Inspirational, innovative, creative mind, and a Kashmiri full of encouragement are the words that come in mind when we talk about the entrepreneur Ankur Warikoo.
What made him succeed?
Whenever, according to society, he was successful, he switched and started doing something else.
How can someone who is not following the social norms be inspiring?
How can someone Quit his own company Groupon and other significant companies willingly in his right mind and still taste the fruit of success?
We are going to feed all of your curious minds but let’s start with the central question
What made a middle-class Kashmiri Pandit from a Warikoo clan this successful?
In a world where no one is paying attention to develop creative minds. Where primary focus is to mass-produce engineers.
Where if you don’t opt science after 10th or if you wish to follow your dreams.
You will be considered a loser.
In that kind of horrifying world, Ankur Warikoo Born on August 25, 1980, is a rebel from the very beginning of his career.
| Qualifications Ankur Warikoo completed his 12th from Don Bosco School, Delhi, then he joined Hindu college and completed his bachelor’s in science. ( physics ). After that, He started doing a Ph.D. in Physics from Michigan State University. But he later dropped out, finishing his MS. Then he finally joined The Indian School of Business and completed his MBA in Finance. |
Now, He was clueless on what to do like any other person he took advice from his friends, family. All collectively suggested him to do an MBA. He started doing an MBA but that too with a twist he chose the Indian School Of Business, which was not very popular back then and was brand new and expensive.
Yes, just like that Although he had a word with his father, who was shocked as any father would. But Ankur had made up his mind, so he came back to India.So He Quit.A man with a motto to ‘Do Epic Shit’ writes a Gratitude letter every day. He has faced many hurdles but overcame every single one of them. When he went to do P.h.D. in physics, he was very good at what he was learning there. But he realized that was not something that he loved. Completing his P.H.D. was not making him excited enough to continue.
I am highlighting the expense part because Ankur was not very wealthy back then, and being in a middle-class family, his father was not either. So to enter that business school, he had to take a loan of whooping 14 Lakhs, which was a huge amount back then.
And for what?
His father asked him. And his father was right on his part. Indian School of business had no track record as it was new. “There was no return of investment,” his father said. Ankur even asked that “ what’s the guarantee that you won’t come back to square one after this course” and to that, Ankur answered, “there’s no guarantee, but this is what that makes me happy, and I want to pursue it.”
He did he gave the exam and got selected, then took admission and completed his MBA with flying colors. He learned many things from the interactions which he had with different people.
Ankur Warikoo’s family members
Ankur warikoo is happily married to Ruchi Budhiraja Warikoo. She is Ankur’s high school sweetheart. She met her when he was in the Hindu college, and she was in Miranda house. They were introduced to each other on the way to college on a bus where almost everyday Ruchi with her group use to play dumb charades. She is the only one who understand and supports him unconditionally. They were blessed with a child who they named Vidur.
After MBA
After completing his MBA, he landed a job at A.T.Kearney. as a management consultant. He met with so many people, made some great friends who helped him. But once again, when everything was going on smoothly, and his parents were happy, he did something which was not very assuring to his father.
Ankur was contacted about an idea to provide a second chance of marriage to the ones who were not satisfied with the first. And that was Secondshaddi.com. He joined him and was working on this project after the office and on weekends. But after some time, this business became successful and needed more attention to succeed even further.
So, he again went to his father and told him that he wants to quit and join a website called secondshaddi.com without any salary ( all the profit was being re-invested). At this time, his father lost his cool, but still, Ankur managed to persuade him and joined secondshaddi.com full time. They ran it for 1.5 years, sold it, and made a profit.
He was again uncertain as to what to do further with his life. He joined rocket internet for some time then became CEO of Near buy worked for four years. And now, after all the hard work, he and his team made the company cash-flow positive. Now you all must be thinking that he had changed. But no, he again will step down from his position of CEO from Near buy this November.
Ankur Warikoo said
“It’s been such a pleasure and honor leading the company for all these years. I am so proud of the team we have built, the culture we have established, and the relationships we have formed in the ecosystem,”
Ankur is going to leave the company in the hands of Ravi Shankar and Snehesh Mitra.
What will Ankur Warikoo do now?
He is uncertain. Uncertainty has always excited him, and that constant fear of the unknown is terrific. Never regret if you made any decision. If you fail, never give excuses. Failures will teach you but never be comfortable with them. Always play to win. Your best shot is only best if you win. He is not sure of what he will do next, but he still is happy and is trying to live each moment.