The Experiential Coach
For Ankur Warikoo, there are two pillars for success: consistency and authenticity
By Saurabh Kumar •
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
"Do Epic Shit': that is not only the name of the book written by this entrepreneur, teacher, content creator and mentor, but it is also his life motto. "It means doing things that are greater than yourself, while having fun doing it," said Ankur Warikoo who is also an Internet entrepreneur and a public speaker.
Warikoo mentors first-time entrepreneurs and conducts digital courses on entrepreneurship, careers and personal growth. Besides, he is a social media influencer with 4 million-plus followers across YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
A prominent face on social media and donning so many hats today, journey of Warikoo started as a management consultant with Kearney where he worked for three years across Delhi, Dubai and New York. In 2008, he co-founded his first startup Accentium Web along with two batchmates from the Indian School of Business that ran websites such as Gaadi.com and Secondshaadi.com, among others. He then launched Rocket Internet's India business and was part of the founding team of Jabong.com.
Eventually in 2015, Warikoo founded Nearbuy.com, a famous and successful lifestyle app. He was the CEO of Nearbuy.com from its inception in 2015 until 2019. Prior to that, he was the founding CEO of Groupon's India business in 2011 and acted as the country CEO for the period 2011-15, and head of Groupon APAC during 2013-15.
Till date, more than 80,000 students have attended his courses and he loves spending time with first-time entrepreneurs hoping he can help them not make the same mistakes he made when he started up.
As an influencer, he believes every platform appeals to a different persona and has a different format that works for that persona. "Instagram is for quick consumption and appeals to the youth. YouTube is long format consumption and LinkedIn is text format and appeals to working professionals. Understanding these nuances can help you create different personas as well, for yourself," said Warikoo.
His suggestion for people aspiring to be influencers is to start with one platform and do a great job of that, before moving across other platforms. Warikoo added that one should remain consistent and authentic in whatever content one is creating. "If you are consistent, the algorithm of the platform and the audience will reward you. And the only way to be consistent, is to do something that is authentically you. If you do not have to become anyone else to do what you do, you will never struggle to be consistent," he added.
The personal growth coach also recommends that one should not take criticism or trolls to heart. "I pay attention to the message and not the messenger. Think about it this way: every feedback, if taken for what it is worth and worked upon, will only make you better. So the world is actually telling you how to improve. But the minute you take it personally, you will never grow!"
