ANKUR WARIKOO

Are 24 hours in a day ever enough for some? We often wonder how a few individuals are driven and committed to everything they dip their toes into. But, if there's one thing common in all successful people, it's the audacity to dream beyond. While we may assume that their journey begins on the day they earn fame, it doesn't. They've perhaps embarked on this journey years before they've realized they'll arrive here. A childhood dream, a desire to disrupt, or a strong interest in educating those around — some are always hungry and curious. And honestly, that is what makes them who they are!

Ankur Warikoo is more than just an entrepreneur. No one definition fits him; he has been doing something unique and purpose-driven during every phase of his life. He is the co-founder of Nearbuy, and before that, he launched Groupon in India in 2011. Right now, he is an investor, public speaker, multimedia content creator and creates insightful courses such as Complete Guide to Starting Up, How to Speak Effectively, etc.

Apart from educating and dropping truth bombs on Twitter, Ankur is a hustler in an absolute sense, and this is how his journey unfurls.

Our childhood usually shapes our future, and while all kids don't sketch their future out, Ankur did. Even as a child, he had a plan — he wanted to do his Ph.D. in the US, become a NASA space scientist, and then be the first man to reach Mars. In 2002, his father took a loan of INR 55,000 to pay for a one-way ticket to the US for his Ph.D. But here's a twist in the tale: although he was good at physics, his heart wasn't in it. So, he decided to drop out and move back to India. Soon, he joined the Indian School of Business (ISB). After graduating, he worked as a management consultant at Kearney while managing SecondShaadi.com. He worked at Kearney for three years before building several startups.

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As a youngster, he took pride in pursuing his goals, but in hindsight, he realizes it was based on how the world would perceive him on achieving those goals. The journey that'd lead him to the goals didn't matter then. 

"The outcome seemed fascinating! I'd see myself as a NASA scientist, and thought oh my god, people would say Ankura Warikoo is a NASA scientist. Look at that dude; he did it! But I didn't fall in love with the journey that would lead me to be a scientist. And that wasn't an easy one; no journey that takes you to that level is, and today I'm wiser. I recognize that if you don't fall in love with the journey or the path, you'll rarely be content with what you eventually get. Even if you get it!"

Unlike many individuals who prepare themselves for larger-than-life goals with mock speeches or winning medals — Ankur remained realistic. He always saw himself getting ahead to a certain point and enjoying it for an extended period rather than relishing just that moment.

Anyone following Ankur would have observed the words Do Epic Shit on his social media profiles. The story begins in 2013 when Ankur's closest friends (also entrepreneurs) gifted him a poster with 'Do Epic Shit' scribbled on it. Back then, he was at Groupon, and the poster was on his desk. With a relatively small desk, there was no way he could have missed the poster. He recollects looking at it constantly.

Entrepreneurs thrive in challenging environments, and Ankur remarks starting up is always an option for entrepreneurs. While it's a journey they constantly fall in love with, he admits he isn't disillusioned and understands the behavior of the VC-funded startup world. Having raised from Sequoia Capital and sold to Paytm, he has worked and learned from the best Indian investors.

That's how he decided not to pick a job or work for others. If he has to work on his terms, he will set up an incredibly patient company, which he's building now. Ankur says it may take them ten years for the world to see their product, but he is in no rush. 

"It's bootstrapped and profitable from day one. It doesn't have anything that will set me up on a glamor treadmill on Twitter, YourStory, or Inc 42. Most people will call me a duffer or a sellout for what I'm doing. They will not even understand the game, but I'm okay with it because I am running it at my pace on my terms. I have a terrific team, and there's no pressure of time or money knocking at my door for taking short-term decisions."

Ankur says he didn't pick this journey; instead, it chose him. He started blogging in 2005 when he joined ISB to document his MBA life. His site still holds all the archives; in 2016, he took to crafting video content on LinkedIn, and in 2017, he started his YouTube journey. The content on every platform had a different purpose. 

"In 2016, we wanted to create a persona for people to come work for Nearbuy. Although we weren't the best brand or paying top dollars, we were proud of our culture and leveraged it to attract people. On YouTube, I hosted Warikoo Wednesdays, which was one of the products I launched early on."

Up until he stepped down as Nearbuy's CEO, Ankur was doing it all alone. He made his videos using a phone and mic and turned to interns for uploading and subtitling. Now, he has a team.

That’s when he had a revelation — while running something without the pressure of making money or taking it to a certain point, you allow yourself to discover where it can go. 

"This is the big difference between what I would call bootstrapping your entire life or running your life on an investor's money. The investor's money could be your parents, but you're perpetually under debt because of the pressure from society or parents. And when you're perpetually under debt, emotionally or financially, you make short-term life decisions. It makes you think you've got debts to pay, but when you have none, you tend to live life on your terms. Whether it's a startup, life, career, or anything else — it just manifests itself."

Around 2016, Ankur stumbled upon Johannes Hashuffer's resume — a professor at NYU who wrote an insightful piece on his academic tenure and how he applied to various universities. In that piece, he mentions how people assume he is successful when they look at him, which is an excellent achievement for an academic. Still, they rarely know of his failures or the number of rejected papers. Then, he came up with a failure resume, categorizing his failures under academic failures, research failures, etc. This fascinated Ankur, and he found this resume quite incredible because resumes are honestly dumping documents for our achievements or brand promotions.

Growth and success may mean different things to different people, but everyone holds on to a tangible method to measure them. Ankur reveals he is guilty of measuring success based on outcomes and later recognized that it didn't sit well with him because most goals or targets were desires. Whether professional or personal, goals and success are pinned to our interest in getting somewhere.

As a part of the process or journey, what you do is what eventually matters. Ankur and his team don't yoke their strategy to the growth of followers, views, or engagement; their strategy revolves around their content. Are we pushing content on time? Are we writing timeless and helpful content? Are we authentic, candid, and relevant? If we're making mistakes, are we admitting to them? — These questions include their measure of growth, and the team measures itself based on the content quality, depth of information, and user engagement. With people reaching out to the team with feedback and positive words, it's a nod in the right direction. 

"I'm lucky the numbers are working out because we're not incentivizing for those numbers. We just look at them once a week because we just want everything in one Excel sheet. But every discussion and conversation is about content, the number of courses, course quality, and their structure — everything stems from these."

As a firm believer in how Amazon functions, Ankur too focuses on the input, controls the controllable and believes the output takes care of itself. A sound plan, if you ask any sane one around.

For starters, Ankur is building the slowest ever ed-tech startup, and it will perhaps be the most patient company to ever come out of India. As he mentioned, it doesn't matter, even if it takes ten years to come to fruition. While that's one thing where his energies are focussed, he is also keen on working with able creators who lack distribution. He intends to be their front face, introduce them to the world, and hopefully transmit the trust he has fostered to them. Besides, he has elaborate plans for creators' course content, which will be available on YouTube. 

"So the aim is when we hit a million on YouTube, which should happen between two to three months, we will launch a course, which will be symbolic because its launch is to help people get to a million. We were at 7,000 subscribers in March 2020, so this isn't a journey that transpired over several years; it's a one-and-a-half-year journey to go from 7,000 to two million subscriptions. My team will lead the entire course because they are the ones who put the course together along with me."

One thing is for sure: these courses will help the creators expand their horizons. Encompassed with rich experiences while keeping it real — perhaps creators may find the proper ammo to evolve. And for Ankur, we're convinced he'll continue to create and inspire those around him. An exciting future awaits!