Advertise on podcast: ChaiNet: The Agentic Commerce Podcast

Welcome to Chainet, your destination for inspiring founder stories and entrepreneurial journeys. In today’s episode, we sit down with Kalyani, a creative strategist and founder of Rainvas, who has worked with over 20 early-stage D2C and tech brands on building visibility and growth from scratch. * She advises founders to identify where their customers spend time and build a personal profile there first, as people trust founders before brands. * She emphasizes patience and consistency, suggesting at least 30 to 90 days before pivoting strategies. * On paid ads, she recommends finding what works organically before spending on marketing. * In a speed round, she chooses profit over growth, a small loyal community over a huge following, and mastering one platform over spreading thin. Stay tuned for more such insightful conversations, only on Chainet. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Welcome to Chainet, your destination for inspiring founder stories and entrepreneurial journeys. In today’s episode, we sit down with Aadil Shah, a serial entrepreneur, investor, and strategic adviser who has built and exited three startups across consumer technology and AI. - Aadil’s journey spans edtech, voice AI, and an Ayurveda-focused D2C brand scaled in India and the Middle East. - He emphasizes that successful founders focus on stakeholder management ensuring customers, investors, and partners all see value. - On scaling, he looks at team, product, and market fit, with magic happening at their intersection. - His fundraising advice? Often, don’t. It depends on credibility, market tailwinds, and unit economics. - He believes AI-driven discovery and conversational commerce will become the next wave. Stay tuned for more such insightful conversations, only on Chainet. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Welcome to Chainet, your destination for inspiring founder stories and entrepreneurial journeys. In today’s episode, we sit down with Swati Sahai, founder of Yuvaé Skincare, who swapped a two-decade career in global tech marketing to build a skincare brand tailored for Indian skin. * Swati moved back to India and struggled with the environment’s impact on her skin, so she decided to build what she couldn’t find. * Yuvaé combines modern science-driven ingredients like Ectoin with traditional Ayurvedic botanicals like amla, moringa, and turmeric. * She scrapped an entire production batch just days before launch because it didn’t meet her standards, then rebuilt it even better. * Her biggest surprise? Most customers are men from tier two, three, and four towns across India. * On Meta ads, she calls it both an enabler and an inevitable devil, stressing that retention is the real game. * Her vision for the future? Scale and customer love. Stay tuned for more such insightful conversations, only on Chainet. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Welcome to Chainet, your destination for inspiring founder stories and entrepreneurial journeys. In today’s episode, we sit down with Dr. Dominica, a cosmetic scientist with a PhD in plant biotechnology and over 15 years of experience formulating products for hundreds of beauty brands. * She’s also the author of Beyond Beauty, a launch playbook for aspiring founders. * Dr. Dominica walks us through what a cosmetic scientist actually does behind the scenes, from researching ingredients and creating formulations to stability testing and packaging compliance. * She warns founders about common mistakes like over-marketing products that don’t perform and skipping market research. * On AI, she shares that while it can help with brainstorming and strategy, it’s still far from replacing a chemist for actual formulation. * Her advice? Focus on creating a product that delivers results, because word of mouth and repeat purchases are the real markers of success. Stay tuned for more such insightful conversations, only on Chainet. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Welcome to Chainet, your destination for inspiring founder stories and entrepreneurial journeys.In today's episode, we sit down with Mahima, founder of Rajshan, a handcrafted kundan and fusion jewelry brand that's been winning hearts on Instagram. What makes her story truly special is that she's building this brand while working a full-time 9 to 5 job in tech sales. The inspiration came from her father, and the brand name Rajshan is a heartfelt tribute to her mother and grandfather. Her first sale wasn't to friends or family but to a man at a wedding who boldly styled a green jewelry piece with traditional South Indian attire. Mahima shares how she personally video calls every customer to build trust before they buy, especially in a world full of online scams. She speaks openly about the challenges of turning leads into customers and staying consistent despite slow days. Looking ahead, she dreams of opening an offline store so customers can try pieces in person. Her advice to anyone wanting to start? Just start, don't wait for perfection, and stay consistent. Stay tuned for more such insightful conversations, only on Chainet. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Welcome to Chainet, your destination for inspiring founder stories and entrepreneurial journeys. In today's episode, we sit down with Vivek, co-founder of Nuito, a fashion brand focused on bringing innovative fabrics to India. After spending over a decade at Amazon and facing two back-to-back layoffs, Vivek decided to build something physical and AI-proof. Interestingly, he chose to enter a space he openly admits he sucked at: fashion and dressing well. Nuito focuses on premium fabrics like Supima cotton blended with bamboo charcoal, offering t-shirts with a 50-wash warranty after rigorous lab testing proved the fabric retains its anti-odor properties even after 50 washes. Vivek shares how the brand started with just 40 t-shirts sold to friends and family, and has now crossed 10 lakhs in revenue within its first year. He emphasizes that building physical products requires learning an entirely new ecosystem, from sourcing to vendor management, and notes that India's supplier ecosystem remains fragmented with no Alibaba-equivalent. His advice to struggling professionals: Instead of sulking, just start building something even if it's just for yourself. Stay tuned for more such insightful conversations, only on Chainet. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Welcome to Chainet, your destination for inspiring founder stories and entrepreneurial journeys. In today's episode, we sit down with Manya Nayar, founder of iBeauty and a brand marketing consultant, who shares her journey of building a gender-neutral makeup brand in one of the most crowded consumer categories. Raised around colors and chemicals through her father's business, Manya's path led her from journalism aspirations to becoming a brand manager at 19. She noticed a major gap: no brand was catering to the makeup needs of men and other genders. This inspired iBeauty, built on the philosophy of 50% skincare and 50% makeup with FDA-approved formulations suited for all skin types. She emphasizes patience over hype, launching only one product a year and perfecting formulations before releasing them. She also shares her thoughts on building a luxury brand in India, the power of organic growth, and why every new founder should embrace constructive feedback as a blessing. Stay tuned for more such insightful conversations, only on Chainet. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Welcome to ChaiNet! In this episode, host Rachit speaks with Sanchita, founder of Mr. Sa a men’s wear brand focused on short kurtas for daily wear. She shares her journey from engineering to corporate sales and finally launching her own brand in 2025, aiming to make Indian wear a daily habit for men rather than just festive wear. Key takeaways: * Market gap identified: Short kurtas exist (FabIndia, Sada) but aren’t marketed as a daily habit Mr. Sa positions itself as a lifestyle shift. * Validation: Surveyed 300–350 people before launching to confirm demand and timing in the growing men’s wear market. * Content & burnout: Created a 75-day pre-launch content series but took a mental break in Rishikesh when burnout hit, realizing pauses are okay. * Biggest challenge: Converting Instagram virality into actual sales marketing a cultural habit takes time and patience. * Advantage: Family background in textiles (grandfather’s fabric shop, mother’s boutique) helped with sourcing and quality. * Advice to founders: Take the leap of faith, embrace failure as learning, and stay persistent you’ll figure it out along the way. Stay tuned for more inspiring stories on ChaiNet. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Welcome to ChaiNet! In this episode, we sit down with Subhash Kalluri, the founder of FreJun, a communication infrastructure company. Subhash shares his non-traditional path to success moving back to India from the U.S. without a roadmap and navigating years of product challenges before finding his stride. We dive into how FreJun evolved from a niche recruitment tool into a robust telephony infrastructure platform. Subhash explains the pivotal moment he realized his own business was losing half its revenue to third-party providers, leading him to build his own, more efficient internal systems. Today, as the AI landscape explodes, Subhash positions FreJun as the essential ‘shovels’ in the AI gold rush, providing the core infrastructure for voice agents. Throughout the conversation, we explore the realities of building a bootstrapped company: why he stayed remote out of necessity, how he manages a global team using asynchronous workflows, and his philosophy on hiring for discipline and maturity. We wrap up with his candid take on why founders should spend less time obsessing over competition and more time on mastering their marketing and staying deeply connected to their customers. Stay tuned for more insights on building in an AI-first world! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Welcome to ChaiNet, In this episode, host Rachit chats with Ashish, co-founder of the bootstrapped clothing brand Quoted Dhaaga, which launched in May 2023. Ashish shares how the brand was born from his desire to create relatable, meaningful clothing inspired by a documentary dialogue and his own impulse purchase of a quote T-shirt and how he and his childhood friend co-founder are building a story-driven brand despite the crowded market. They discuss their content-first, zero-ad-spend approach, having sold over 3,500 units through D2C and B2B channels, and the early struggles with unreliable Delhi vendors, including a chaotic launch week where they had to personally oversee production. Ashish emphasizes the importance of patience, trust, and emotional attachment to the brand, and highlights their unique customization service and best-selling Sabra T-shirt as examples of their focus on relatability and customer experience. Looking five years ahead, he envisions seeing Quoted Dhaaga merchandise on every fourth or fifth person on the street, along with a physical store. Stay tuned for more inspiring founder stories on ChaiNet. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Shantanu, founder of Eclat Maison, launched his perfume brand in October 2025 after being inspired by how people in Europe choose fragrances based on weather conditions. He creates perfumes suited for Indian weather, with unique offerings like Rage Blanc, which blends with sweat to give a citrusy scent. Starting with just three bottles in the first three months, the brand now grows 30-50% monthly with sales between 15-30 lakhs and over 10,000 bottles sold. Shantanu emphasizes building a team, learning from mistakes like cluttered packaging, and differentiating through minimalist design and artistic storytelling. He plans to expand into retail, an app, merchandise, and eventually global markets, while advising entrepreneurs to just start and learn along the way. Stay tuned for more such insightful conversations. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Hardika Kohli, founder of Mokaki Foods, built her sauce brand while working full-time, driven by curiosity about why sauces are either tasty but filled with questionable ingredients or healthy but bland. She sees crowded markets as validation, not competition, and focuses on improving everyday products like her jaggery ketchup, which replaces refined sugar and artificial additives. She advises consumers to ignore front-of-pack marketing and read ingredient lists on the back instead. Recipe development, she admits, was the easy part the real challenges are packaging, shelf-life, logistics, and manufacturing hygiene. Looking ahead, she wants Mokaki to become a household name that makes ingredient transparency normal, with a community-first approach where sales follow naturally. Stay tuned for more such insightful conversations. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

On this episode of ChaiNet, we sit down with Astha Suri, founder of NASO Profumi India’s first green perfumery. Astha studied in Bristol and Milan, then came back to Lucknow to do something her family said was impossible. NASO is vegan, gender-neutral, and bootstrapped. Vogue India called their Tabac the best fragrance of the year. We talk about why people don’t see Indian perfumes as luxury, what happens when someone loves a product only to learn it’s Indian, and whether AI can ever truly understand what someone wants in a scent. If you still think luxury has to be foreign, this one’s for you. Listen to Astha Suri on ChaiNet now. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

On this episode of ChaiNet, we sit down with Shilpa Rathi, founder of Its Moong India’s mung bean protein brand. Shilpa’s journey started with cystic acne. She moved from creams to food, from skin to gut health, and built a brand around one humble Indian ingredient, moong. We talk about why she chose moong over whey, how she makes people respect a familiar ingredient, the biggest myths Indians have about protein, and where AI fits in her business. If you still think protein only means whey, this one’s for you. Listen to Shilpa Rathi on ChaiNet now. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com

Ali Syed, founder of Okami Parfums, left a policy career (Ministry of External Affairs, Asian Development Bank, UN Ukraine) to build a made-in-India fragrance brand inspired by Japanese perfumery’s muted, restrained style. After his 2021 skincare startup SuperSkin failed, he built Okami with an obsessive focus on product and packaging, no samples, no discounts, targeting serious perfume users rather than beginners. The brand grew almost entirely by accident: two viral tweets (one from a Substack writer, another from investor Sanjay Bakshi, a repeat customer) drove over ₹20 lakh in sales between August and December with zero ad spend. Okami is bootstrapped, profitable, and holds a 17% recurring customer rate without retention marketing. Ali argues India’s gap isn’t manufacturing but storytelling, comparing it to how India exports huge carpet volumes yet has no globally recognized carpet brand. He’s open to the right VC partners, plans to diversify beyond perfume, and eventually wants to take Okami global. Stay tuned to ChaiNet to listen to the full conversation. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chainet.substack.com