Behind the ₹5 Cr Milestone: What Founders Really Need to Scale

What does it take to scale a startup to ₹5 Cr in revenue? We dived right into it at our session on “How Can Growth-Stage Founders Hit ₹5 Cr Revenue”

Spoiler: It’s not just capital or code. It’s not even a perfect product. It’s real insight. It’s resilience. It’s knowing which customer problem to solve and how to solve it better than anyone else.

At Favcy Venture Builders, that’s what we’re helping founders do every day through the 1to10 Accelerator: build the right product, scale in the right markets, and hit the right growth milestones. 

And in our latest session, we gave our community a rare, behind-the-scenes view of what this journey looks like, told by the legends who’ve done it.

From the Trenches: How to Scale Your Startup to ₹5 Cr 

Hosted by Yamika Mehra, Partner at FavcyVB, this wasn’t a playbook webinar. 

It was a story-led masterclass, packed with raw experiences, real turning points, and insider advice from three industry legends who’ve built and scaled iconic brands through chaos and clarity.

The panel featured:

• Aseem Kapoor — Ex-Airtel, Dabar, Jio, India Today

• Shravan Tickoo — Founder, Rethink Systems; Ex-Flipkart, Edureka, BYJU’S

• Soumya Kant — Co-founder, Clovia

Here’s what made this session unforgettable — and why this is the kind of access and learning we embed into every cohort of the 1to10 Accelerator.

From Airtel to Dabar - Aseem Kapoor’s Scaling Playbook

Airtel B2B: ₹500 Cr in 500 Days

Aseem emphasized on how Founders do not need any fancy funnels or VC-style burn.

Just three simple levers: Empathy. Reassurance. Use Case.

“In B2B, people don’t care about your tech. They care whether your dashboard fails during a board meeting.”

When Airtel was still viewed as an unstable vendor, Aseem turned that around by removing risk from the equation.

Sales didn’t come from demos. They came from promises kept, and jobs saved.

Dabar Chyawanprash: The Village Insight That Shifted the Brand

Already sitting at 61% market share, most marketers would have called it a day. Not Aseem.

He boarded a train, landed in a remote UP village, missed his return, and in a casual conversation with a homemaker, heard the magic line that would reposition the brand:

“Kids keep falling sick. I wish I had something to make them stronger from within.

The result?

“Pesh karte hain Dabar Chyawanprash — banaye aapko andar se strong.”

Market share jumped from 61% to 66% within 20 months. From insight, not ad spend.

The Teacher’s Scotch Playbook: No Ads, No ProblemWhen advertising alcohol wasn’t even legal, Aseem:

• Picked just 3 high-margin states instead of 27

• Conducted blind palate testing in North India

• Avoided “spray-and-pray” completely

“When you don’t have capital, your only option is precision.”

Aseem’s Operator Wisdom:

• Start with gross margin clarity

• Obsess over your Ideal Customer Profile

• Marketing = decoding what already exists in your customer’s mind

Shravan Tickoo - Build First Principles, Not FOMO

The BlackBuck Truck Ride That Changed Everything

When Shravan was at BlackBuck, they had raised $30Mn. 

But drivers weren’t adopting the app. Bribes, incentives, nothing worked.

So, Shravan rode with a truck driver from Bhiwandi to Kolkata.

There, he heard the real insight:

“Sir, mujhe return load chahiye. Truck EMI pe chal raha hai.”

No spreadsheet had revealed this. But this one anecdote birthed a simple product tweak — “density by lane” — that led to a 50% spike in app adoption.

“You can’t A/B test your way to empathy.”

Edureka: Scaling Boring Things to $300M

At Edureka, Shravan came in with a hundred smart ideas. His founder didn’t execute even one.

“If everyone does the interesting things, who’ll do the boring things?”

So they:

• Focused on one course at a time

• Built deep SOPs

• Prioritised boring growth over shiny hacks

Result? Acquired for $300M+.

His Own Bootstrapped Playbook: Product-Led, Capital-Free

 Shravan built a million-dollar education brand for PMs — no VC, no ads.

• Wrote daily on LinkedIn

• Served a real niche

• Prioritised system-building over scale-hacks

“Consistency compounds. Most people underestimate what 2 years of boring discipline can do.”

Shravan’s Operator Wisdom:

• Spend 70% of your time in the problem space

• Don’t fall in love with your roadmap

• Distribution > Product (especially when bootstrapped)

Soumya Kant — Building Clovia Through Chaos

The COVID Pivot That Saved the Business Imagine this:

• Mid-warehouse move

• Funding gone

• Salaries due

• Lockdown announced

• 3 trucks stuck with inventory

Most would panic.Soumya and Neha went the other way.

They took an online certification course on PPE manufacturing, partnered with a factory, and started shipping to hospitals within a week.

“On 30th March, we shipped our first PPE order to a doctor in Tonk.”

In 3 months? Over 1 million kits shipped, team intact, cash flow sorted.

“Our only OKR was: we won’t die as a business.”

Competing in D2C Without Burning CashSoumya knew her competitors had 10x more capital.

But Soumya focused on product experience, repeat behaviour, and strong customer insight.

“When asked if our users wanted Victoria’s Secret, I said - at what price point?”

The insight? India wants aspirational value at an accessible price.

“We raised 1/10thof  the capital. And exited at 10x the valuation.”

Soumya’s Operator Wisdom:

• Don’t get distracted by competitor FOMO

• Build repeat-worthy products — retention is the real test

• Crisis ≠ pause — it’s your opening

The Favcy Promise: You Don’t Have to Build Alone

These weren’t just stories.

They were proof of what’s possible when you build with clarity, resilience, and access to the right mentors.

And this is exactly what we do at the 1to10 Accelerator by Favcy Venture Builders.

We surround early-stage founders with:

• Top-tier operator mentors (like the ones you heard from)

• Weekly check-ins + goal tracking

• Distribution and GTM guidance

• Product and customer clarity

• And yes, real funding support, when you’re ready

If you’re at the messy middle, looking to cross the ₹1–5Cr chasm, this is where you need to be.

👉 Learn more and apply to the 1to10 Accelerator

Final Takeaways from the Legends:

“If your customer isn’t happy behind your back, you’re doing it wrong.” — Shravan 

“Never validate your strategy with a consumer. They don’t know what they want until they feel it.” — Aseem

 “Raise less. Build sharper. Out-execute everyone.” — Soumya

This is your signal to zoom out, refocus, and build with intent.