Quitting Corporate to Build an Affordable Luxury D2C Brand | Everyday Empires with Rohit Maini | Ep. 15: Dishant Mehta

How do you start a D2C business in India and does influencer marketing still work?

In this episode of Everyday Empires, Rohit sits down with Dishant Mehta, co-founder of @WNTRTravel , an Indian D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) luggage brand built on a bold belief: India deserves luxury products at affordable prices.

Dishant didn’t grow up dreaming of entrepreneurship. He pursued an MBA with plans to climb the corporate ladder. But the pull to build something of his own never left. Alongside his cousin and co-founder, Dishant began moonlighting WNTR while still working full-time slowly testing the Indian market before taking the leap.

In this conversation, Dishant breaks down what it really takes to start a D2C brand in India, why influencer marketing failed for WNTR, and how founder-led marketing became their biggest growth lever.

📌 In this episode, we cover:

Starting a business, while working a full-time job

Building a D2C brand in India from scratch

What “affordable luxury” actually means in the Indian market

Raising VC funding and why founders must go all-in

Why customers trust founders more than influencers today

Everyday Empires shares real stories from founders building modern businesses no fluff, no filters.

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Comment below: Do you trust founders more than influencers?