‘What worked at ₹100 cr did not work at ₹1000 cr’: Marico’s Harsh Mariwala reveals the secret sauce to scaling up a startup

For many businesses or startups, the only way to scale up is to attract more funding, but, for Harsh Mariwala, Chairman of Marico Ltd, one of India’s leading consumer goods companies, there’s something else that entrepreneurs and the founder community require: the appetite for constant reinvention.

Sharing a key insight from Marico’s journey, Mariwala today took to the social media site X (formerly Twitter) to reveal the secret ingredient that worked in scaling Marico up and taking it to greater heights.

“Every time we scaled a business vertical at Marico Limited, we outgrew some systems. What worked at ₹100 crore did not work at ₹1000 [crore],” the veteran business tycoon revealed.

Mariwala said that it is his fundamental belief that what works for a business or a startup at an early stage often becomes ineffective as the scale increases.

“That is when founders must choose between comfort and reinvention,” he added.

According to Mariwala, the real challenge lies not only with how a product or a company evolves with scale, but how it changes founders.

“You either reinvent your processes, your team, even your role or you risk becoming the bottleneck,” he wrote.

Mariwala, who also founded the Marico Innovation Foundation (MIF), has built Marico into a leading consumer products giant in the beauty and wellness space, operating across more than 25 countries in Asia and Africa. In an earlier conversation with Fortune India, Mariwala had spoken about changing the innovation landscape in corporate India.

For him, the mark of a great entrepreneur lies in their ability to turn disruptions — whether technological, geopolitical, or environmental — into opportunities. To Fortune India, Mariwala had underscored the need for a consumer-centric mindset, constant iteration, and global awareness.

He even emphasised the importance of fostering a culture that encourages experimentation. According to him, leaders must allow room for “intelligent failures” — efforts that may not succeed but are based on sound reasoning and a willingness to test ideas at small scale before expanding them.

“Growth demands self-renewal. That is true for businesses and truer for leaders,” he added.

In essence, Mariwala’s message to founders is clear: Scale demands evolution, be it in strategy, systems, and self. The ability to reinvent is not just a competitive edge, it’s a necessity.