Harry’s CTO Explains How Their “Go-To-Market” Disrupts Traditional Brands

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, brought to you by SAP, Sean Ellis, and Ethan Garr talk with Sandeep Chouksey, Chief Technical Officer of Harry's, the company that manufactures and sells men's personal care products via online and retail channels.  It turns out Harry’s has a superpower!  They can spin up a direct-to-consumer brand in just a matter of weeks, and then–if the brand’s potential is validated–roll into an omnichannel marketing strategy almost as quickly. Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, and other giants of the consumer packaged goods industry are surely taking notice as Harry’s approach threatens to disrupt a variety of established players across markets. And men’s razors are just the beginning. The company, now valued at more than $1.7 Billion, has four brands in six countries . . . One of them is a cat food brand! What gives Harry’s the confidence to try to make entrances into new and disparate categories? And why are they able to move so quickly? Sandeep explains that it starts with people; Harry’s is very intentional in how it hires people who are ready to “embrace the mammoth” and try new things.  In fact, Sandeep himself embodies this mindset and in our discussion, he doesn’t sound at all like a prototypical CTO.  He views his role as one of aligning technical resources around their impact on growth, and “figuring out how to be omnichannel”. It’s an approach that seems to be working well for him and Harry’s, a fast-growing company changing the world of CPG. Before you jump in, learn more about SAP's cloud solutions for mid-size enterprises at sap.com/sme. If you have ambitious goals, SAP is the technology partner you need to scale and drive innovation. Instead of relying on stitched-together solutions to manage business finances, operations, HR, suppliers, and customer relationships, leverage the flexibility of SAP's cloud-based ERP solution to gain the insights that will help drive your breakout growth success. Achieve breakout growth success now with SAP at bit.ly/3UUPDxJ Thanks for listening to the Breakout Growth Podcast, and don’t forget, to watch us and subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featuredWe discussed:* From razors to cat food; leveraging digital capabilities (05:47)* New speed in CPG; from DTC to omnichannel in a flash (07:19) Get full access to Sean’s Substack at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe