Hi!👋 I’m Ishan

I help early stage consumer tech startups find their growth engines.

How I do that isn’t complicated.

I dive deep into the data (or watch customers directly), figure out what’s actually moving (or blocking) growth, and run fast, scrappy experiments until something catches fire. When it does, we scale it with discipline.

The problem is, following this process isn’t easy.

It’s easy to chase new channels, pivot when someone gives you an idea or copy whatever today’s viral LinkedIn post recommends.

But the data (and the customer) never lies.

This newsletter is a formulation of all the hard won lessons I’ve learned from growing startups. Writing it helps me reflect, refine and remember them.

It’s also my way of sharing those lessons with you.

So join me each week as I breakdown my own learnings finding traction in early stage consumer-tech.

Here’s the short version of my story:

I’m the guy that runs growth for consumer tech startups.

Over the last decade, I've helped four early stage consumer tech startups go from their first users to millions in revenue.

Before all of that, I’ve had multiple previous lives. One as a management consultant, another as a medical doctor and even one as a research scientist. Yes, I’ve been very confused.

Here’s the long version of my story:

🩺 I started my journey as a scientist and medical doctor

I began my career as a medical doctor and scientist, qualifying with an MBBS and BSc Hons in Biochemistry and Immunology from St. George’s Hospital Medical School, in 2014. During this time, I contributed to peer-reviewed research, presented at scientific conferences and picked up a few academic awards along the way.

My work spanned authored research and contributions in the space of HIV, Meningitis and their treatments, but also more technical research in the space of photo electronics.

Looking back, it feels slightly surreal that I did all that, including working in the NHS. But those foundations in science and medicine shaped the way I think.

They taught me to formulate hypotheses and test them vigorously. The same approach I now bring to finding traction and building growth for startups.

Unconventional, but pivotal.

📊 I became a management consultant

However, over time I became more interested in understanding how health systems worked at a higher level, how decisions were made, and how large hospitals could be transformed. So, I transitioned into management consulting (focusing on the healthcare industry), where from 2015 to 2018, I advised executive leadership at national health systems and providers across the UK. My focus was on improving their operating performance and, ultimately how they cared for their patients, by leading large scale transformation programmes.

🚀 I then built and scaled multiple tech startups

In 2018, drawing on my new business skillset I jumped into my first consumer health experience, starting as an intern at Clinova, which focused on OTC supplements, pharma and digital health.

Clinova had created an oral rehydration tablet, that was honestly the best thing I had ever tasted. They were one of the earliest startups to deliver this product to athletes all across the UK.

My next venture was Kokoon Technology, an innovative sleep tech startup combining sensors and machine learning to help people fall asleep more easily. Our most popular product was a pair of sleep headphones that we shipped all across the world to struggling sleepers from our own site.

At Kokoon, I led direct to consumer (DTC) growth, driving customer acquisition and revenue expansion. I scaled the business to millions in revenue, leveraging a mix of DTC strategies, partnerships, and data driven growth marketing.

Along the way, Kokoon raised close to $10 million in venture funding from investors like Blackfinch and successfully secured a commercial partnership with Philips in 2022, a huge milestone in our journey.

Next, I started Bakkali, a marketplace delivering fresh and authentic cultural and halal groceries across the UK helping ethnic communities have access to foods from back home.

Once again leading on growth, I took Bakkali from an idea on paper to one of the fastest growing consumer brands in the UK.

Building the marketplace and getting traction was the easy bit, we scaled to thousands of customers through a focus on organic search and customer retention. But the biggest challenge by far was creating and managing the end to end operation. Every order needed to be sourced, stored, quality controlled, picked, packed and delivered to each and every customer across the UK. So many cogs in the wheel and so many things that can go wrong…

Nevertheless, Bakkali was backed by Silicon Valley investors such as Hustle Fund, reached £1m in annualised revenue and an eight figure valuation within 12 months of launch.

As much as I look back on my journey with glistening eyes, while I was living it; it was a grind. I made a lot of mistakes and learnt the hard way.

And I’m still learning every day, because I’m not perfect.

But one thing I do religiously is make notes.

Notes are my way of documenting all the hard-won lessons as I build, so I remember them.

And this newsletter, “Notes of a Founder”, is my way of sharing those hard-won learnings with you.

So join me on this journey for your 2 min dose of reality, delivered each week.