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Nikhil KamathNikhil Kamath

Tira, Bombay Shaving Co., Inde Wild | WTF is Fueling India’s Beauty & Skincare Revolution? | Ep. 25

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 Twitter: [https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio](https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbm9WZVh3cHVTX3JEeGptVjlOZ1R3cW5rVkZJUXxBQ3Jtc0tuekFjWnRXME9XUUVLcDNCTk9YcHd5OU1MV1NMamE0cWE1T25meGJ4VWRMa21OY3VYLWM2T05iOUJtYTNWbWRSLW5YUXNzTTRHUUpjOGdZSGJzNEYxMkt2Y2hmWVNUeU51Nk5MRFVieVNtSTJwMkFXZw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fx.com%2Fnikhilkamathcio&v=wHQiewz8k9g) Bhakti Modi - CEO, Tira Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhaktim679/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/bhakti-modi-98a32293 Diipa Khosla - Founder, Inde Wild Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diipakhosla/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/diipa-khosla#:~:text=Diipa%20Khosla%20is%20the%20first,Bridal%20magazine%3A%20Cond%C3%A9%20Nast%20Brides. Website: https://india.indewild.com/?utm_campaign=nikhil-kamath&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=Youtube&utm_content=&utm_term= Shantanu Deshpande - Founder, Bombay Shaving Company Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shantanudeshpandeunofficial/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/shantanudeshpandebsc

Bhakti ModiguestDiipa KhoslaguestShantanu DeshpandeguestNikhil Kamathhost
Sep 19, 20253h 36mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Beauty boom decoded: community, nostalgia, omnichannel, and premiumization in India

  1. The episode brings together Bhakti Modi (Tira), Diipa Khosla (Inde Wild), and Shantanu Deshpande (Bombay Shaving Company) to unpack why India’s beauty and skincare sector is accelerating—across skincare, haircare, fragrance, and makeup.
  2. They argue that product quality is table-stakes, but winning brands pair a hero product with sharp storytelling, community-building, and modern distribution (D2C + marketplaces + retail/omnichannel).
  3. Key growth forces include premiumization (especially premium-to-prestige), Gen Z behavior shifts (influencers as “experts,” at-home salon-grade routines), and the reimagining of cultural rituals like champi into aspirational lifestyles.
  4. The conversation also covers influencer marketing mechanics, sampling/minis, salon channels, global expansion for Indian brands (Ayurveda/hair as India’s advantage), and emerging waves like skinimalism and “hybrid” clean+clinical formulations.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

India’s beauty market is growing faster than forecasts predicted.

They cite India BPC at ~$21B in 2024, already surpassing earlier forecasts of $20B by 2025, with beauty (skincare/makeup/hair/fragrance) a large and accelerating subset.

A hero product is the simplest path to breakout distribution and recall.

Inde Wild’s Champi Hair Oil reportedly contributes ~50–55% of sales; the group stresses starting with one “problem-solver” SKU and building narrative, community, and repeats before expanding.

Community is a defensible asset—harder to copy than product or branding.

Diipa describes co-creation via 16,000 surveys and focus groups pre-launch, and “bestie-style” customer service; Bhakti frames community as people united by shared values and identity, not just followers.

Beauty brands increasingly behave like media companies.

Content is positioned as the growth engine (especially with limited budgets vs incumbents). Founder-led or creator-led distribution reduces reliance on paid media, but must be anchored in product efficacy.

Premiumization is real, but uneven—prestige grows fast from a small base.

They define mass <₹1,000, premium ~₹1,000–₹1,500, prestige/luxury ~₹2,300–₹2,500+. Prestige is cited as ~4% of beauty today (with talk of growing toward ~10%), while mass remains the “belly” of India.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

I always say that having a community of 2.5 million was the trampoline jump.

— Diipa Khosla

You can copy product… you cannot copy a community.

— Diipa Khosla

Beauty has moved… from external validation… to self-expression.

— Bhakti Modi

This entire segment between 1,000 to 10,000 [in fragrance] is for the grabs.

— Diipa Khosla

Men are hard to engage, easy to please. Women are easy to engage, hard to please.

— Shantanu Deshpande

India beauty market size and category breakoutsPremium vs mass vs prestige pricing definitionsHero product strategy and “reimagined old” nostalgiaCommunity as a moat (events, co-creation, identity)Omnichannel distribution and offline-first purchase behaviorFragrance boom: wardrobing, layering, clean ingredients, mid-price gapInfluencer marketing, PR gifting, micro/nano creators, sampling and minis

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