NNNAREDLA
Distance0.0km
Race clock00:00

Everyone says marketing is a marathon.So I went and ran one.

:150 laps
MumbaiMarketing & brand storytelling12 race bibs and counting

The runner behind the medal.

I'm Nikhil, a storyteller

Electronics engineer, then photographer, then the person who sold ₹26 lakh in two months, then an MBA in marketing. In January 2026 I ran my first full marathon. Today I do client development at JSA, one of India's leading law firms, and I turn complicated things into stories people act on.

Read the brand book Grab an Americano with me
Nikhil in mirrored running shades and a hydration vest, smiling and throwing a shaka on a morning run
Framed Tata Mumbai Marathon 2026 bib 15520, Debutant, Nikhil Naredla
Bib 15520 · debut full marathon
2,736.7 km on StravaFull marathon debut, Jan 2026Half PR 2:00:27₹26 lakh in 8 weeks11 weeks at WhiteOak CapitalPickleball on weekendsWill drive anywhere for a good AmericanoNext: Tata Ultra, 21 Feb 2027

The odometer so far

All-time numbers from my Strava. Some people count followers. I count kilometres.

Distance

About Mumbai to Delhi and almost all the way back.

Time on feet

That's 12.6 days of running without stopping.

Climbed

Mount Everest 1.7 times, one Mumbai flyover at a time.

Runs logged

55 of them in 2026 so far, for 390 km.

0km

Nikhil, the brand.

Every brand I've worked on started with a brief. So here is mine: positioning, pillars, palette and voice, written the way I'd write it for a client.

01 · PositioningBrand book p.1
For teams with something complex to sell (a fund, a legal service, a product nobody's heard of yet), Nikhil is the storyteller who makes it simple, makes it visual, and makes it sell. He's been the engineer, the photographer and the salesperson, so he knows what a story has to carry.
02 · TaglineLockup
Built for the long run.Brands, races and everything else that takes patience.
03 · Brand pillarsEach with proof
42.2km

Endurance

Full marathon debut at TMM 2026, after four half marathons. I don't quit at km 32, and I don't quit on a campaign.

B.Tech

Analytical

Electronics engineer turned MBA in Marketing & Business Analytics. Power BI, Tableau, fund models. Numbers first, then the story.

2017since

Visual

Photographer and video editor at Shutterbugs, digital artist on weekends. Photoshop and Premiere Pro are where I think.

₹26L2 months

Commercial

Sold ₹26 lakh of programmes in my first job. A story that doesn't move someone to act is just content.

04 · PalettesOne brand, two moods

Tap one to repaint the whole site. Run first, coffee after.

05 · Tone of voiceIs / isn't
Nikhil isNikhil isn't
ClearCorporate
ConfidentLoud
Backed by dataBuried in data
WarmFluffy
RelentlessRushed
How I think about marketing

A funnel is just a race, drawn sideways.

Every campaign starts as a funnel: lots of people hear about you, fewer consider you, a few convert.

AwarenessThe start lineKM 0
ConsiderationThe wallKM 32
ConversionThe finishKM 42.2
Scroll to turn itFunnel
10km

My career, split by split.

Runners judge a race by its splits, not only the finish time. Here is every leg so far and what each one taught me.

SplitWhenLegWhat happenedWhat I took away
012017 – 2021Electronics engineerK J Somaiya College of EngineeringFour years of circuits, signals and systems.Every good story is a system: input, signal, output.
022017 – 2020Photographer & editorShutterbugs, KJSCE photo clubShot and edited college events, then ran the club as coordinator.You get one frame. Decide what it's about first.
032019 – 2020First race bibsICT Sustain-a-thon 10K · TMM 2020 halfPinned on bib 2051 for a 10K, then my first Tata Mumbai Marathon half a few months later. Also organised a charity run on Ketto that raised ₹20,000 for underprivileged children.The first campaign I ever ran. Literally.
04Jul – Sep 2021Business developmentJaro EducationNeeds assessments, competitive positioning, and ₹26 lakh in business in two months.Selling is mostly listening.
052023Founder memberStellar Kropx, hydroponicsCo-founded a hydroponic farming venture. Ran the market research and sharpened the value proposition.A founder has to be the brand before there is one.
062024 – 2026MBA, MarketingK J Somaiya Institute of Management · 8.15Marketing with Business Analytics & Data Science. Sector Lead on the Placement Committee.Strategy is choosing what you won't say.
07Apr – Jun 2025BD internWhiteOak CapitalInvestor content across WhiteOak funds and a Power BI dashboard for the sales team. Cleared NISM V-A on the way.Regulated stories still have to be interesting.
082025Live projectHRIPL · StreaxBenchmarked Streax against its top five competitors, then worked the shop floor at modern trade stores.The shelf is the last 100 metres of a brand story.
0918 Jan 2026Full marathon debutTata Mumbai Marathon · bib 1552042.195 km through the city I grew up in, finished in the last stretch of my MBA.Discipline is a brand you build with yourself first.
10Apr 2026 – nowAsst. Manager, Client DevelopmentJSA, corporate lawBD and marketing for one of India's leading law firms, helping expertise you can't hold in your hand find the clients who need it.Still running this split.
21.1km

Halfway. Here's the work.

Case files from finance, retail, education, agriculture and law. Different categories, same job: find the story, prove it, ship it.

Case 01 · WhiteOak Capital · Asset management

Making mutual funds easier to sell

WhiteOak's sales team needed sharper content and faster answers when distributors asked "how does this fund compare?" Over an 11-week internship I wrote the investor narrative for key schemes and built the tool to back it up.

5fund reports & factsheets
3pitch decks incl. the master deck
1Power BI dashboard, desktop + mobile
11weeks, 7 milestones
Healthcare Opportunities FundEquity FundMulti Asset AllocationGEM ex India GIFT FundIndia Multi Cap GIFT factsheetAIF deckFOF model
  • WK 01Learned the mutual fund industry and WhiteOak's product shelf
  • WK 03Benchmarked WhiteOak against the competition
  • WK 05One-page report on the Healthcare Opportunities Fund
  • WK 07Cleared NISM Series V-A
  • WK 08Built the India Multi Cap GIFT Fund factsheet
  • WK 10–11Refined the dashboard, master deck and fund-of-funds model
FUNDFlexi Cap vs peer
NAV▲
AUM●
INDUSTRY◆
1-YEAR RETURN
DIVERSIFICATION
TOP 10 HOLDINGS
Sketch of the layout. Risk ratios (Sharpe, Sortino, capture) sat under the chart.
Case 02 · StreaxRetail

Winning the shelf

Live project with HRIPL. I benchmarked Streax against its top 5 competitors, then ran on-ground operations in modern trade stores and proposed shelf talkers, combo offers and Reliance Mart tie-ups.

Case 03 · Jaro EducationEd-tech
₹26L

In two months

Matched working professionals to programmes after needs assessments, positioned Jaro against competitors, and beat targets consistently.

Case 04 · Stellar KropxAgri startup

Selling the future of farming

As a founder member of a hydroponics startup, I ran the market research, found the target markets and refined the value proposition.

Case 05 · KettoCause
₹20K

Raised in a month

Organised a charity run for underprivileged children and told its story well enough that people paid to run it.

Case 06 · JSALegal · now

Marketing expertise

Client development and BD marketing for a leading Indian law firm. The product is judgement and trust, which makes the story harder to tell and more worth telling.

ToolkitDaily use

What's in the bag

Power BI, Tableau, Excel for the proof. Photoshop, Premiere Pro for the picture. GenAI for infographics and speed. Certified in market research and NISM V-A.

30km

Running taught me more marketing than any textbook.

Seven years, twelve bibs, a wall of medals. Here's the running side of me.

Black and white photo of Nikhil running mid-stride down a Mumbai lane between parked cars
Nobody sees the 5 am kilometres between parked cars. Everyone sees the medal.
18 January 2026 · Tata Mumbai Marathon

Bib 15520. Debutant.

After three TMM half marathons (2020, 2023, 2024) and the Bajaj Indef half in 2025, I stepped up to the full. My bib said DEBUTANT. A friend made a sign that said "15520 is my favourite." It's framed at home now, next to the medal.

Distance
42.195
Time
5:09:02
Avg pace
7:19
LIVENikhil with a friend holding a sign that reads 15520 is my favourite, go Nik
LIVENikhil and two friends at a finisher photo booth holding a We did it sign
Tata Mumbai Marathon 2026 full marathon finisher medal, 42.195 km

Personal records

Fastest efforts on Strava
400 m
1 km
1 mile
10 km
Half marathon
30 km
Marathon
Longest run
27 seconds.That's how far my half marathon is from sub-2. Unfinished business.
The bib archive · flick the top card

Tata Mumbai Marathon

Bib15520
Distance42.195 km
Year2026

The debut. Bib 15520, category D, DEBUTANT.

1 / 11

Move across the medals to set them swinging. Tap one to see which race it's from.

LIVENikhil's real medal wall: about fifteen medals on colourful ribbons against a pink wall

Six things the road taught me

Each one came from running. Each one turned out to be a marketing lesson.

KM 1

Start slower than your ego wants

Everyone sprints the first kilometre. The people who finish strong ran it patiently.

Launch with room to grow. The second half of a campaign is where a brand gets built.

KM 8

Run your own pace

Chasing the runner in front of you is the fastest way to blow up.

Benchmark the competition, then run your own race.

KM 15

Nothing new on race day

New shoes, new gel, new breakfast: race morning is not the time to experiment.

Test the message small before the big launch.

KM 25

The crowd carries you

A sign with my bib number on it got me through stretches my legs wouldn't.

Community is distribution. People who feel part of the story carry it further than ad spend.

KM 32

The wall is mental

Your body has more left. Your head starts negotiating. You keep moving anyway.

Every campaign hits a wall when the novelty wears off. Consistency is what's on the other side.

KM 42

The medal is built in training

Nobody sees the 5 am runs in the monsoon.

A brand is the sum of unseen reps. The launch is the photo at the end.

42.2km

The story I want to tell next.

My big goal in marketing is to tell stories through brands, the kind people retell to a friend without being asked. Four ideas I'd pitch tomorrow.

A brand story works when a customer can tell it back to you over dinner. Specs get forgotten. Stories get repeated.

Idea 01 · Personal brand, liveStarts now

Road to Lonavala

A 16-week build-up to my first ultra, told like a brand campaign.

Weekly posts that treat training like a marketing plan: the brief, the target, the test runs, the wall, the launch. Real watch data, real lessons for marketers.

  • Weekly LinkedIn carousel: one run, one lesson
  • Instagram reels from the long runs
  • Race-week finale and a full case study after

Why me: I'm the runner and the marketer. The campaign is the proof.

Idea 02 · Asset managementInvestor education

Compounding is a long run

Patience, explained by people who run.

An investor-education series pairing marathon training with SIP thinking. Missing one run doesn't matter; skipping a month does. Same with investing.

  • Short films: a 16-week training block next to a 16-year SIP
  • A "pace calculator" for financial goals
  • Race-expo activations at city marathons

Why me: I've written fund narratives under compliance and run the distance.

Idea 03 · Sportswear or nutritionCommunity

The 5:30 Club

Mumbai's quietest crowd is its earliest.

A documentary series on the people who own the city before sunrise: the Marine Drive regulars, the Carter Road pacers, the run clubs in Thane and Navi Mumbai. The runners are the story.

  • One runner, one route, one reason per episode
  • A city-wide first-light community run
  • Their kit, their words, no scripts

Why me: I'm already at the start line at 5:30.

Idea 04 · Professional servicesB2B

Counsel, in plain words

Expertise is invisible until someone tells its story.

Partners explain one real business problem in two minutes, in plain language, with a single visual. It turns judgement into something people can see and share.

  • Two-minute explainers, one idea each
  • Sector notes designed like magazine spreads
  • Client dashboards for matter updates

Why me: This is the problem I work on every day.

50km

Tata Ultra. Lonavala, 21 Feb 2027.

Out of Lonavala past Bhushi Dam and INS Shivaji, up into the hills toward Amby Valley, and back. It starts around 625 m, climbs to almost 800 m by km 7, and doesn't really come down until km 44.

Countdown to race morning
—Days
—Weeks
—Long runs
50Km

Sunday 21 February 2027. Start and finish in Lonavala, near the railway station.

  • Distance50 km (a 35 km race runs alongside)
  • TurnaroundsDevghar Village · Amby Valley airfield
  • Height rangeAbout 615 to 795 m
  • Biggest climbKm 5 to 7, about +150 m
  • Longest run so far42.2 km
BaseNov – mid Dec
BuildMid Dec – Jan
PeakLate Jan – early Feb
TaperLast 2 weeks
Elevation · 50 kmMove along the profile

Traced from the official elevation chart.

  1. KM 0Lonavala start, in the dark, past Bhushi Dam.
  2. KM 5–7The first wall. About 150 m of climbing in two kilometres.
  3. KM 17U-turn at Devghar Village.
  4. KM ~25Amby Valley airfield turnaround. Halfway, up high.
  5. KM 27–33The valley. The only easy stretch, around 700 m.
  6. KM 36–42Two more climbs back to about 790 m.
  7. KM 44–45The drop. 150 m down on tired legs.
  8. KM 50Finish in Lonavala. Then tell the story.
∞

When I'm not running or pitching.

Pickleball on weekends, cars I'll talk about for too long, new places to explore, and a running search for the best Americano in the city.

PickleballRally with me

Your serve.

Tap the court when the ball reaches your yellow paddle. Miss it and the rally resets.

Tap to serve
Rally 0Best 0
AutomobilesGarage

Rev it.

x1000 RPM

The other thing that gets my heart rate up. Dream car: coming soon.

TravelPassport

New places, good coffee.

I travel to explore, and I judge every city by its Americano.

MumbaiHome base
Lonavala50 km · 2027
?Next stamp
?Suggest one
Random fact1 / 12

I've climbed 14,868 m on runs. That's Mount Everest 1.7 times.

The finish line

You made it.Now let's run to coffee.

I know a place in Mumbai where the Americano is damn fine. Hiring for marketing or brand roles, building something that needs a story, or training for Lonavala yourself? Let's run there and talk.

Email
nikhilsnaredla@gmail.com
50K
Finisher. You read 50 km of Nikhil in 00:00. That's faster than my race pace.
ARABIAN SEA BANDRA LOWER PAREL COLABA
From Lower ParelCafé name: coming soon