2014
First hire
Tomatodeli
the education you can only pay for in mistakes.
Notebook · Vol. 01 A personal archive
Chandan Kumar · Founder, Grovio Labs · India
Hi, I'm Chandan.
I've run growth at every scale there is — from two-person startups to enterprise portfolios measured in thousands of crores. Across a decade at ByteDance, Foundit, Mahindra Finance, and more, I've helped move ₹5,000+ crores of revenue.
Now I'm doing two things.
Building Grovio Labs — the AI system that does what I used to do manually, autonomously, for everyone else.
And advising a small number of companies per quarter on AI and marketing transformation — helping established teams redesign how they grow.
This is my notebook. The writing, the frameworks, and the field notes from a decade of figuring growth out.
the short story. the long arc is a few scrolls down.
— Chandan
Right now
Updated May 2026 - Building Grovio Labs — a multi-agent AI marketing system. Private beta, from India.
- Writing The Autonomous Marketer — sent when I have something real to say.
- Advising Select companies on AI & marketing transformation. · See how it works →
- Open to Speaking · Podcasts · say hi
The arc
Eleven chapters. One decade. still writing.
2020
ByteDance
Gurugram
where speed became a moat.
2022
Foundit
APAC · Gulf
+45% acquisition. 30+ shipped.
2023
Mahindra
Pan-India
2× revenue. 40% CAC down.
2025
IDFC FIRST
Asset products
+40% YoY, 8 products.
Now
Grovio Labs
Founder
betting the decade.
The notebook
What I'm thinking about out loud.
Page
01
Teardowns · · 18 min read
How boAt Became India's Most-Loved Consumer Brand — A Growth Teardown
boAt crossed ₹3,000 Cr in revenue without a single breakthrough technology. No patents. No proprietary chip. No manufacturing moat. What they built instead was a growth engine that most Indian founders miss entirely.
Page
02
AI Playbooks · · 13 min read
Your CEO Wants AI in Marketing. Here's the Honest Answer.
Every marketing team in India is getting the same memo from leadership right now. Here's the framework for what to actually do — what to automate, what to protect, and what to say back.
Page
03
AI Playbooks · · 11 min read
What AI Marketing Transformation Actually Looks Like in India (And Why Most Companies Get It Wrong)
Most AI marketing initiatives in India stall at the tool-buying stage. Here's what genuine transformation looks like — the decisions, the team changes, and what it actually takes to cross from experimentation to operating advantage.
The work
Case studies, with receipts.
2023 — 2025 · Growth Lead
Mahindra Finance
Leading omni-channel growth across a pan-India customer base — where trust, scale, and unit economics all had to move in the same direction.
read the case →2022 — 2023 · Senior Manager — Growth
Foundit (formerly Monster India, APAC & Gulf)
Scaling growth inside a regional platform rebrand — two new product launches, a referral engine rebuild, and 30+ shipped initiatives across APAC and the Gulf.
read the case →2021 — 2022 · Senior Manager — Growth
WeSkill
First marketing hire at a pre-seed startup. Built the growth function from zero, created the category for kids' extracurricular learning, and hit 60K installs in the first 10 days — with 80% of them converting to signups.
read the case →Work with me
The work, three ways.
AI & Marketing Transformation
I work with a small number of established companies per quarter — helping them redesign their marketing function around AI. Not automation. Transformation. Built for companies at ₹50Cr–₹500Cr ready to move fast.
See how it works →Grovio Labs
The system I built from my decade of doing this manually. Multi-agent AI marketing — autonomous campaigns, brand memory, real publishing. Private beta, limited seats.
Request access ↗Speaking & Podcasts
Keynotes, panels, and interviews on autonomous marketing, growth at stage, and the India-to-global lens.
Book a sessionNewsletter
The Autonomous Marketer
The decade of marketing I wish someone had written down. Sent when I have something real to say — not on a schedule.
Subscribe on SubstackFree. Unsubscribe anytime.
— see you in the writing.
If any of this resonated, the easiest way to keep in touch is The Autonomous Marketer.