From Consulting to Building FMCG 2.0 | Shantanu Deshpande (Bombay Shaving Company)

"Today's D2C brands will become FMCG giants of tomorrow." Shantanu Deshpande shares his conviction that the direct-to-consumer wave is creating the next generation of major Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies, challenging established players by building brands directly online.

Shantanu Deshpande is the Founder and CEO of Bombay Shaving Company. He left a successful consulting career at McKinsey & Company to launch his venture, building it into a 100 Cr+ D2C brand in the men's grooming space. Backed by strategic FMCG giants like Colgate-Palmolive and Reckitt, Shantanu aims to build Bombay Shaving Company into a 1000 Cr hair removal business for both men and women. He holds an MBA from IIM Lucknow [cite: Page 2 of Profile (5).pdf].

Key Insights from the Conversation:

• The Leap: Why Shantanu left a stable consulting career, inspired partly by his father's entrepreneurial journey.
• D2C Strategy: Building a brand online involves relentless experimentation and "a thousand small passes" rather than silver bullets.
• Customer Focus: The humbling journey of realizing you must build products customers want and be present where they shop (online marketplaces, offline stores).
• Strategic Funding: How Bombay Shaving Company secured investments from McKinsey partners, Fireside Ventures, Colgate, and Reckitt, leveraging these partnerships beyond capital.
• Omnichannel is Key: While starting online, building a truly large FMCG brand in India requires a strong offline presence.
• CEO's Role: Focusing on setting mandates, communicating vision, ensuring financial stability, and building culture.
• Future Vision: Expanding aggressively into women's hair removal and the strategic considerations around potential acquisition.

Chapters:

• 00:00:25 - Meet Shantanu Deshpande: Founder, Bombay Shaving Company
• 00:01:20 - Early Life: Growing Up Abroad & Returning to India
• 00:04:06 - Engineering, IIM Lucknow & College Life
• 00:06:52 - Journey into Consulting: The McKinsey Story
• 00:19:13 - Why Leave Consulting for Entrepreneurship?
• 00:24:55 - The Idea & Founding of Bombay Shaving Company
• 00:34:21 - Early Strategy, Naive Optimism & Learning Crucial Lessons
• 00:40:30 - Fundraising Journey: Fireside, Colgate & Reckitt Partnerships
• 00:53:52 - Building the D2C Stack & Capabilities
• 00:57:31 - Defining the CEO's Role & Setting Mandates
• 01:04:14 - Product Expansion: Men's Grooming to Women's Hair Removal
• 01:08:09 - Future Vision: Aiming for 1000 Cr & Acquisition Thoughts

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