Lenskart Co-Founder Peyush Bansal Urges Startup Founders to Prioritize the Right Business Partner Over Valuations
Peyush Bansal, the co-founder of eyewear unicorn Lenskart, emphasized the importance of selecting the right business partner rather than focusing on maximizing valuations. Speaking at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024, he urged founders to choose partners who share their vision, trust them during both good and challenging times, and think long-term.
Bansal expressed concern over the trend in the Indian startup ecosystem, where founders are rushing to increase valuations. While this may yield short-term gains, he stressed that long-term success depends on creating value and transformation, something that cannot be achieved by focusing solely on immediate financial metrics.
His comments follow reports that Lenskart is considering a secondary sale, which could push its valuation to $6 billion, up from the current $5.6 billion. Founded in 2010, Lenskart has raised $1.08 billion in 19 rounds and recorded an annual revenue of ₹5,610 crore as of March 2024.
Bansal shared a personal story of working as a sales assistant at an optical store without pay for a year to understand the market better. He revealed that the individual he worked with is now the third co-founder of Lenskart.
Reflecting on the company’s early days, Bansal recalled that there was no formal business plan before investors came on board. “When we got the funding, we were just trying to build a business,” he said.
In the same session, Ashish Hemrajani, CEO of BookMyShow, highlighted a significant shift in the company’s growth trajectory, noting that over 50% of its sales now come from outside the top 20 cities, a stark contrast to five years ago when 90% of its sales were concentrated in these cities.
