Founder @WebVeda, Content creator @wariCrew, Speaker, Author. Eternal Optimist.

My overarching mission is to empower people to make choices in life from a point of awareness, not ignorance.

Over the past 17 years in the internet and technology space, I’ve had the privilege of working on several ventures - founding some, investing in others, and learning from all. 

Over 16 million people follow my work across social platforms, where I share my experiences and insights on career, mindset, startups, personal finance, and relationships.

Today, my main focus is building WebVeda, an online school helping young professionals develop practical life skills across entrepreneurship, personal growth, and career management.
We have over 480,000 paid students worldwide with an average completion rate of 72%.

I have also launched a nation-wide search for the brightest kids in India, offering them a Rs. 10L scholarship, through a program called the India Genius Challenge. 

I’ve also written five bestselling books that have sold 1Mn+ copies worldwide across 63 countries and translated into 17 languages:
- Do Epic Shit (2022)
- Get Epic Shit Done (2023)
- Make Epic Money (2024)
- Build An Epic Career (2025)
- Beyond The Syllabus (2025): for teenagers only

It’s been a journey shaped more by reflection and exploration than certainty, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ankur Warikoo

From my very first day at ISB, the definition of success was already decided for all of us.

- If you get through consulting, you are successful

- Day 1 job, you are successful

- Top 10% of the class, you are successful

- A 3X multiple on your incoming salary, you are successful

- Dress well, speak well, you are successful

This happens to us since the day we were born.

The world is constantly imposing its definition of success and failure on us.
That it's the only definition of success.

So much so that we rarely stop to ask ourselves:
What is MY definition of success?

Try these 3 frameworks to explore your definition:

1. Energy audit: For one week, notice what drains you and what fills you up (activities, people, projects)

Is your current path draining you more than filling you?

2. Regret test: Imagine you're 80, looking back at your life.
What would you regret NOT doing? That's your success.

3. Fundamental identity: Strip away everything external - the salary, the designation, the house.

Now ask: Am I proud of who I'm becoming?

If the answer is no, your definition of success needs rewriting.

The only definition that matters is the one that lets you sleep peacefully at night.

Image credit: 6secondseq on IG

Founder @WebVeda, @IndiaGeniusChallenge • Speaker • 5X Bestselling Author • 16M+ community

10 luxuries not connected to money:

1. You sleep peacefully every night.

2. Your body functions without any pain. 

3. You have someone to grow old with.

5. You have friends who can share your sorrows and joys.

6. You have the permission to say no - without any fear, pressure, or the need to explain.

7. You have the mental space to think, create, and dream. 

8. You get to work on something that feeds your soul.

9. Your parents are still around and you can call them, visit them, and tell them things you never said before.

10. You are your own best friend; you can spend time with yourself without a phone, book, music, or anyone else. Just you.

Inspired by Justin Welsh’s quote on modern luxury!

3 things you can’t control:

1. Consequences of your actions
2. Inflation
3. ‘Log kya kahenge?’ / ‘What will people say?’

3 things you CAN control:

1. Inputs you put into your work
2. Investing in assets that beat inflation
3. Living life on your own terms

Jokes aside - I didn't realise how emotionally free I would feel once I accepted this.

If you divert energy towards what you cannot control, you will feel helpless, naturally.
There is no winning there.

But if you commit time and energy towards what you can control, you reclaim your power.

It shows up in the way you work and how light your days are.

Life is not a perfect picture that needs to get clicked in one go.

Life is a jigsaw puzzle of that perfect picture, where you have to fit the pieces one by one.

You won't get it right the first time.
But you will get it right eventually.

If you want to stay average, say, "Show me."
If you want to grow, say this:
–

For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by magic.

Magic forces you to understand human psychology and emotions.

Growing up, one of my cousins had a whole army of card tricks.
Every time he said, "Nandu, I've learnt a new trick," I'd light up.
"Teach me!" I exclaimed.

(Yes, fun fact: my pet name is Nandu.)

I look back at that moment often because it taught me something far bigger.

Whenever we encounter something new in life, we react in one of two ways:
We either say, "Show me."
Or we say, "Teach me."

And that small difference changes everything.

"Show me" comes from curiosity.
But "teach me" comes from humility.

One makes you an observer.
The other makes you a student.

Observers watch, react, comment, and move on.
Students absorb, reflect, retain, and grow.

If you want to grow, ask people to teach you.

- You accept you don't know
- You accept you are willing to learn
- You acknowledge the opposite person for what they know

Be a student. Forever!

PS: This is a reproduction of my weekly newsletter which I send every Friday to 118,000+ subscribers. In this newsletter I share pics, books, quotes, fun facts and a thought of the week.

Sign up from the link in comments.

An entire generation is being raised with the belief that starting up is the cool thing to do.

Founders becoming millionaires and billionaires.

I don't have a problem with that.

I have a problem when people believe that starting up is the ONLY thing smart people do.

To the extent that those in jobs are ridiculed for being unambitious or for not taking control of their lives.

There is nothing wrong with having a job.
As long as you are happy with it and find meaning in it.

What matters is what you want.

You want the stability and structure of a job – go for it!
You want the rush and excitement of a startup – go for it!
You want a life where you do not want to work – go for it!

Your race is not with the world.
It is not with the one who looks cooler, happier, or is more famous.

Your race is within.
The race is who you were yesterday.

And if you win that race everyday, if you are better than who you were yesterday…
You are truly at peace!

"They are good at coding. I am not."
"They are good at public speaking. I am not."
"They are good at sales. I am not."

This is the most frequent remark I hear when it comes to career growth.

And the most limiting way of looking at one's career!

Most of us think success = being the absolute best at one thing.
That path exists - but it’s not the only path.

A more realistic path is:

Become very good (top 20%) at several skills that rarely overlap.
You’re stacking value.

Am I the best teacher in the world? No.
The best speaker? No.
The biggest creator? No.
The best leader? No.

But I am the sum of all of these. 

Someone who is a teacher, speaks well, has a decent social media following, has a dedicated team whom I care about. 

Individually, these are good-to-have. Nothing extraordinary.
But together, they are valuable.

When you focus on becoming useful, adaptable, and hard to replace, success finds you.

Image via Justin Wright.

They don’t teach this in school, but they should.

These 10 visuals helped me think clearer, lead better, and move faster.

They taught me:

- Why writing is a thinking tool, not just a communication skill
- How high performers aim higher (not lower) when they fall short
- That leadership isn’t about control; it’s about presence and encouragement
- How disciplined struggle can create real freedom
- And why better questions lead to better lives

Visuals via Pejman Milani.

Founder @WebVeda, @IndiaGeniusChallenge • Speaker • 6X Bestselling Author • 16M+ community

10 Visuals to Help You Think Clearer!

The simplest yet powerful tool for success:
Listening.

Struggling to understand someone?
Listen.

Wondering why they behave the way they do?
Listen.

Trying to uncover their true motives, fears, or desires?
Listen.

People are constantly revealing who they are, if we truly listen.

Not just through what they say, but through what they avoid, repeat, and emphasise. 

And something surprising happens when you listen deeply to others:

You begin to hear yourself more clearly too. 
Your reactions, your patterns, and your blind spots. 

Listening outward sharpens your inner awareness.

Thanks to Justin Wright for this lovely graphic!

Gentle reminder:

You are living someone else’s dream life.
And that someone could be your younger self too.

Don’t wait for the good days to pass by to see how beautiful life is.

Make happiness a routine.
Find gratitude every day in all that you do - because there is truly so much to be grateful for ♥️

Thanks to Jade Bonacolta for this beautiful list.

What a privilege...

Every single day, I get emails from people in well-paid jobs, working with great brands, in envious roles. Yet unhappy.

Because their boss doesn't respect them.
Because their team members do not help.
Because people around them do not inspire.
Because the team is dysfunctional.

And it reminds me why some companies are able to achieve phenomenal growth, while others simply can't:

What separates these companies is not ambition or intelligence.

It is how people are made to feel.
Because that drives how they act.

I've seen teams with average skills on paper outperform star-studded ones, simply because people felt respected.

I've also seen incredible talent shrink when the environment felt unsafe.

So the next time you are looking for a job, don't just pick the highest salary or the best brand.

Do your research.

Ask during interviews - how do teams work, how does feedback flow, why do people leave, why do they stay?

Find out what it will be like to live in this team, before you actually live in the team.

How you feel in your job is going to matter a lot more than how much you earn in your job.

PS: This is a reproduction of my weekly newsletter which I send every Friday to 122,000+ subscribers. In this newsletter I share pics, books, quotes, fun facts and a thought of the week.

Sign up from the link in comments.

These 10 books will unsettle you - in a good way.

The assumptions you have about success,
The trade-offs you’ve been making,
Where your time and energy flows,

They’ll question what the world has taught you and urge you to ask the right questions.

To build a life *you* love.

If you’ve read a book that has fundamentally changed your way of thinking, share it in the comments!

10 Books That Change How You Think About A Good Life

IQ isn’t the biggest determinator of success.
EQ is.

It’s like chess - you are dealing with unpredictable experiences and emotions every day.

Your emotions and others’.

Choosing the right move can make all the difference.

This list of 9 EQ skills by Justin Wright will transform how your career compounds.

9 Rare Emotional Intelligence Skills

The best things we desire in life - wealth, skill, trust, work, relationships - don’t respond to speed.

They respond to time.

But that’s not our default way of thinking.
We’re taught to optimise for the next goal and quick results.

Better outcomes often stem from long-term thinking.
Being patient where others rush.
Building where others react.
And these 9 books will make you think long-term with patience and clarity.

9 Books for Results That LAST!

LinkedIn

Senior Software Engineer

Software Engineer

Strand Life Sciences

Working in the development of Strand NGS (Desktop App) and as a backend developer in Strandomics (Web App).
Strand NGS is used to analyze and visualize genetic data. Strandomics is a cloud-based platform that drives the interpretation and reporting for NGS based clinical tests.
As a Software Engineer in Strand NGS I have worked in exploring, ideating, designing and developing end-to-end work-flows/algorithms/visualizations as well as on improving features. In this project,I have worked on Java/C++/R, Java Swing for UI, Python/Shell scripting and PostgresSQL database management system.
As a Backend Developer in Strandomics, I take care things from the data access layer to the web end points. In this project I have worked on Java, MySQL for persistent storage, Redis for maintaining memory cache.

Software Engineer II

Associate Software Engineer II

Associate Software Engineer I

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

Teaching Assistant for Comp. Lab-I, Comp. Lab-II and Compiler Design
I assisted students in their difficulties, conducted exams and fairly graded them based on their performance.

Teaching Assistant

With an experience of more than 3 years in Software Development, I have made significant contributions to Strand NGS (a Desktop Application) and Strandomics (a Web Application). During my tenure, I gained experiences ranging from ideation, scoping, estimation, implementation and delivery. I also got the opportunity to develop Confounding Variable Analysis Workflow, which is one of its kind across all professional tools around the world. I am significantly interested in Machine Learning with relevant project experiences during my Masters in IIT Kanpur. I have qualified twice among the Top 20 teams of Valeo Innovation Challenge (an International student contest with over 1000 participants across the globe).

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Ankur Warikoo

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ankur Warikoo's LinkedIn Performance

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