Most start-ups don’t fail because they lack funding, talent, or ambition. They fail because they lose their centre. Somewhere between the pitch deck and the pursuit of scale, the original reason for existence gets diluted. At RevSportz, the starting point was never a business plan. It was a question: Can Indian sport be covered with honesty, depth, and dignity beyond cricket? Four years later, that question still defines us. In the time that I have been associated with RevSportz, I have seen these six principles at work, and I daresay they would hold up for any start-up.
RevSportz did not enter the sports media space to add to the noise. It entered to address a glaring absence. Olympic and Paralympic sports in India were treated as events, not ecosystems. Athletes were celebrated in moments of glory and abandoned during phases of preparation. Fans were counted, but rarely respected. That lacuna shaped the RevSportz philosophy: cover sport in its entirety, or don’t pretend to be a sports platform at all.
The first principle every start-up needs is clarity of purpose, and RevSportz has been unambiguous on that front. We chose to invest in non-cricket sports when the return on investment was uncertain and the audience supposedly “limited”. We chose depth over virality and on-ground reporting over studio shouting matches. That clarity allowed us to make difficult choices consistently, and consistency over time builds credibility.
The second principle is conviction in the face of scepticism. RevSportz was often told that covering Olympic and Paralympic sport at scale was not commercially viable. But conviction is not romantic idealism; it is informed stubbornness. When athletes like Sumit Antil, or Satwik and Chirag, speak about feeling seen and supported, it validates the belief that meaningful coverage creates its own value. Trust from athletes and federations cannot be bought – it can only be earned.
The third principle is ecosystem thinking, not just audience chasing. RevSportz was built on the belief that sport does not exist in isolation. Fans, athletes, corporates, federations, and administrators are all part of the same ecosystem. Our partnerships with leading Indian corporates and the support of India’s top athletes did not come from transactional thinking, but from an alignment of values. Start-ups that think only in terms of clicks rarely shape industries.
The fourth principle is team before individual. RevSportz is not a founder-led vanity project. It is a collective of 50-plus people who believe in the same mission. Awards, including the ENBA recognition for Best Digital Sports News Channel, belong to the team, not individuals. Start-ups that survive understand that culture scales faster than charisma. “Awards are vindication, not the destination. For us at RevSportz, the real measure of success is whether athletes trust us and fans feel represented,” says Founder and CEO Boria Majumdar.
The fifth principle is patience with ambition. RevSportz has grown steadily, not spectacularly – and that is by design. Building a credible sports platform in India, especially one that goes beyond cricket, requires time, trust, and repetition. With expanded on-ground coverage planned and a major athlete-led conclave set for March, the ambition is clear. But it is anchored in patience, not impatience.
Finally, a start-up succeeds when it centres the stakeholder that matters most. At RevSportz, that stakeholder is the fan – and the athlete. Every sofa is a stadium, but every story is lived somewhere else first. When fans are let down, as they were in Kolkata, it is the responsibility of platforms like ours to speak up. When athletes feel ignored, it is a failure of the ecosystem—and one RevSportz consciously works to correct.
RevSportz wants to make a difference and be the change that is needed. The awards are affirmation, not arrival points. The journey is ongoing, and the principles remain non-negotiable. Be critical, engage, disagree civilly, but stay involved. Because start-ups that succeed don’t just build businesses. They build belief. And belief, when sustained collectively, is what truly changes ecosystems.
For a holistic sports coverage, follow RevSportz
