Peyush Bansal: The Vision SetterCo-founder and CEO, Lenskart & Shark Tank Judge

Staying true to its cause has been one of the reasons behind the success of Lenskart. But, this hasn't been the case from the start. Spreading far and thin was a problem Lenskart witnessed in its earlier days but good founders know when to set sail right. Helping people find the right visionary aid was one path Peyush Bansal went to lead, his ability to course serves this founder the accolades he receives today. The kind of tongue-in-cheek remarks he's often seen given on the sets of Shark Tank India Season 1 actually hold true to how he is in real life as an entrepreneur. He might make mistakes but he will correct them quickly, secondly, he will stay focused on what he truly believes in.

Globally, Lenskart is the most tech-invested eyewear company in the world today. In India, they are doing eyewear delivery in 3 days, and next year, they are looking at a target of next-day delivery.

Talking about his investment style Bansal believes, "If I don't see clarity in the vision, I don't invest. Sometimes, I could get distracted here and there, but I would say this for 90% of my deals. And if it's a tech Co-founder, then my investment confidence becomes even higher. And thirdly, if I feel that the person is already able to attract talent and ability to bring other Co-founders, and then I think that's sorted."

He goes on to add, "Whatever they are today is not even important, to be honest, what we were 10 years back and what we are today, I don't think you can even tell. And companies pivot all the time, solutions change all the time. What eventually matters is the thought process." So clearly, the bet for him is on the potential. Even while hiring people at Lenskart, Bansal follows the same principle.

Talking about his outlook for investment, Bansal mentioned, "If I run my startup investments through a diligence firm, 70% of people say that it won't earn money and if I look at season 1 my most successful investments are all those that got rejected. But then I tell them that you said it won't make money, and now it definitely will." The man who believes in following his gut went to acquire a Japanese company – a first by an Indian company.

Post Shark Tank, the entrepreneur has become an influencer for the startup community. To this, Bansal believes, "I want to increase Lenskart influencers, for sure. My influence is a by-product of Shark Tank. I'm not tracking my influencing abilities, nor do I want them to increase or decrease. It doesn't matter to me. What I do know is that I have to learn and adopt this channel." The tech-savvy founder says he doesn't understand much of the new-age social media tech.

Talking about his productivity hacks, the shark says, "One hack that I've done is to decide days for a particular task. I have to decide where I want to spend time. So, dividing days in terms of inbound and outbound tasks has helped me."

He goes on to add, "There is nothing better than Google Calendars, Microsoft's To Do list is very good, to keep track of action items or discussion points. You'll see to-do lists on my phone for everything. So I think that helps you to manage things efficiently."

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