Without: Building a new brand

Without is an Indian startup that’s made one of the most exciting breakthroughs in material science: they’ve figured out a scalable way to turn ‘unrecyclable’ plastics and waste into consumer products that people love.

Not only have they cracked the code on a problem the rest of the world considered impossible, they’re using their innovation to empower India’s multidimensionally poor informal wasteworker networks by transforming the systems that employ them.

They’re also founded by my best friend, Anish Malpani. So when he told me the scale of his ambition with this venture - and that he was aiming for complete vertical integration, I had to help.

Since the company’s inception, I’ve been helping Anish with naming, writing and providing strategic advice to help build this brand out both on the D2C side of the business and laying the groundwork for a future in B2B.

Naturally, I’m honored to be able to help such an exciting group of people solve such a difficult problem.

But on a personal level, I’ve learned that if you want to figure out what you really believe in as a marketer, see what advice you give your best friend when they’re willing to risk everything.