The Nestery: T S Viswanathan on Redefining Parenting with Contextual E-commerce
In 2015, T S Viswanathan and his wife Vaishnavi experienced the joy of becoming parents for the first time. But that joy was soon accompanied by a profound frustration: the process of finding the right toys, books, and engagement tools for their child was fundamentally broken. While platforms like Amazon and Flipkart had mastered the logistics of diapers and apparel, the more nuanced world of "meaningful engagement" was a chaotic maze of Facebook groups and endless WhatsApp threads. This personal struggle became the spark for The Nestery—a community-led, contextual e-commerce platform designed to do the thinking for modern parents.
On the ELI Podcast, Viswanathan (TSV) shares how his journey from IIM Indore and senior leadership at L&T Finance and Paytm prepared him for the "beautiful accident" of entrepreneurship. He discusses the power of situational awareness in commerce, the challenges of co-founding with a spouse, and why his first 30 employees are actually his most important "investors."
Parenting vs. Entrepreneurship
TSV draws a powerful parallel: "Becoming an entrepreneur and becoming a parent is very similar. Most times you plan and get into it, sometimes it happens by accident, but every single day you just have to figure it out as you go along."
The Context Gap: Moving Beyond Categories
Traditional e-commerce is organized by category—toys, clothes, footwear. But parents don't always shop by category; they shop by situation. "Every child is unique," TSV explains. "Their learning milestones are different. One child might love dinosaurs while another just wants to play with water."
The Nestery was built to solve this "Discovery Dilemma." Instead of leaving parents to spend eight hours researching the internet, the platform uses Situational Awareness. By embedding information on the when, how, and why of a product into the catalog itself, The Nestery provides targeted recommendations based on where a parent and child are in their journey—whether it’s "starting daycare," "learning to read English," or "going on a beach vacation."
The "Paytm" Mindset: From Finance to Baby Products
Viswanathan spent nearly a decade in high-finance roles, heading financial planning at L&T Finance and setting up merchant lending at Paytm. While baby products might seem like a leap from microfinance, TSV argues that the core business thinking remains the same.
This data-driven approach is reflected in The Nestery’s business model. They spent the entire year of 2019 in market research, talking to parents and brands before launching in 2020. Today, the platform is trusted by over **1.5 lakh parents** and features over **400 brands**, ranging from indie home-grown creators to major international labels.
The Nestery Growth Strategy
- Contextual Commerce: Moving beyond "search and buy" to "discovery through situations."
- Community Trust: Leveraging insights from parents to benchmark product quality.
- De-risking Acquisition: Moving beyond social media ads toward organic referrals and partner-led growth.
- Creator Support: Onboarding indie manufacturers of toys and books to provide a unique, curated assortment.
Co-founding with a Spouse: The Bedrock of Trust
One of the most unique aspects of The Nestery is its founding team—TSV, his wife **Vaishnavi**, and their co-founder **Aparna**. While working with a partner can be challenging, TSV believes it has brought them closer. "The key is trust and open lines of communication. You must have the mental ability to separate your professional and personal relationships, even if they are entangled."
Scaling the "Farm": Cracking the Chicken and Egg
Every marketplace faces the classic chicken and egg problem: you need brands to attract customers, and customers to attract brands. The Nestery started small—Vaishnavi personally convinced the first five brands to join before they even had a functioning website.
"The first customer was her father," TSV laughs. "By the next month, we had three serendipitous customers. You just have to find that first thread and start pulling. Once you have that one egg and one chicken, it’s about how big a farm you can build."
Scale and Momentum
- User Base: 1.5 Lakh parents and counting.
- Brand Partners: 400+ across domestic and international segments.
- Product Range: Thousands of SKUs focused on meaningful child engagement.
- Funding: Successfully raised Pre-Series A led by **Inflection Point Ventures**.
The Meaning of Entrepreneurship
For Viswanathan, entrepreneurship is the **Joy of Creation**. "It’s creating something where none existed. It’s seeing a vision take shape in tangible terms—people, money, customers, and supply chains—and seeing that creation happen."
Viswanathan's Advice for Founders
- Employees are Investors: "Your first 30 employees are investing the time of their life—literally the most invaluable thing they have. Treat them as your core investors."
- Write Strategy in Pencil: "Set your vision in stone, but keep your strategy erasable and changeable. You must evolve as you go."
- Focus on Fundamentals: "Create a business that is not a money pit. Have a clear monetization strategy from day one."
The Future: Engaging Children Meaningfully
As India’s parenting market continues to grow, The Nestery is positioning itself as the indispensable partner for modern families. By staying focused on the engagement milestones of children from newborns to 10-year-olds, TSV and his team are building a platform where commerce isn't just about buying—it's about understanding. With a strong Pre-Series A backing and a relentless focus on culture and ownership, The Nestery is ensuring that for the next generation of Indian parents, the thinking has already been done.