Mamaearth’s Ghazal Alagh on the biggest threat to long-term growth: ‘Intense focus on…’

Mamaearth's Ghazal Alagh warned that future consumers often don’t voice their preferences—they simply switch to competitors offering cleaner, simpler experiences.

Mamaearth co-founder and CEO Ghazal Alagh has recently cautioned direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands against over-prioritising their current customer base, saying that doing so could stifle long-term growth.

In a LinkedIn post Alagh argued that future consumers often seek simplicity and clarity—needs that are overlooked when brands focus solely on incremental improvements for existing users.

Alagh said many growing businesses fall into the trap of letting their product roadmap be defined by the demands of their most vocal, high-value consumers. “They consistently ask for small, incremental improvements or more complex variations of what already works for them,” she wrote. “But tomorrow’s consumers? They want something fundamentally different.”

She warned that future consumers often don’t voice their preferences—they simply switch to competitors offering cleaner, simpler experiences.

Alagh said she has seen many new brands lose market share by overcomplicating their offerings. “They keep building more complex product offerings for existing users, while the next wave of consumers only wants simpler choices,” she noted.

She urged founders and product teams to resist the temptation of short-term optimisation and instead build with foresight. “An intense focus on your current consumer can become a serious constraint if you fail to look ahead,” she said.

The "chief Mama" concluded by emphasising the need for balance. “Your current best consumers got you here. Your future consumers will fuel your next stage of growth,” she wrote.