India’s startup ecosystem is entering a new phase, with founders building businesses that are increasingly ambitious, technology-driven, and focused on solving large-scale problems. As companies move beyond early traction, the ability to build strong teams, establish systems, and develop sustainable business models becomes critical to long-term success.

For Mayank Kachhwaha, General Partner at The Fundamentum Partnership, the journey of building a successful startup begins with understanding the customer and working backwards from the outcome a business hopes to achieve. Having spent around seven years building IndiaLends before moving into venture capital, Mayank brings the perspective of an entrepreneur to his investment approach. In a conversation with Indian Startup Times, he discussed the importance of founder-market understanding, the signals of product-market fit, the challenges of scaling businesses, and why he believes India is entering a golden age for startups.

Building with the Customer in Mind

Mayank’s experience as an entrepreneur has shaped how he evaluates startups today. One of his key learnings is the importance of being strategic about what a company is building and where it intends to go.

While experimentation is an essential part of the startup journey, he believes founders need a clear understanding of the problem they want to solve. Building without sufficient customer feedback can lead to products that struggle to find a genuine market need.

According to Mayank, founders should work from the problem towards the solution rather than developing a product first and searching for a problem later. Understanding customer expectations, listening to feedback, and identifying market needs can help businesses avoid mistakes that compound over time.

For him, the objective is to ensure that the decisions a startup makes today contribute to its long-term direction and growth.

From Entrepreneurship to Venture Capital

Mayank studied mechanical engineering at IIT Madras before working at Capital One, a large banking institution in the United States. He later returned to India to pursue entrepreneurship and founded IndiaLends, spending approximately seven years building the business.

That experience gave him first-hand exposure to the challenges of growing a company, establishing processes, and navigating different stages of the startup journey.

His transition into venture capital was not something he had planned from the beginning. The opportunity to build a venture firm alongside experienced leaders, including Nandan and Sanjeev, drew him towards the industry.

Today, he sees one of the most rewarding aspects of venture investing as the opportunity to work alongside ambitious founders. Beyond providing capital, investors can act as confidants, offer guidance, and help entrepreneurs navigate difficult business decisions.

Product-Market Fit Is About Repeatability

For startups looking to move from early traction to large-scale growth, Mayank identifies repeatability as one of the clearest indicators of product-market fit.

In the early stages, founders typically experiment with multiple ideas, value propositions, and approaches to finding customers. As a business begins to discover what works, certain patterns start becoming consistent.

Founders may develop a clearer understanding of customer acquisition costs, unit economics, and the size of the opportunity they are pursuing. The company also begins to move away from constant experimentation towards focusing on a product or business model that can be scaled.

Mayank believes this transition marks the beginning of the scale-up journey. Once a startup has a repeatable model and a clearer understanding of its economics, it can begin building the foundations required for sustained growth.

However, achieving product-market fit is only one part of the process. The company must also develop the organisational capabilities needed to support its next phase.

Why Founders Remain Central to Investment Decisions

When evaluating a startup, Mayank places significant importance on the founder’s ability to understand the customer, learn quickly, and adapt to a changing business environment.

At the growth stage, investors have more information to assess than they would at the seed stage. There may be customer traction, early evidence of product-market fit, and a clearer picture of the business model. Yet, the founder remains central to the investment decision.

Mayank believes founders need to be resilient, think from first principles, and maintain a long-term perspective. As technology and markets evolve rapidly, particularly in the age of artificial intelligence, businesses may need to rethink what they are building and how they serve their customers.

For him, founders who remain customer-focused, learn rapidly, and build with a long-term vision are better positioned to navigate uncertainty.

Scaling Requires Strong Systems and Leadership

One of the biggest challenges startups face when moving from early traction to rapid growth is the transition from informal working methods to structured operations.

In the early stages, a small team can often make things work through flexibility and quick decision-making. However, as the business grows, informal processes become insufficient.

Mayank highlights the importance of building a strong leadership team, particularly the people reporting directly to the founder. At the Series B stage, he considers the quality of this team an important part of evaluating a company.

Financial reporting, governance, leadership hiring, and well-defined processes also become increasingly important. Businesses need the right people to lead different functions and systems that allow founders to understand performance and make informed decisions.

Without these foundations, even a rapidly growing company can struggle to sustain its momentum. For Mayank, growth is not simply about increasing revenue or acquiring more customers; it is also about building an organisation capable of supporting that growth.

Evaluating Valuation and Business Fundamentals

Valuation becomes more complex when a startup is growing rapidly but has not yet reached profitability. At the Series B stage, investors are often evaluating businesses that have demonstrated traction but still need to develop parts of their long-term economics.

Mayank explains that his approach involves looking at comparable companies in the public markets and assessing what a startup could potentially be worth if it continues growing along its current trajectory.

Investors then work backwards to understand whether the valuation at which they are investing can deliver the returns they expect under a reasonable base-case scenario. Revenue multiples may help inform the assessment, but the potential exit path and longer-term profitability also matter.

He emphasises that valuation is a nuanced exercise and varies across businesses. Ultimately, investors need to assess whether the opportunity can generate the returns they are underwriting.

This approach connects a startup’s growth potential with the financial outcomes required to make an investment worthwhile.

The Role of Investors Beyond Capital

For Mayank, the role of a venture investor extends well beyond funding. At The Fundamentum Partnership, he sees the experience of having built businesses as an important advantage when working with founders.

Investors who understand the entrepreneurial journey can act as thought partners, helping founders brainstorm, evaluate decisions, and work through challenges as their companies evolve.

They can also support leadership hiring, connect startups with relevant advisers, and help businesses develop their go-to-market strategies. Depending on the company’s needs, this may involve bringing in specialists who can help refine sales processes or build stronger commercial functions.

Mayank also highlights board discipline as a key part of the relationship. Regular discussions, constructive feedback, and a structured approach to decision-making can help founders evaluate their progress and identify areas that require attention.

Introductions to potential institutional customers and other relevant stakeholders can provide practical support. However, he believes an investor’s broader value lies in being a trusted partner who helps founders think through important decisions.

Organisational Gaps Can Become Growth Risks

Rapid growth alone does not guarantee that a business is ready for investment. Mayank points to the absence of organisational structure as one of the key warning signs he looks for when evaluating growth-stage companies.

Businesses may achieve strong momentum without developing adequate financial reporting, governance practices, or leadership structures. Over time, these gaps can create problems that undermine the company’s ability to sustain its growth.

He also looks at the strength of the leadership team and whether the organisation depends too heavily on a single individual. Significant leadership churn or the absence of capable people reporting directly to the founder can raise concerns.

Often, these gaps reflect the failure to establish the systems required as a company becomes larger and more complex.

In such cases, investors may choose to revisit an opportunity once the business has strengthened its internal processes and demonstrated greater organisational readiness.

Why Mayank Believes This Is a Golden Age for Indian Startups

Looking ahead over the next five to ten years, Mayank is optimistic about India’s startup ecosystem. He believes the quality, experience, and ambition of founders have improved considerably over the past decade.

Many entrepreneurs today have worked at large, successful companies, where they gained exposure to building products, managing teams, and scaling operations. This experience can give them a clearer understanding of the challenges involved in building a business.

The broader ecosystem has also matured. Founders have access to experienced entrepreneurs, professional networks, and capital providers who can help them navigate different stages of growth.

India’s digital and physical infrastructure has strengthened as well. Improvements in logistics and delivery networks have made it easier for businesses to reach customers across the country. Wider internet access and increasing comfort with online transactions have also expanded the potential market for digital products and services.

Mayank additionally points to India’s digital public infrastructure, including Aadhaar, India Stack, and UPI, as an important foundation for businesses. In financial services, developments such as UPI and account aggregators have contributed to an environment where digital transactions and access to financial data can support new business models.

He is particularly encouraged by the ambition of founders working in areas such as deep technology and artificial intelligence. Rather than focusing exclusively on the Indian market, many are looking to build products for global audiences.

While he believes more growth capital would benefit the ecosystem, he also highlights the need for greater participation from domestic capital, whether deployed through funds or directly into businesses. A stronger domestic capital base could help Indian entrepreneurs build larger companies over the long term.

Building for Long-Term Growth

Mayank’s investment philosophy reflects a broader shift in India’s venture capital landscape, where the ability to scale sustainably is becoming as important as demonstrating early momentum.

For founders, this means understanding customer needs, building repeatable business models, strengthening leadership teams, and putting the right systems in place before organisational gaps become barriers to growth. For investors, it means looking beyond headline growth to assess the people, processes, and economics that can support a business over time.

As India’s startup ecosystem matures, Mayank believes the combination of experienced founders, stronger infrastructure, and growing global ambition creates an opportunity for Indian businesses to build for markets far beyond their home country. The next phase of growth, in his view, will depend on turning that potential into durable, well-managed businesses.