Varun Agarwal

Varun Agarwal
Varun Agarwal
Varun Agarwal
Born (1986-12-06) 6 December 1986 (age 38)
Bangalore, India
OccupationAuthor, entrepreneur, film maker and investor
NationalityIndian
Notable worksHow I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded A Million Dollar Company
Website
varunagarwal.in

Varun Agarwal (born 6 December 1986) is an Indian entrepreneur, film maker and author. He has co-founded three companies and authored a national bestseller, How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded a Million Dollar Company.[1][2][3]

Early life

Brought up in Bangalore, Varun did his schooling from Bishop Cotton Boys' School and studied engineering at CMR Institute of Technology.[1]

Entrepreneur

Varun has co-founded three startups, Alma Mater, an online store for merchandise especially for students of colleges and schools which was started in 2009, Reticular, a social media marketing company started in 2010, and Last Minute Films, a production company for online video content which was started in 2005.[4][5][6]

Alma Mater

Varun says that the current aim of the company is to become profitable as well as more responsible.[7]

Alma Mater has also launched a customised online Do-It-Yourself (DIY) online T-shirt maker tool called PLAY. The user can join or create a group, make custom T-shirts with an online editing tool, share it with friends and group members and invite others to join.[8][9]

Mento

Varun Agarwal also founded an online e-learning platform name Mento[10] which is also India's first Ed-tech platform[11] for creative courses.

Author

How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded a Million Dollar Company was rolled out in 2012 by Rupa publishers and is a national bestseller. ‘How I Braved Anu Aunty & Co-founded A Million Dollar Company’ had already hit the number 5 spot on the Amazon India bestsellers list.[6][1]

Music Video

He has teamed up with a Bangalore-based stand-up comedian Sanjay Manaktala to make a music video called ‘Anu Aunty, Engineering Anthem’ based on his book.[12] This video, which went viral, was featured on The Enthu Cutlets, a channel promoted by Varun in 2014 to showcase Bengaluru's comedians.[13][14][15][16]

The Movie

Siddharth Roy Kapur and Ronnie Screwvala will be making a movie which is an adaptation of Varun's book ‘How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-founded A Million Dollar Company’. Nitesh Tiwari, who directed the Bollywood movie Dangal, is working on this new film.[17][18][19][16]

Motivational speaker

Varun is one of the prominent storytellers and motivational speakers in India. Varun has also given INK talks, the Indian version of TED, where he shares his story. His first INKTalk's speech has marked more than 750,000 views on YouTube and is constantly increasing. He has given talks to executives at Unilever in London, college students in Pune and to employees of tobacco firm Philip Morris in Macau.[12][3][20]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Varun Agarwal – Keynote speaker". London Speaker Bureau. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Being independent". The Hindu. Metroplus. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Braving Anu Aunty". The Hindu. The Hindu. 12 March 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Koramangala is a convenient location for entrepreneurs: Varun Agarwal". indiatimes.com. 9 December 2013. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  5. ^ "Notes to Myself". The Hindu. 18 May 2012.
  6. ^ a b Satyendran, Nita (22 December 2013). "Making a statement". The Hindu. The Hindu. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  7. ^ Chaudhary, Apurva. "Indian Angel Network Invests In Almamaterstore.in". MediaNama. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Young Guns Of India". India Today. 29 December 2011.
  9. ^ SARKAR, NEEI. "PLAY on your own". The Hindu. The Hindu. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  10. ^ Mento. "Mento". Mento. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  11. ^ "An Education Startup With A Clear Philosophy: Grades Don't Matter". Forbes India. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  12. ^ a b Rai, Saritha (12 January 2015). "Engineering a Revolution". The Indian Express. The Indian Express. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  13. ^ Myrtle Lazarus, Susanna. "One up on Anu Aunty". MetroPlus. The Hindu. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  14. ^ "City's best tubes tickle". The New Indian Express. Express News Service. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  15. ^ "Watch Varun Agarwal's Anu Aunty video go viral". IBN Times. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  16. ^ a b Agarwal, Stuti (17 May 2017). "Anu Aunty goes to Bollywood". Times of India. TNN. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  17. ^ Bhattacharya, Roshmila. "DANGAL DIRECTOR NITESH TIWARI GEARING UP TO TAKE A NOVEL ROUTE NOW". The Times Group. Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  18. ^ "'Dangal' director wants Varun Dhawan for his next". The Times of India. PTI. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  19. ^ Mid-Day, Team. "When aunties make books happen". Mid-Day. Mid-Day. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  20. ^ Sharma, Piyush (6 July 2017). "From Running A YouTube Channel To Bollywood, This Is The Inspirational Tale Of Varun Agarwal". MensXP. Retrieved 13 November 2017.