Entrepreneur in Residence

Lenskart; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 6,000,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Lenskart is seeking an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) to work directly with leadership on 0-to-1 initiatives, new business lines, or high-priority strategic projects—with founder-level autonomy and scale backing.

You will own end-to-end initiatives, move fast, build lean, and partner with category, ops, tech, and leadership to turn ideas into measurable outcomes. Prior startup experience is highly regarded, with a willingness to base in Delhi NCR or Bengaluru.

Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years as a founder or co-founder of a venture.
• 5–15 years total experience combining founder time with operating, consulting, or high-growth roles.
• D2C background strongly preferred with ownership of customer acquisition or growth.
• Track record of building from ground up including fundraising or team hiring.

Responsibilities

• Own a defined charter end-to-end—from problem definition to execution to scale-up.
• Operate with founder-like ownership: move fast, lean, iterate on real feedback.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with category, ops, tech, and leadership to unblock execution.
• Build and pitch business cases and drive plans to measurable outcomes.
• Advise leadership on emerging opportunities and internal innovation bets.
• Possibly build and lead a small team as initiatives mature.

Skills

Founder experience

First-principles thinking

Ownership mindset

Bias for action

Ambiguity tolerance

Cross-functional collaboration

Stakeholder management

Decision making

Job description

About the Role

Lenskart is looking for an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) - someone who has built something from scratch, felt the weight of ownership, and knows what it takes to go from zero to one. This isn't a traditional corporate hire. We want ex-founders who bring first-principles thinking, bias for action, and comfort with ambiguity into a high-growth, execution-heavy environment. The EIR will work directly with leadership on 0-to-1 initiatives, new business lines, or high-priority strategic projects -with the mandate and autonomy of a founder, backed by Lenskart's scale, data, and distribution.

What You'll Do

• Own a defined charter (new initiative, business line, or strategic project) end-to-end — from problem definition to execution to scale-up
• Operate with founder-like ownership: make decisions fast, build lean, iterate based on real feedback rather than process
• Work cross-functionally with category, ops, tech, and leadership teams to unblock execution
• Build and pitch business cases, structure ambiguous problems into workable plans, and drive them to measurable outcomes
• Act as a thinking partner to leadership on emerging opportunities, market shifts, and internal innovation bets
• Potentially build and lead a small team as the initiative matures

What Makes This Role Different

• Direct access to leadership and real business mandates - not a rotational or shadow program
• Autonomy to define how a problem gets solved, not just execute someone else's plan
• A path to owning a P&L or a full business unit based on performance
• Exposure to Lenskart's scale (retail, tech, supply chain, and consumer data) - distribution most standalone D2C founders never get to work with.

Requirements Who We're Looking For

• Minimum 2 years as a founder or co-founder of a venture - startup experience is a plus but not mandatory
• 5–15 years total experience , combining founder time with either operating, consulting, or high-growth company experience
• D2C background strongly preferred - prior founder or operating experience in a direct-to-consumer business (retail, fashion, F&B, beauty, consumer tech, or similar) where you owned customer acquisition, unit economics, or category growth firsthand
• A track record of building something from the ground up - raising capital, acquiring customers, hiring a team, or navigating a shutdown/pivot all count as relevant proof points
• Strong first-principles problem solving; comfortable operating without a playbook
• High ownership mindset - treats company problems like personal problems
• Excellent stakeholder management - can navigate a large organization while retaining founder-speed instincts
• Willingness to be based out of Delhi NCR or Bangalore

Experience Level Senior Level