Koustubh Chattopadhyay

CEO

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India13 yrs 6 mos experience

Key Highlights

14+ years of experience in scaling consumer brands.
Led teams of over 220 across multiple functions.
Expert in driving digital transformation and profitability.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a seasoned leader in E-Commerce and Retail with a focus on business growth and digital transformation.

Contact

koustubhnitk@gmail.com LinkedIn

Skills

Core Skills

LeadershipE-commerceBusiness DevelopmentMarket ResearchBusiness StrategyInvestmentsProgram ManagementP&l ManagementCategory Management

Other Skills

Marketplace businessOnlineRetailProduct ManagementTechnical LeadershipCross-border operationsB2B partnershipsMerchandisingMarketing StrategyMergers & Acquisitions (M&A)Early-stage StartupsVenture CapitalDigital PerformanceNegotiationBusiness Head

About

Business leader with 14+ years of experience scaling consumer brands and building high-performing teams across fashion, e-commerce, electronics, and telecom. Currently serving as Chief Business Officer at Aza Fashions, where I lead a cross-functional team of ~220 across Category, Marketing, Product, Tech, Customer Experience, and Operations—driving both top-line growth and profitability across multiple geographies. My journey has spanned leading ₹500 Cr+ brand clusters at Mensa Brands, managing $240M+ portfolios at Amazon EU & India (across categories such as Toys, Personal care appliances, consumer electronics, Shoes and Apparel) and driving market share and revenue leadership at Airtel. I enjoy solving complex problems at scale, driving digital transformation, leading large teams and building brands with purpose and personality. Outside of work, I’m a certified scuba divemaster, an adventure sports enthusiast, globetrotter having resided and travelled across 30 countries, an avid sports enthusiast & an investor in both the public and private markets.

Experience

13 yrs 6 mos

Total Experience

2 yrs 5 mos

Average Tenure

1 yr 5 mos

Current Experience

Aza fashions

Chief Business Officer

Dec 2024 – Present · 1 yr 5 mos · On-site

𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫 (𝐂𝐗𝐎) | 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 — Reporting to MD; lead Aza Fashions, India’s pioneering luxury designerwear marketplace & MBO with a global footprint.
𝐏&𝐋 & 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: End-to-end ownership across Category, Marketing, Visual Merchandising, Supply Chain, CX, Technology, Product, and UI/UX with accountability for growth, profitability, and execution.
𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 & 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡-𝐋𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞: Oversee tech-enabled luxury marketplace with a fast-scaling catalog; lead Product & Engineering to drive platform architecture, UI/UX, personalization, discovery, speed, and scalability.
𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: Drive international growth beyond USA into UK, Canada, Australia, and MENA through localized customer strategies, cross-border operations, curated merchandising, and B2B partnerships.
𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: Lead 250+ member cross-functional team, including senior CXOs; partner with HR on culture, capability building, training, and performance management.
𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 & 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: Collaborate on long-range strategy, financial planning, and business model innovation to sustain category leadership.
𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 & 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Serve as signing authority and brand spokesperson across legal, media, and PR engagements.
𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬:
Drove & unlocked 𝐨𝐦𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 in terms of merchandizing, marketing & resource utilization
Reduced fixed costs by ~24% while achieving and sustaining 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.
Expanded into UK, Canada, Australia, and MENA, navigating US tariff and cross-border uncertainties.
Increased 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐲 70%, driving margin expansion and differentiation.
Built a high-performance culture and developed a strong tier 1 accountable 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 team.

LeadershipMarketplace businessOnlineRetailE-CommerceProduct Management+1

Career break

Personal goal pursuit

Jan 2024 – Nov 2024 · 10 mos · Phuket, Thailand

After several years of leading high-growth teams, I took a planned sabbatical to reset and expand my horizons — blending personal exploration with strategic consulting work.
I was able to achieve the following during this time period:
𝐏𝐀𝐃𝐈 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫- Completed professional Divemaster certification in Koh Tao, mentoring dive trainees and leading underwater expeditions staying and working for a duration of 3 months involving 100+ dives upto a depth of 40 metres & working with professionals from 20+ countries
𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝-Traveled across four countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Uzbekistan & Bangladesh), deepening cultural understanding and appreciation for sustainability and community living.
𝐘𝐨𝐠𝐚 & 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬-Practiced yoga and meditation consistently residing in sivananda ashrams, developing greater mindfulness, balance, and focus. Completed residential program on Vedanta
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐞𝐬2𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡- consulting on key eCommerce growth and automation projects that enhanced digital performance and operational efficiency.
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 — spent a lot of time with family, caught up with old friends from school, college and locality, participated in nature walks, running
𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬- Doubled down on badminton as a sport with intensified trainings. Also dabbled my hand at riffle shooting

Mensa brands

Business Head-Consumer Electronics & Kids Apparel Cluster

Dec 2021 – Feb 2024 · 2 yrs 2 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · On-site

Business Head for portfolio brands across 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 & 𝐊𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. ( (Brands headed include Pebble, helea IOT, Lilpicks, Bonkids) accounting for ~26% 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞
Led an 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 150+ 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 including Category Managers, Offline Sales team, B2B KAMs, Marketers (performance, brand, trade & social media), D2C specialists, Customer service, Operations & New product development and HR teams ).
𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, diligence & business growth outlook assessment while evaluating brands for Mensa acquisition. Evaluated 25+ brands (leading to 2 acquisitions Pebble & Bonkids)
Responsible for conceiving and executing 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 & 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚, 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & brand building activities, lead partnerships with other brands and tech partners

LeadershipNegotiationCategory ManagementMergers & Acquisitions (M&A)Business HeadP&L Management+2

Inflection point ventures

Angel Investor

Apr 2021 – Present · 5 yrs 1 mo · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)InvestmentsEarly-stage StartupsVenture Capital

Amazon

3 roles

Head of Amazon Vendor services, Shoes- UK

Promoted

Feb 2020 – Jan 2022 · 1 yr 11 mos

𝐋𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 30 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 5 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬) 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬, 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 & 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐬 to partner with top 50 retail brands (portfolio size- $240 MM) for Shoes category across EU5 (UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, France). Grew portfolio by 43% YoY while increasing Contribution margin by ~150 bps
Led a Cross functional team of 6 for 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 (𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐫 1 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬). Led pilot & scaling phases involving offshoring, tech builds for a duration of 18 months to become a 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐬 & 𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬.
𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐈 & 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐀𝐕𝐒 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Promoted 6 team members

NegotiationCross-functional Team LeadershipProgram ManagementBusiness DevelopmentRetail Category ManagementTeam Leadership+1

Senior Vendor Manager. Personal Care appliances

Promoted

Nov 2018 – Feb 2020 · 1 yr 3 mos

𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐍𝐑 3500 𝐌𝐌 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨 in PCA category, launched professional grooming sub category
𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐌𝐄 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 conducting training across forums, on boarding new joiners and partnering in IN launch and adoption of price error detection module
𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫 1 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬 such as Philips, Xiaomi, Reckitt, Wahl, Braun Havells, Vega, Panasonic
Negotiated terms improvement, operational excellence & multiple critical exclusives to deliver 180 𝐛𝐩𝐬 𝐲-𝐨-𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧

NegotiationCategory ManagementBusiness HeadP&L ManagementPerformance Marketing

Vendor Manager, Toys

Aug 2017 – Nov 2018 · 1 yr 3 mos

Responsible for handling 𝐏&𝐋 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲 ensuring relevant selection, on boarding new brands at market leading terms | 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨 𝐛𝐲 101% (𝐕𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 37%) while contributing 1.4% incremental profits | 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 & 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐌 𝐭𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 & turned around stagnating selection of Toys

NegotiationP&L Management

Airtel

4 roles

National Acquisition Head, Postpaid

Mar 2017 – Aug 2017 · 5 mos

Responsible for 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐬 & 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 | Rollout initiatives for delivering revenue and achieving RMS leadership |Driving strategic projects across cross functional teams comprising CSD, Finance, Distribution, Retail, Revenue assurance and B2B teams

NegotiationP&L Management

Senior Manager, Postpaid Marketing

Promoted

Aug 2015 – Feb 2017 · 1 yr 6 mos

𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐏&𝐋 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐡𝐢 𝐍𝐂𝐑 (𝐑𝐬7 𝐁𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲)| KPIs includeed enhancing ARPU, Minutes of usage and Call rate of customers | Handled 120 seat call center operations | Drive MNP retention schemes| Handling International roaming plans

Zonal Sales Manager, Prepaid

Promoted

Jun 2014 – Jul 2015 · 1 yr 1 mo

𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟 5 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬,8 𝐏𝐒𝐑𝐬 & 30 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐥| Handled a revenue of Rs80 crore annually spanning across 280+ sites| Delivered 3.5% incremental Customer market share & Y-o-Y growth of 83% in data revenue
Winner of various sales related competitions and consistently among top 3 ZSMs

Business Development

Young Leader Program

Jun 2013 – May 2014 · 11 mos

Various stints across Broadband, Prepaid and Postpaid businesses- Jun to Dec'13
Territory manager stint managing in Greater Kolkata area (TSM role)- Jan to May'14