Influencers Inc. NEW-AGE CREATORS

If one has to name one word which has gone from the most used to being most abused that word might be influencer. From being a phenomenon and a ride everyone was raving about, people are now talking about its perils. From influencers, finding their sure-shot way of success once they cross a million mark in terms of followers, most of them are traversing different paths of being an actor, entrepreneur, author and whatnot. Why tie down yourself to a handheld screen when you can be much more. Our annual Influencers Inc edition this year aims to understand where the industry is heading.

- PUNITA SABHARWAL WITH PAROMITA GUPTA, SHRABONA GHOSH, AYUSHMAN BARUAH, ADITYA PRAN MAHANTA, MINAKSHI SANGWAN AND SHIVANI TIWARI

MOTIVATION

Entrepreneur and Youth Icon

ANKUR WARIKOO

AUTHOR, CONTENT CREATOR AND FOUNDER, WEBVEDA

Good content is all about the art of storytelling and authenticity based on unique personal experiences. Serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, online educator, youth icon, and internet sensation. Ankur Warikoo wears many hats. But surely he has been an entrepreneur for the longest duration of over 15 years. Between 200910, he built his first venture called SecondShaadi.​com along with several other websites across automobile, education, and finance. Of them, Gaadi.​com became popular which eventually got acquired by goibibo.com in 2010. Post SecondShaadi.​com and Gaadi.​com, in 2011, Ankur started Groupon’s India business as the founding CEO and led the business for 4 years until 2015. In 2013, he was also given the additional responsibility of managing Groupon APAC countries of Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Instagram: 3.7 M

YouTube Subscribers: 56.7 lakh

In 2015, Ankur did something quite audacious. Along with the core management team of Groupon India, he bought the Groupon India business from Groupon and made it into an independent entity. Thus started nearbuy, which was funded by Sequoia. He acted as the CEO of nearbuy until 2019 when he stepped down along with two other founders. That’s when Ankur’s content creation journey really kickstarted. “Soon, Covid happened and I had lot of time on my hand. That’s when I started content in a more disciplined manner,” he says.