way. value for money. I don't sell empty gas yeah right 10x4.

fume will last you so much longer so on. so on so for the same customer if you. offer significantly better value. products customer will move hmm. but when now that every perfume is no. gas perfume now it's time to get back to. again maybe experience identity status. or a differentiated product so. you know I think the interesting reason. the value comes in is if you're offering. someone's status identity reason to feel.

good about themselves when he takes out. his perfume in front of his friends his. friends. right because we are still value Society. right India may you have to give great. value for money whenever you have some. product to sell you cannot ignore that. with the base case here that's what if. you come up with far better value for. money that is overshadow status GTM. should be the differentiator value for.

money or should be the status there. should be the differentiator assuming. the status is correlated okay. right or Kim Kardashian best Kim. Kardashian another lingerie brand that. she came up with on Saturday which is. like it's not like with some special. material that stretches like crazy to. give you the best body shape right very. functional product but because it is Kim. Kardashian who exemplifies that body.

shape and her status is Deco this. this incredible idealistic in their. world or her world body they go hand in. hand that status matches the product. function. type Synergy here then you see the. compounding okay so do question of. course is.

almost is non-existing I don't even know. exist because. you should ask the opposite question. seeing how did Amazon come and take over. India. I think it was that's what really. happened right if you think about it. right there was a lot of e-commerce. commercials lots of them right before. Amazon came and when Amazon came in I.

remember having conversation with lots. of people in e-commerce Amazon doesn't. understand. but look at what genuinely happened a. reason my circle everyone is a Prime. member I personally shop on Amazon three. times a day same right like. same I think what. I don't over time what Amazon does well. is the customer Basics they understand. best assortment to the customer and now. working with Amazon as I said though how.

do I guarantee best price for the. customer and how do I solve for amazing. frictionless delivery um. deeply around the world that they had to. tweak it for India right. companies. right you're starting fresh and these. guys are coming with if you look at her. country a number of years so like. Decades of experience. with super smart people and unlimited. Capital they just solved it better than. anybody else.

because the again going back. Joe Amazon just those. um to Amazon e-commerce create Kia or. India specific name. right so they were almost guaranteed to. win from the start now if you take a 20. 30 or Horizon and you simply the same. copy paste. same people who've solved this elsewhere. I can come and do it. right so I think that's what happened to.

the entire e-commerce wave but not every. company succeeds everywhere again. problems. I will give you unlimited capital and. I'll give you unlimited time and people. um.

how do I tell you I'm thinking of an eye. thinking of for example of an example. like who came to India General Motors. yeah. GM came and left Ford almost four came. and left but because the cars they were. producing was still Us cars made for. India they didn't create India specific. cars. why did Hyundai succeed in India. yeah. right no known celebrities for the other.

American brands. should Nike even innovated and the. santro if you remember was the first. hatchback yeah right. premium sort of hashback they see Indian. families genuine the Indian sight then. UK. I have to solve for service so they went. and massively plastered and created. service centers most service centers and. showrooms yeah so they genuinely said. right as in if you can do that then I. think you can succeed we are I think.

people forget. India is a large Market. and the number of states in India is. almost equal to the number of countries. in Europe we are very very complicated. country to solve for very large. population. needs different examples of what we. appreciate different aspirations. different languages. then you can make a great business in. India.

so they have to show money. the um. I'll tell you the difference. um. I think very few Global Brands can. really deliver the value that the Indian. customer requires. okay. I want amazing service I want amazing. quality products.

Indian. Brands can't do it right Amazon does it. because Amazon sellers do it for them. right Amazon solves for I will get the. product to you on time but cost. product quality etc etc with reviews. right so the best sellers win so Amazon. is winning because of combination of.

their infrastructure and the sellers and. what sellers can achieve on the platform. Uber by itself is competing with your. own. you can't compete with that at some. point of time it has varies all the. customers also but beyond the point it's. harder to scale. um. that's one of the reasons why people. have stopped using it right now. foreign.

right but Amazon gives me great. customers. very simple to Amazon users Amazon has.

cracked it's the most. customer oriented company Amazon store. here very interesting okay. when we were a. third one. we are a four member team we launched. pregnancy products only Swift Chart. products. right so my I think dude.

we were too small he didn't bother. someone in my team said I am frustrated. she sent an email to Jeff Bezos. right. you are not solving this my customers. are continuing. Jeffries was forwarded the next day it. got solved what for us for that tiny. little customers she escalated she said.

wow and you will hear this consistently. again. they will do everything possible to make. sure my customer has an amazing. experience because they are very proud. saying we are the most customer-centric. brand in the world. now customer Centric they said. customers at the center of it. right. there's some there's a very interesting. image just search for Amazon flywheel. customer wants assortment assortment.

will drive all the sellers to me. and we'll try the best price and then. more customers. nice so yeah Amazon flywheel why do you. think Snapdeal and Flipkart you can't.

compete with the best on this on their. own tough on what they've exported over. decades. the same example we gave before it I. couldn't compete as the moms go with. traditional brands in the same format. that they are great at. I have to innovate and create something. completely different so you just feel. the reason for let's say Snapdeal by. yoga Amazon I think Amazon won in India. versus techno with large of India. because the needs they are solving for. for the customer are very basic needs. improving.

over time they know how to crack it any. other company trying to crack that on. Amazon's terms is very hard. social commerce came and did that if you. see how misho took off in the last few. years with the models of I will sell to. Housewives who will sell onwards Amazon. couldn't crack that and Mishu became a. very large company on that single. insight and that amazing new business.

model yeah right if you look at live. Commerce in China and the examples you. gave Amazon. and it's a very different business. business do you think that. quick Commerce zapto like companies. zepto will be able to be dmart value. proposition I tell you why okay demand. capital. is. um.

the question is.

very interesting is. a very tight Market it's always very. crowded. it's all this price it's always offers. you have to come with great offers yes. BOGO Brands can give great offers to. dmart um.

they have to deliver to your house. again dmart proposition is not. assortment like Amazon. um. I don't know the numbers.

right one. percentage level. chips.

it's a different proposition. and I think more than that India is what. India's a three trillion dollar economy.

today right in the next three years is. going to become ten trillion dollars. every business model will find a partner. or we'll find a segment yeah. business model. you don't know like if someone asked me. my simple logic is here India my. business but now the time is now the. moment is now. just start and build a business. [Laughter].

which was your favorite consumer brand. in India my favorite consumer brands in. India a gold traditional. actually my favorite new brand in India. is attenborg everybody you need to stop. writing. uh I think coming into a category which. is so price sensitive launching at. Double the price point of others and. then selling on function is very hard to.

do right and they really cracked a. genuine Insight in a category. that's a very unique very little. competition and coming in at that price. very interesting 100 crores a month. that's insane I think what they're. genuinely cracked. Indian consumers very value conscious. and there are some Brands who come in. and say yeah this is I think. Adam will be one of those yeah the it's. not price it is valuable it's genuinely. yeah I think that's what they are. showing constantly yeah now others have.

come in and raised the price so now. we'll see now big competition has come. back and says. so let's see so you feel attenborg story. is. there are three how I divide the atomic. brand okay one is the product. factories. technology.

that is one side. second is the really cracked the. aspiration level. s. India started spending a lot on. Interiors people have started doing it. yeah and that's the second part is. aspiration and third is. completely online it's online influence. but purchase is offline current right so.

it has to be digital first but purchase. POS has to be offline so no no Channel. Market fit both. stronger which one do you feed which. obviously Tino goes hand in hand or hand. in hand and that's why they've been able. to crack it but which one do you feel is. the bigger part of their success out of. all three. it's. without the product nothing would have. happened. right so that started it which is why I. think is the most important rest.

got cracked along the way. but genuinely they created with came up. with a new product inside and a new. product. it is here I really like their thing. communication because I feel what they. did is what luxury brands do so atomberg. learned from luxury Brands and what. luxury Brands usually do is. they come up with. obsessively expensive product. and they. they communicate a language which.

justifies the reason for that purchase. right look at let's say Louis Vuitton. and I was at Louis Vuitton showroom and. they have a perfume 1.1 lakh 1.2 Lakers. they communicate that perfume by saying. is. particular ingredients. right okay now they're giving me a. reason to justify that purchase in my. head Key by whale vomited.

and technically what atomberg did the. same thing I'm giving you a show of. products. so every time you tell your brother you. tell your people together. it makes sense I think that's what they. did and that's what like Jordans do. that's what other brands do right okay. which was a large old traditional brand.

crack cream crack cream amazing bread. foreign.

single product in every distribution. Channel possible. on a on a particular India inside not. copy pasting area Indian customer needs. this is. wrong but okay that and then of course. Bye darshan by Patel knows something in. the country there has to be he.

understands. the pulse of Indian market I don't know. how one person may come up with so many. good products yeah. nobody. it's wild as well it's amazing you know. darshan by Patel for everybody you don't. know is.

um.

foreign.

[Laughter]. okay so now the question was India. culture specific brand you said how do. you understand India. what have you understood about India. countries. I think value for money which is. consistent but. consumers it's not just. price it is genuinely value for money. value. important.

second abhi. it's. it has to genuinely solve a problem. because disposable income. and money to waste. right we're getting there like where. people will start consuming but. consumptions. so people consume when there's a need. right so if you see just everybody all.

those amazing Brands like crack cream. that came and genuinely solved for needs. consumers are going to spend on. right this is. also do you need yeah and so people and. the product says exactly what it does. and so it can scale nice I think that's. genuinely second third I think India.

made the. we are very very family and friends. oriented okay right. there's joint families and lots of. places people are tied to the United. communities so products that help you. stand out in front of your community. status status. solve for status in your community they. make sense. right yeah and those do well so which is. why the attenborg example saying.

a status for that Community yeah so it. solves for it like us. and people don't go to each other's. houses here people are concentrating. each other's houses. which is why a Crockery your home. furnishing what it what your fan is. right you know India is probably the. only country in the world fridge. right so your fridge has to do good. that's in India inside yeah so if you. look at fridge ads there are some.

fridges which is solve for function. function function but a lot of fridge. ads we'll talk about looks.

yeah have you noticed this pattern and. that's one of the reasons. at scale. because. if you look at U.S market. and I'm just pointing out based on what. you said so correct me if I'm wrong.

um.

I think the difference is. India. your friends and family make you feel. good that's why you spend time with. people because it's a very close culture. feel good. that if you're living alone they need to. entertain yourself in the house you. don't have company so then you feel good. there are different and what you spend. on is different yeah you know my third. like one of the therapists I met she. used to crack a joke and she was like us.

that's a good one. but it's so true. [Music]. okay tell me the three.

three things that uh. a Founder should have Founders. definitely need a crazy amount of drive. right because. the value gets created when you're doing. something that others don't believe in. right if everybody else is in it. right when we started the mom's company. we had to go and tell manufacturers. with the smallest of items they refuse. like many of them refuse to work.

right but you need to have that little. bit of drive to actually do very very. different things because as a Founder as. an entrepreneur that's where you create. value right so yeah. I think second you have to be very clear. okay what you are starting is a team. sport right you have to be able to be. the captain of the team and take the. entire team along with you yes. right so if you are a solo single. founder. who actually thrives in being excellent. to yourself. find a business that works for you.

right if you are very clear okay you've. done work in Life or you've done group. projects as an example or you worked. with other people or you know how to get. the best out of other people your. chances of success are far higher and. because there's no way that one person. can take care of everything in the. business. and I think third is you have to have. numbers on the back of your hand and no. actually. all right I've recently actually in the. last two three years when the markets of. frothy I've met enough people jinka idea.

brilliant hair execution. always come back to buy two because. there are enough people in the chain who. want to take you for a ride seven. interesting counter question for you uh. who made app is what it is today Tim. Cook or Steve Jobs both why because. Supply any other team are you an. interesting Insight when Tim Cook took. over what was the valuation of apple and. what is it today. I don't know this so Tim Cook took about.

10 11 years ago it was 250 billion today. is 3 trillion 250 billion dollars. today's three trillion. so Tim Cook has taken Apple 12x in. valuation from where it was in 10 years. from whatever Steve Jobs had built till. then right so I think there's a place in. life as Founders for both but the amount. of value that great Executives great. CEOs can come in and create in business. this is phenomenal we like to believe. it's always a Founder story yeah right.

but and the founder stories are what are. celebrated and so on but Executives and. people who can constrain and really. align processes systems and actually. creation I keep getting shocked at this. number oh yes. no that's true and there's a story by uh. I think Steve Jobs only said it. somewhere Tim Cooks was gonna join like. a big company some other company.

and random file message. right. so this was not supposed to happen Steve. Jobs just found it foreign.

I'll see what he's done and of course.

then and he became the backbone of. everything yeah he started service. centers he started bringing that thing. iPhone case. all of that is. on the different sizes of the iPhones. the big size and that many experiment. everything. Cooks innovation.

and finding those two in one person is. very very hard. finding the disrupter and the innovator. and the scalar right amazing ideas. for amazingly execute because. yeah and especially in one photo there. was the last question which I really. liked. me up.

foreign.

and all that. all of that. um. right so. I think my big realization was give body. companies. people have very little room to play and.

make screw-ups or make errors. independent. relationships. leverage cash. which will make the difference. um. work on relationship in the beginning. work on systems yeah otherwise they.

break they can't work on their. relationships. you always get back to that thing and. that's all the relationships. voice. so the same person behaves very.

differently because he's part of a. system wow so you set your own system. early on with your manufacturers you. keep building it. so with our manufacturers. relationship based then at a point we. said sorry an initial satta because. we come up with one system that I will. tell you. and so let me move to that system then. when we got better we moved to a weekly. system. saying again very inventory.

then we went to a stage where. significance we used to sit in the. factory and do the batch manufacturing. process with them. so you went from being completely you. know oversight to fully understanding. the plant along with them side by side. interesting wow completely running the. plant side by side with them yeah. because they were and they were happy.

because they said. yeah so they're very happy we are so. that relationship grew like that company. grew 5x with us that one plant. nice perfect this this became like a lot. of my doubt layering session. I'm so happy that we did this podcast I. really like this kind of podcasts where.

until the next episode keep figuring out. [Music]. oh. [Music].