Sambit Dash

Partner, RPSG Capital Ventures

Delhi NCR +91 9871405697 sambitdash1987@gmail.com
Business strategy and marketing professional with experience across Nestlé, Yum Brands, Honasa and RPSG Capital.
Have a keen interest in marketing strategy, consumer research, new product development, business P&L, metrics
measurement & attribution, organizational structures, and business processes. Enjoy conducting marketing sessions
in B-schools as well as online sessions.
Currently, investing into early stage consumer startups in a venture capital partner role. Have led P&L and
marketing strategy for businesses in different life stages - NESTEA creating a new category of Iced Tea concentrate,
NESCAFÉ aiming for behavior change in a tea drinking country, Taco Bell renovating itself to become relevant in
India, building a purpose led startup brand Mamaearth.
Strong experience in partnering with creative, digital, media and research agencies: Ogilvy, Edelman, Mccann,
Korra, Publicis, Social Panga, Fitch, IMRB, Nielsen, Ipsos, Kantar, Cerebro, ZenithOptimedia, Mindshare etc.

AUGUST 2021 - Partner, RPSG Capital

CURRENT  Identified, ran the deal & onboarded ~INR 20cr Series A deal in Perfora Oral Care
 Managing a total of 7 portfolio companies for the Fund;
 Raising ~INR 100cr Opp Fund to invest into winners of Fund I & a fresh ~INR 500cr Fund II
 Initiated and verified Commercial, Financial, Legal due diligences & SSA/SHA
 Evaluated >400 startups across categories, and evaluating 3 currently for series A
FEBRUARY 2020 – VP Marketing, Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. (Mamaearth, The DermaCo, Aqualogica etc.)
JULY 2021  Built function from 12 to 48 member team across brand, media, creative, influencer & PR
 Led brand 10X+ from INR 100cr ARR; setup brand architectures, processes, team structure
 Setup new models & scaled up influencer marketing by 6X keeping profitable ROI
 Launched 2 new brands from 0 to INR 3cr+ Net Revenue per month in 6 months
 Integrated Dr.Sheths after acquisition, reorganized team, scaled to 5X in 3 months
 Building purpose-led brand & setup brand book & communication architecture
• Launched “Goodness Inside” to shape what Mamaearth stands for
• Sustaining conversation with redefining “beauty” with “Beautiful Indeed”
• Actioned “Plant Goodness” initiative, as a first of its kind brand action
 Signed up and executed multiple celebrity deals, as well as multi-agency pitches
 Built analytics, dashboards and processes for continuous improvement on RoAS
DECEMBER 2017 – Head Marketing, TACO BELL India and Sri Lanka
FEBRUARY 2020  Lead marketing strategy, new product development, and growth
 Built store-by-store & city-by-city models of attribution of media, promotions & price
 Successful execution of global core concepts & local innovations
 New concepts launched in 2018-2019 contribute to ~50% of sales
 Inspired other markets to launch Naked Chicken Taco, Potaco, and Big Bell Box
 Delivered double digit Same Store Sales/Trans. Growth and +ve store EBITDA
 Coordinate with franchises in both countries to ensure consistency in brand execution
 Led photoshoot & menu redesign for multiple regions within Asia

JULY 2016 – Senior Brand Manager, NESCAFÉ

DECEMBER 2017  Execute activities to achieve 2017 P&L, as well as future growths
 Highest ever brand growth led by Household penetration gain & increase in share
 Improvement in bottom line & margins through efficiency projects
 Realigned Product Portfolio & Pricing basis price sensitivity analysis
 Led the campaign “#StayStarted with NESCAFÉ mornings”
 Won Grande Prix in AdAsia, Bronze in Effies, Silver in Abby etc.
OCTOBER 2015 - JULY Manager, Strategy and I&R, Beverages
2016  Launched “NESCAFÉ Latte” – Innovation on proposition/product/packaging
 Led 3 year I&R pipeline and master business plan for coffee and tea categories
 Aligned the NESCAFÉ and NESTEA brand experiences across touchpoints
JULY 2014 – OCTOBER Brand Manager, NESCAFÉ
2015
 Re-launched brand with new communication, packaging, and design
 Won Bronze in Effie, Silver in DMA Asia Echo for efficient use of media
 Conceptualized & created large scale sampling & activations plan in colleges
 Executed sales engagement programs for distribution & merchandising
APRIL 2012 – Brand Manager, NESTEA
JUNE 2014  Delivered results consistently on overall business & brand objectives
 Doubled volume in 2 years with marginal increase in budgets
 Led to an increase in profitability by 75%
 Increased Brand Awareness by 70% & Trials by 125%
 Developed new product through partnering with factory and R&D
 Reduced sugar, Improved product & New flavours
MAY 2011 – Management Trainee
APRIL 2012  Evaluated 2 products for launch as Project Manager, Coffee Machines
 Led team of 8 salesmen in 2 distributors as Sales Officer in Bangalore
APRIL – JUNE 2010 Marketing, Chilled Dairy, Nestlé India
JUNE – AUGUST 2008 High Performance Computing Department, IBM

FOUNDER, Chelseafcforums.com (2008 – 2012)

 Conceptualized & executed the web forums for fans of the English football club Chelsea FC
 26,000+ members, 2,20,000+ posts from across the world discuss club’s news, transfers, etc.

EXTRA - CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

 Events coordinator, Confluence 2010, leading a team of 26 at IIMA's Business Summit (2010-11)
 Designed website & registration portal in 4 days - Kronos 2010, the Agri Business Fest (2010-11)
 Designed creatives (posters, jerseys, videos) - Sports Committee & Market research fair of IIMA (2010-11)
 Headed the HR & PR teams in Corprova, the business fest of BVCOE (2009)

 Conducted workshop on de-coding marketing campaigns for IIMA students (2016, 2018)
Guest Lecture
 Taught “Research in Brand Building” for IIMA students as part of the PGP curriculum (2014)

Additional  Introduction to Marketing from University of Pennsylvania (Online)

Courses  Completed “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” certification

 3rd Prize in Corporate Basketball tournament organized by Duplays Gurgaon (2013)

Sports
 1st Prize in Basketball in Sangharsh, the inter IIM sports tournament (2010)

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
Degree/ Class Year College / School Percentage / CGPA
PGDM 2011 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad 2.9 / 4.0
B.Tech (IT) 2009 Bharati Vidyapeeth’s College Of Engineering (BVCOE) 72.7%
CBSE (Class XII) 2005 Delhi Public School, RK Puram 86.0%
CBSE (Class X) 2003 Delhi Public School, RK Puram 89.8%

 Ranked in the 99.86th percentile among 2,70,000 students in CAT (2008)

 Awarded Gold Medal for consistent Academic Excellence at DPS, RK Puram (1997-2004)
 Awarded the NCERT sponsored scholarship for success in National Talent Search Examination (2003)
 Received scholarship in Junior Science Talent Search Examination (2002)