Ankur Warikoo: Thoughts On Life And Business

Ankur Warikoo needs no introduction – he has built, run and exited successful businesses, has invested in many and engages his humongous social media following through his insightful posts. We sat down for a conversation on life business. For my personal reference, I have transcribed what I learnt from the conversation. Hope it helps you too 🙂

Mudit: You say “Make sure all the choices you make in life come from a point of awareness and not ignorance.” Can you explain that?

Ankur: When I got decent marks in 10th, I knew I had to join the science stream. I did not bother to check what commerce and arts had to offer – I did not speak with anyone. Many years later, I realised I enjoyed doing something much different. Today, 80% of my work is arts, 15% is commerce and 5% is science.

Make sure that when you make a decision, know enough about the decision you are not making.

M: What has been your best and worst investment?

A: Best investment decision – My life partner

(I could almost hear the women watching the live conversation go “Awwwww”)

Worst investment decision – None. There is a learning attached to each so none are worse.

M: What does your typical day look like?

A:  4:30 am – Wake up (Yikes!)

4:30 am to 6:30 am – Reading, meditation and “me” time

Work

Respond to notifications (not easy to keep 1.2 Million people engaged)

Work

6:30 pm – Dinner

9:00 pm – Bedtime

(Warikoo making nerdy the new cool)

M: If you had to build a business right now, what would it be?

A: I am still figuring out. It has to be something which impacts a lot of people and to which everyone says “That is impossible!” (Typical Warikoo)

M: You said it is the 1% people that move the company forward. How do you identify that 1%?

A: By design, that 1% proportion cannot increase. There is no clear heuristic to identify them – personally, I look for hunger and curiosity as top factors to know it’s them.

M: What is something that you believe earlier that you do not believe now?

A: I used to believe that empathy can be taught. I now know that it is natural – you either have it, or you do not.

M: In 2015, you bought the Groupon India business and founded Nearbuy. Can you take us through the behind-the-scenes of that decision?

A: Yes, Groupon as a global entity could afford to pay only limited attention to India. We thought that the market had more potential and came up with this crazy idea to make them an offer to buy the business – and so it happened!

M: What does the ‘ideal life’ mean to you?

A: The freedom to do what I want to do with giving a F#$% about what others think. 🙂