During an earnings call in February, Nykaa CEO Falguni Nayar took several questions on the company’s spending in the third quarter of FY22. In the final exchange, she stressed on the challenging nature of the beauty and fashion business and Nykaa’s resolve to keep the cash burn at a reasonable level.

“If you look at fashion, we probably entered a highly competitive market, with Flipkart, Myntra, Ajio and Amazon (in the fray). Still, Nykaa has been able to carve out a place at the right cost of customer acquisition. We will try to do the right execution that is long-term sustainable and profitable, and not only chase top-line growth,” she said. 

The statement appears to be a standard response, aimed at inspiring confidence in the public markets, but Nykaa employees say financial prudence is a central theme of the company’s culture.

“People here think a lot about economics and cash flow. The business is tightly controlled. For instance, the tech team is very lean and one central tech team supports all business functions,” a senior executive told The CapTable.