EP #115: Karthy Subramaniam - Founder of Multiple Food Brands, LITS (Hot Sauces) & BUNGKUS (Malaysian Street Food)

Karthy Subramaniam (@karthy.subra) is the Founder of LITS Hot Sauce (@litssauce) & Co-Founder of Malaysian street food company BUNGKUS (@bungkus.to) with his mom Siva.

He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss advice he wish he got when he first started his business, growing up with entrepreneurs around him, how he came up with the name BUNGKUS, scaling LITS to 36 retailers in just over five years of operations, quitting his full time job to start BUNGKUS with his mom and growing this business a faster rate than LITS because of past learnings, and so much more.

Follow Karthy:
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksubramaniam/)
- Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/karthy.subra/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Karthy Subramaniam
01:01 - What sparked Karthy’s entrepreneurial spirit; his mother, brother, and grandma
03:50 - Being born in Malaysia and moving to Canada at the age of four
05:38 - Starting LITS (Lost in the Sauce) Hot Sauce
07:49 - Scaling up his business; researching bigger companies and exploring co-packers
09:53 - Forming his team in 2023; his fifth year of operations
11:09 - Securing his first sale for LITS; from family and friends to 36 retailers
15:37 - How he went about securing retailers; initially being approached
16:54 - How he formulated his sauce flavours; competing with bigger brands like Nandos
18:34 - Balancing a full time job while building up LITS; sacrificing sleep and social life
21:27 - Are his friends and family accepting of his entrepreneurial efforts?
23:33 - Quitting his full time job to build another business (BUNGKUS) with his mother
26:40 - Why the company is called BUNGKUS and deciding to partner with his mom
32:11 - What learnings he’s applied from LITS to BUNGKUS; marketing/social media
34:33 - Creating business synergy between LITS and BUNGKUS; a co-branded hot sauce
35:20 - Where can people order BUNGKUS?
36:42 - Karthy offers his recommendation for the best dishes to order
37:57 - Advice he wish he got when he had first started his business
39:01 - The learning lessons he’s experienced from failure
41:03 - Advice he would give his 16-year-old self; don’t overthink
41:51 - The personal legacy he wants to be remembered for by his friends and family
42:48 - Creator Confessions
48:56 - The Bungkus (Wrap Up)

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan