Open Secret

2016 me would never believe this. But here we are. There’s a trend going around asking people to reflect on the last 10 years. When I look back at 2016, three things stand out clearly for me. 1️⃣ Seeking meaning I still remember sitting in the classroom at Harvard Business School, writing about how I wanted to spend the next decade. One line kept coming up again and again: I want to build a life with meaning. I had no idea what that would look like. But the dots really do connect in hindsight. When you seek meaning honestly, the universe has a way of guiding you there. For me, that meaning showed up through love, purpose, and “unjunking” food at @OpenSecretSnack 2️⃣ India, redefined In 2016, the American Dream was still the default. An #MBA was a one-way ticket to a great life in the US. Many weren’t sure about coming back to India. Fast forward to today. People are moving back. India is being talked about very differently on the global stage. From digital innovation to growth at scale, the narrative has shifted. When leaders in the EU talk about “the mother of all deals” with India at global forums, it’s clear how far the country has come. 3️⃣ Health is no longer optional Back then, saying “health” was a priority almost invited laughter. Junk was unbeatable. Look at where we are now. Challenger brands everywhere. People reading labels. Consumers willing to pay more for better choices. Health has become a trillion-dollar category and it’s only getting started. #Unjunking which was once niche is now mainstream. This photo is with one of my favorite professors, Clay Christensen. I still can’t believe I had the privilege of being his student. If you’re someone searching for meaning, I can’t recommend his book enough: How Will You Measure Your Life?. It truly changed my life. I hope it does the same for you. As he once told me, and as I’ll pass on to you: Wishing you a life of disruption. What’s the biggest belief that changed for you between 2016 and now? #Reflection #Careers #Entrepreneurship

My 2026 prediction: Food will be the hottest category in India. And we’ll see 4–5 new-age food brands cross ₹400 Cr ARR+. Why I believe this 👇 It’s time to build the next generation of food brands in India. If you look at disruption theory, incumbents usually don’t get disrupted by better products alone. They get disrupted by new channels. For food, that channel is “quick commerce.” How consumer brands really scale At the end of the day, most consumer businesses are driven by one metric: LTV / CAC To maximize this, you need two things: 1️⃣ Lower CAC This comes from: - Clear differentiation - Lower ASP to drive trials For us, cookies and biscuits play this role. Easy entry, high trial, fast feedback. 2️⃣ Higher LTV Yes, repeats matter. But in food, LTV isn’t limited to one category. Online allows you to cross-sell moments, not SKUs. For example: - If you buy cashew cookies from us - We offer cashews at a great price This increases repeat rate and pushes AOV above ₹500 Online changes the rules - The “build one category at a time” playbook still works offline. - Shelf space demands focus. - But online is different. Search-led interfaces change everything. Consumers don’t search for categories. They search for jobs to be done. Example: “Healthy snacks” (one of the highest searches on quick commerce) That moment includes: - Unjunked cookies - Unjunked Munchies - Unjunked Bhujia Not one category. One “need state.” That’s why we launched a Party Snack Box. (Live on Blinkit Zepto Instamart) A simple combo for people hosting New Year parties. No thinking. One click. The pushback is real We still hear this often: “Focus on one category. That’s better for exits.” Maybe. But it’s not consumer-first. Great brands are built around consumer moments, not exit decks. Early signs for Open Secret On a few platforms, we’re already seeing: LTV / CAC = 3 Still early days. A long way to go. But the direction feels clear. 2026 belongs to food. And quick commerce will be the engine that builds the next wave of iconic Indian brands. Would love to hear counter-views 👇

When we started our unjunking mission at Open Secret, we never imagined we’d become bestsellers during the gifting season. But here we are - and it’s not just a win for us, it’s a clear sign: - Gifting is evolving. People want thoughtful gifts that are tasty, better for you, and purpose-driven. That’s exactly what we stand for. And we’ve always believed - to truly scale this mission, we need strong partners. So if you're an HR leader planning Diwali hampers or a gifting company looking to offer something fresh, let’s talk. Here’s what we bring to the table: - A bestselling range of dry fruits, cookies, chocolates, and teas - Full in-house manufacturing with the ability to customize and personalize - Pan-India doorstep delivery - And a mission your customers will feel proud to support Reach out to me directly at [email protected] or write to [email protected] Let’s unjunk gifting, together. #corporategifting #unjunkingIndia #Diwali

When you operate in India’s food market, TAM isn’t the issue. The real question: do you have the right to win? That’s where Clay Christensen’s Innovator’s Dilemma comes in. Big incumbents focus on their cash cows. If you run a ₹5,000 Cr brand, a 10% growth means ₹500 Cr. That’s where resources go. Building a ₹100 Cr challenger from scratch? Hard to justify. And brands face another trap. A brand is a promise to the customer. Can the same brand stand for “junk” and “unjunk” at once? Unlikely. We’ve already seen this play out in the U.S. - Annie’s, an organic household name, was acquired by General Mills in 2014 for ~$820M. - Mars acquired KIND Snacks in 2020 in a deal worth ~$5B. Why? Because challenger brands won consumer trust where incumbents couldn’t. So FMCG giants built VC arms. They started writing cheques. And billion-dollar acquisitions followed. This playbook is only starting in India. Strategic investments. Acquisitions. Partnerships. It’s coming. The question is - Will the next wave of food brands in India be built inside big companies? Or outside them? What do you think?

𝐁𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓 launch in Open Secret’s history! We just launched "Whey+, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯" — exclusively on Flipkart — and it’s been nothing short of incredible. We hit a daily run rate that took cookies 1 year to get to. Honestly, we’re blown away. Whey+ is built on a simple Open Secret: - Diversified protein sources (Whey + Plant) - Better amino acid profile - Great digestion (no bloating, no issues) - And most importantly — great taste. Some of the early feedback: “This is a killer product.” “No digestion or bloating issues.” “Absolutely loved the taste.” If you haven’t tried it yet, do check it out on Flipkart — link in the comments below. Tried it? Loved it? Planning to try? Drop a 🔥 or ❤️ in the comments!

<1/n> 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘴—𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦. This weekend, in Mann Ki Baat, the Prime Minister spoke about a growing epidemic: 𝗢𝗯𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆. One thing he said really stuck with me:

If I could convince women to do just one thing, it would be this: 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 For too long, protein has been marketed as something only “gym bros” need. But here’s the truth—𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐢𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.

The Biggest Lesson I Learned at @HarvardHBS ! At HBS, the 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝 forces you to think like the protagonist. And for the first time, I asked myself: 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥? As a marketer, I was trained to sell what customers wanted. But in one class, I learned the most beautiful and powerful lesson—authenticity matters more than anything. It’s about an 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 to consumers. So, to all the marketers and leaders out there—would you feed your own kids the same products you’re selling to millions? If the answer is no, then why sell them at all? That moment changed everything for me. I made a promise: - I will never sell something I don’t personally believe in. - I will always stand by our unjunking mission. At Open Secret, unjunking isn’t a tagline—it’s what I 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞. My team will tell you—no junk for me, ever. Thank you for trusting us in this journey. I promise to never break that trust. Because unjunking isn’t just a business— 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞’𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 💚 #Unjunking #Authenticity #MarketingWithPurpose @HBSAlumni

Standing on stage to receive the @ForbesIndia x @LOrealGroupe Women of Worth award, memories from the last three decades rushed through my mind - from the shy, unsure young girl in Bharatpur, struggling to find her voice, to the moments of self-doubt at @iitbombay , to discovering my true purpose at @HarvardHBS . Each challenge, each setback, has shaped me into the unapologetic solo founder I am today, carrying with me a journey marked by grit and resilience. The last 15 months have been especially transformative, as we turned the business around from -45% to 4% EBITDA while doubling in revenue. It was a steep climb, but it reinforced one truth: the journey is always worth it. Here are some lessons I’ve gathered along the way: - 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐁𝐢𝐠: Your circumstances don’t define your potential. - 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬: Entrepreneurship has been my greatest teacher. I don’t think I would have half the learning if it weren’t for the challenges and rewards of building something from the ground up at @OpenSecretSnack . - 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛: This award belongs to every woman who has the courage to pursue her dreams. Together, we rise. What’s the moment in your journey that shaped who you are today? Let’s celebrate the milestones, big or small, that make us who we are. P.S. - It was such a pleasure to share the stage with self-made women rockstars shattering glass ceilings through their content and choices. Anushka Rathod Kusha Kapila! #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #Womeninbusiness

Exciting News from Dubai! While I’ve never been to Dubai, I'm thrilled to announce that @OpenSecretSnack has made its debut in this incredible city! We're officially live in Dubai in partnership with the fantastic FiLLi Cafe To all our friends in Dubai, if you happen to spot Open Secret at @fillicafeuae , please do share a picture with us – it will absolutely make our day! @rafihfilli - Excited for this partnership. Onwards and upwards! 🚀 #MakeInIndia #UnjunkingTheWorld

The most common question women are asked is about work-life balance, but has anyone ever asked about balancing hormones? It's amazing to me that we talk so much about productivity, health, and well-being, yet so little about how a woman's body truly functions. Women’s bodies are unique and operate in monthly cycles—something every woman experiences—yet it's a topic that's still somewhat taboo. We need to change that. Think about it: 𝐏𝐌𝐒 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞, and many women feel guilty for even acknowledging their symptoms. But to truly operate at our full capacity, we must embrace and work with our cycles, not against them. I've seen a significant difference in my own life once I started adapting my lifestyle to my hormonal cycle. Here's what I've learned: - 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞: This is the time to go hard! Your body is making estrogen, so this is when you can handle more rigorous workouts and longer fasting periods. A high-protein diet has been a game-changer for me during this phase. - 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 10-15: Your body is producing more testosterone, making it the perfect time for strength training. I started lifting weights later in life, and I can’t emphasize enough how transformative it has been. Strength training is crucial for longevity and overall health. - 𝐀 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝: This is when your body needs more care. Reduce the intensity of your workouts and shorten your fasting periods. I used to push myself mindlessly during this time and often felt frustrated and depleted. This phase requires more carbs to help produce serotonin—the “happy hormone” that dips during this time. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to listen to your body. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer—it’s about finding what works best for you. This is an Open Secret that we should be talking about more. Let’s normalize the conversation around women’s health and well-being. It's time to prioritize hormone balance just as much as work-life balance. #HormoneHealth #WomensWellbeing #NormalizeTheConversation

I still remember the one-way flight I took from the US to India to pursue a dream: the unjunking mission. As a kid growing up in Bharatpur, a tier-3 city, I ate a lot of junk snacks. But as India progressed towards becoming a developed nation but a land of obesity at the same time, I was convinced that families deserved better. I wanted to create products not just for families in South Bombay but also for those in Bharatpur, where I grew up. Our focus has always been on the deepest categories like biscuits, bhujia, and many more. Open Secret was launched with a big dream and even bigger hope 4.5 years ago. Building in the food category is incredibly hard—it has the lowest gross margins and is dominated by the biggest giants. But if difficulty could scare me, I would never have taken the journey from Bharatpur to Bombay to Boston. There have been countless days when giving up felt like the easier choice. But every time I read a customer's feedback, it reignites my passion and reminds me why I started this journey. Today, I am beyond excited and deeply humbled to share that we have brought on incredible operators as mentors and investors in our fight for unjunking. @SachetiMithun @GhazalAlagh Lucian Tira Michael Stack Aryan Sameri Jordan Halpern-Leistner @Yatinshahiiflw Sadashiv Nayak Orapun Pratheeptham @ankitnagori27 Avnish Anand @rtagrwl @drriteshmalik Open Secret purpose is to unjunk your snacking moments, whether it’s bakery, savory, or confectionery. If you still haven’t tried Open Secret, I invite you to give it a shot today. And if you have, I’d love to hear about your favorite product! @z47_vc Sixth Sense Ventures Ananta Capital @vijayshekhar @1kunalbahl @rohitkbansal Vivek Gambhir Gautam Kumra

About 4 years ago, fueled by the belief that taste shouldn't compromise health, we embarked on a mission to Unjunk snacking. When $10+ billion snacking market was dominated by decade-old junk brands, we knew it was time for a change. Today, as we take the first step towards unjunking snacking on airlines, we're thrilled to offer unjunked options without compromising taste. Calling on corporates, event companies, and airlines to join us in unjunking their pantry with our range of products across various categories: biscuits, cookies, Bhujia, chocolates, brownies, dry fruits and many more. Our promise remains the same: - Zero maida - Zero transfat - Zero artificial preservatives - Zero palm oil - Zero artificial color Let's partner in this mission for healthier snacking. DM me or fill in the form in the comments to join hands. Please do tag your company or your favorite airline in the comments if you are interested in having unjunked options available. ❤️ @OpenSecretSnack #unjunked

The path to #entrepreneurship is the irrational choice for me personally - the choice that doesn’t make sense. - Saying no to a comfortable life: Living in the US, earning in dollars, traveling the world. - Saying no to happiness: Entrepreneurship gives you a lot of meaning but a lot of pain at the same time. - Saying no to people you love: I don’t remember the last time I took time off to go spend a holiday with friends and family. The only reason I chose to, and continue to do so, is for the love of “𝐔𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠”, for the love of building a healthier India, and bringing more women along while doing so. And it has been extremely hard running a food business (a relatively low margin, low AOV business). People often tell me that I am wasting my time coming from an #IIT background and not building on tech, and selling biscuits. But think about this - as a country, we have moved from 2G to 5G, but an average family is still consuming maida, preservatives, and palm oil-filled snacks. Isn’t this an important enough problem to solve? Hopefully, one day it will be worth all the tears - till then, back to the grind! :) P.S. - If you believe in our mission of unjunking, please do tag your friends in the comments whose pantry you would want to Unjunk. It will go a long way for us.

With Mother’s Day around the corner, I wanted to share something special - how Open Secret Mother’s Day hampers with unjunked snacks would be the perfect gift, as what better gift than the gift of health? But the honest truth is the best Mother’s Day gift is the “gift of time”. Rather than questioning whether we need a day, just stop and make it super special for her. Think about it - “How many Mother’s Day do you think you have left with your mother?” It’s a finite number, so make the best of it. P.S. - If you are also looking for gift hampers, the link is in the comment below #MothersDayGifts

Link to hampers - opensecret.in/collections/ch…

When the going gets tough, it's essential to return to the 'why'! On days when it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, it’s critical to find a purpose bigger than yourself, which gives you the strength to endure the pain and suffering and fuels resilience. This is very close to my heart. I hope it resonates with you too. Share your thoughts! @ForbesIndia