₹30,000 a month, and a brand nobody had heard of.
I started in 2016 as a digital marketing executive. Nothing special. A year later I became the first marketer at Bombay Shaving Company — back when D2C was still called "DNVB" and the Meta Pixel was a toddler.
There was no playbook, so we built one. I ran ₹30–50L a month across Facebook, Google, SEO and Amazon, built the marketing function from scratch, and watched the brand grow 4X.
That's where I learned the thing agencies rarely get to see: what growth looks like from inside the business, when it's your P&L on the line.
"Ajay is quite hard-working and played a pivotal role in our early-days scale-up. He's been instrumental in the growth of multiple early-stage D2C brands."
Shantanu DeshpandeFounder, Bombay Shaving CompanyI walked away right before the big money came in.
In 2020, just as BSC was getting seriously funded, I quit. I joined Misters — a zero-to-one brand that was pre-product and pre-revenue — because I wanted to build something from nothing.
We got it to a ₹1 lakh-a-day run rate. Then COVID hit, and the brand was gone.
So I started my own grooming brand. It died in the second wave.
"Twice in eighteen months, I watched something I'd built disappear. Neither time was it the ads."
Broke, and asking founders for work.
By 2022 I had nothing left, so I did the only thing I knew how to do. I started messaging founders and asking if they needed help with growth.
One said yes. Then another. Then another. Soon I had eight paying clients and was earning two to three times my last salary.
Freelancing taught me what early-stage founders actually need: not a vendor running ads, but someone who'll sit with the whole problem — product, funnel, cash, and ads together.
"Ajay scaled our business, and the traction helped us secure a funding deal with Fireside Ventures. A true rockstar."
Nimeet DhokiaFounder, Happi Planet"Ajay helped me scale my brand, Bleu Cares, while navigating the restrictions the sexual wellness category faces online — and helped guide us through our eventual acquisition by Sirona. He's a gem."
Komal BaldwaFounder, Bleu CaresCandyland: my first real win, and my most expensive lesson.
After saving up, I jumped again and started Candyland, a nootropics gummies brand. The first batch sold out within three months. For the first time, one of my own brands was really working.
Then I made the classic mistakes. I loaded up on stock too early and launched four more SKUs with zero research — "me-too" products, just so we'd look like a full brand.
In 2025 a pharma company came at us with a trademark dispute. With inventory stuck and cash running low, I shut the brand down — while it was still doing ₹10–12L a month.
Why I started Undercover Labs.
I rebuilt my savings and started Undercover Labs to work with a handful of founders at the stage I know best: a genuinely different product, early traction, and too many decisions to make alone.
I'm not an agency with a sales team and junior media buyers. It's me — someone who has made these calls with my own money, sitting in the seat with you.
Based in Jaipur. Lifelong Spider-Man fan — yes, the suit too, and yes, it's on my laptop. Growth is serious work; I try not to take myself too seriously while doing it.