Kurogo

Content Writer

We create thought leaders through personal branding

Post-Grad Survival Guide

Took over the publication from my friend Tom. With 44K+ followers on Medium, we're one of the biggest publications on Medium. We help 20-somethings live happier & healthier lives.

Editor in Chief

FinGhost.io

Helping finance and real estate professionals build their audiences on LinkedIn

Writer

Foundry 

Writing content for world-class professionals and industry leaders across niches such as Law, Tech, AI, Business, and more.

Kohort

Head of Content

Building the copy for the website, creating eye-catching LinkedIn posts for the founder, and writing informative articles, among other things.

Ghostwriting & Copywriting Consultant

Mobco Media

Helped build the CEO's personal brand through LinkedIn and writing articles on highly reputed websites like Forbes.com and Entrepreneur.com.

Ghostwriting Consultant

LinkedIn

The LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Program is an initiative designed to invest in creators. In India, 200 creators were selected from all over the country and given financial grants, resources, and mentorship from the country’s leading creators and executives. I was one of the youngest people selected for the program and worked alongside thought leaders from various industries.

LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Program India 2022

upGrad

I was a part of the Business Intelligence team for most of my tenure at the company. Among other things, I also worked in Talent & Acquisition, helped organize and manage the National Sales Meet 2021, and worked on researching colleges and subject matter experts in the course-building process.

Business Intelligence

WellnessCalendar.ai

Wrote, edited, and published content, based primarily in the niches of Health, Wellness, and Fitness. I also wrote captions for Social Media, emails, and posts for the Founders’ handles.

Torrey Pines Foods

Responsible for designing, creating, and publishing all of the company’s Social Media content, campaigns, and generating leads through Social Media platforms and other online mediums.

Social Media Strategist

Content @ Kurogo | LinkedIn Creator Accelerator

I just moved from Bangalore to London on a fully sponsored writing job. Here's my story so far:

Age 17: did 4 internships in a gap year before my undergrad
Age 18: started writing online on Instagram, Medium, and LinkedIn
Age 19: signed my first ghostwriting client
Age 20: graduated uni with first-class distinction
Age 21: one of the youngest members of LI's creator accelerator, got paid lakhs to write here (wild)
Age 22: beat 700+ people to get my dream job in personal branding
Age 23: dropped out of a Masters degree from KCL
Age 24: moved back to London for work

I've had quite the unconventional story. 

The fact I'm the proudest of isn't any of the "achievements" but that I did it all my way.

I write mostly to my younger self. 

My journey is an example of how your life can change if you refuse to conform and earn the right to play your own game.

Today, the clients I work with at my job are multi-millionaires dominating their industries. I'm lucky I get paid to learn from them everyday.

If you'd like to get in touch with me, email me at varunkhadri@gmail.com.

What people see:

1. Financially sorted
2. Moved to London at 24
3. Get to ghostwrite for a living
4. Work with the smartest people

What people don't see:

1. Said no to everything and saved £ for years
2. Felt alone and depressed for a long time
3. Hated every job and gig before this
4. Outgrew almost everyone I knew 
5. Chronically anxious

Social media is never the full picture.

Don't compare your dark moments to their highlight reel.

Varun Khadri

7 unhinged things I did to build my dream life that paid off:

1. Ended a 3-year relationship that wasn’t going in the right direction

2. Dropped out of a Masters program at one of the best universities in the world

3. Moved to another continent for a remote job I could do from anywhere

4. Cut off childhood friends who I knew were toxic and bad for me

5. Stopped aimlessly partying, getting wasted, and chasing girls

6. Played multiple sports at a competitive level until I became a Jack of all trades

7. Invested 50% of my income for 3 years straight, lived way below my means

The result: I’m healthier, happier, freer, and wealthier than I’ve been in years.

This is your reminder to make the “crazy“ choices that make sense for your personal goals.

Seek advice from others, but remember only you know what’s best for you ✌🏼

I ordered Paneer ghee roast. I was served Prawns ghee roast.

I was too hungry to notice the visual difference in the texture so I took a couple of bites.

I'd never eaten non-vegetarian food in my life before, so I quickly realised something was off upon tasting it.

This was a week ago, I was on vacation with my family, in one of the most popular restaurants in Coorg.

Understandably, I was fuming.

And I wanted to throw up.

But I knew I had a choice.

I could cause a scene, hold the restaurant accountable, post bad reviews, get into a screaming match, demand reparation, etc.

For my non-Indian audience, this might feel like an overreaction.

But we Indians take our vegetarianism pretty seriously 😅

So the mistake the staff made was pretty much the worst thing you can do in F&B here.

But it was just that, a mistake.

The waiter/chef simply misheard our order.

Getting into a fight wouldn't fix or undo anything.

So I sent the food back, let the manager know what'd happened, and told them I wasn't pleased.

They apologised, served us the correct dish, I ate it half heartedly (having lost some of my appetite), and moved on with my life.

Sometimes, you just gotta put a pin in things, be the bigger person, and leave it at that.

Who among us hasn't made a bad mistake at our jobs?

So why is it hard for us to empathise when someone from the hospitality sector makes one?

Being kind in situations where being unkind would be an understandable reaction is what reveals the kind of person you really are :)

P.S.
My no. 1 pet peeve is people who treat waiters badly, I instantly lose respect for these people.

P.P.S.
What would you do if you were in my place?

“Why are you still single”?

Every single friend of mine has asked me about this over the last 2 years I’ve chosen to be single.

I’m tired of saying the same thing to everyone,
So I’m writing this LinkedIn post to just send to them the next time 😅

I haven’t dated recently because:

- I ended a 3.5-year relationship in 2023. Although I broke it off, there were plenty of happy times in it, and there aren’t too many positive things I can experience in a new relationship that I haven't already in my previous one.

- I’m extremely energy poor right n,ow and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. My job takes up a lot of my energy and whatever little is left goes to my friends and family, and tiny bits left after that go to my hobbies, which happen to be things that also need a lot of energy, for eg: sports and content creation. So I have nothing left in the tank to give to a S/O.

- Call me conservative but I’m not big on dating apps, modern dating, or hookup culture. No judgement at all if someone else is doing it, it does work for a lot of people. But I know it’s not my cup of tea. But also - I’m an introvert so I don’t meet a ton of people IRL either apart from friends of friends. I’m also very picky. So not the best combination IF you’re looking to meet someone anyway (thank god I’m not)

Nobody asks someone why they’re dating. 
But everyone asks single people why they’re still single 🤣

People need to understand that being alone and learning to survive on your own is super key for personal growth!

Who's with me?

Life hack: find a job that allows you to be around the kind of people you enjoy being around.

We spend so much of our lives at work.

So getting along with the people you work with is so important.

Sure, the work we do means the world to us.

But the best part of work is often the people we do it with.

Being silly together, having a pint together, playing games together... there's a lot of joy and meaning in that.

📷 - from our Christmas social at Kurogo - Personal Branding Agency

Friendly reminder: if you don't ask, the answer will always be "no" :)

I’ve experienced heartbreak, almost lost all my money once, and survived childhood trauma for years.

But leaving my friends and family behind and watching them cry at the airport,

Will always be the most painful thing I experience.

These are the people who’ve stood by me for a decade.

My flights from Bangalore to London are always a teary mess.

But this time, I’m choosing to remind myself that for a few weeks a year, I still get to live life, travel, and laugh with my day 1 people. 

Not everyone gets that.
Not everyone is so lucky.

There are still tears as I write this while touching down at LHR - but some of them this time are also happy tears and me thanking God I get to live this life ❤️

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I never wanted to drop out.

I HAD to drop out.

In 2023, I’d come to the UK for a Masters at King’s College London.

As someone funding my studies through a student loan, I needed to get a part-time job from day 1.

I started work and my degree on the same day.

Within the first 2 weeks, I fell in love with what I do.

And I quickly realised studying full-time wasn’t the right option for me.

Because I already had the exact job that I’d want after graduating anyway.

The only difference is that I’d be tens of thousands of ££££ in debt.

The college, professors, and my classmates were great.

But I could foresee that the job market was only going to get worse for international students.

So if I had the chance to make good money doing what I love - I needed to take it then and there.

And thus I dropped out, went back to India, and switched to full-time at the same job as a contractor.

I was grateful they didn’t just let me do it but I also got to do more work due to the removal of visa restrictions.

I.E. I was actually rewarded for dropping out lol.

I worked as hard as I possibly could for the next 18 months.

Then I told the company I wanted to live and work in the UK.

They eventually agreed to sponsor a 3-year work visa for me.

This is the end goal most international students have. I somehow stumbled into it without the debt, taking any money from my family, or spending too long job hunting.

Sure - I got lucky too.

But I believe life rewards those who bet on themselves more than those who play it safe.

Luck isn’t random, it can be manufactured by backing yourself. Who’s with me?

The most crushing lesson I’ve learnt this year:

I do need people.

I’ve always prided myself on my ability to do things alone, to figure things out on my own, and love my own company.

The problem is - I got too good at it.

I’d find most conversations and people boring or annoying.

Worse, I was thriving alone. I got really good at being my own best friend.

So I thought I didn't need anyone.

But eventually, I found that achieving all my goals didn’t make me feel anything.

I climbed to the top of every mountain I wanted to summit.

But I couldn’t take in the beauty of the view. 

Any success that came my way felt hollow.
I was ticking things off, I was accomplishing lifelong dreams,
But I felt empty inside.

That’s when I decided to change things.

Nothing drastic (still very much an introvert), just small changes:

- I started saying “yes” more to invites
- I started reconnecting with my family
- I opened up and got closer to my flatmates
- I started being more flexible
- I rekindled old friendships
- I showed up for my friends

All of it has felt uncomfortable.

The cost of socialising is that you end up having to say yes to things you don’t really fancy (for me - that’s been more drinks, staying up, going out more, being around people more, etc)

But so far, the joy of companionship has been worth the cost of solitude.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that - life’s just better with the right people around you?

I've been on my first real break from work all year.

Here's what I've been up to over the last 2 weeks:

- Being a tourist in the city I grew up in has been fun
- Playing sports each evening (padel, Badminton, pickleball, Football)
- Playing FIFA every other night with the boys
- Spending time with the people I grew up with
- Plotting my next move on my content journey (YouTube)
- Trying out as many breweries and cocktail bars as possible 😅
- Dentist visits (9+ cavities filled in one week, I'm dead)
- About to go on an annual trip to Goa with my closest friends

Life is good.

I'm very lucky I get to experience the best of both worlds - my life in London and the comfort of being in familiar territory with my people back home.

As my India trip comes to an end, I can't help but think how grateful I am to have the kind of inner circle around me that I do.

Your people are who shape you, so be mindful whom you allow around you!

Confession: my job takes everything out of me.

But I like that.

For those new here, my job is in personal branding.

At any given time, my team (not the whole agency, just my team) is building brands for 8-10 clients.

For me, that means learning about and building expertise in multiple industries every week.

As you can imagine, that’s an intense job.

It takes every ounce of cognitive energy I have.

What that means personally for an ADHD-prone introvert like me is very little left in the tank for socialising, exploring new hobbies, starting side hustles, etc.

I’m not complaining though.

I’ve been doing this for a while, so I’ve made my peace with how all-consuming it can be.

Better still - I enjoy it.

Because I know what season of life I’m in.

I’m 25, have no kids, and no responsibilities beyond myself.

So I’m lucky. 

This is the period of life I can afford to go all in with work.
This is when I can get away with being selfish.

This is the time in my life when I CAN and am happy to sacrifice most other areas of my life.

I don’t have work-life balance but I’m not looking for balance right now.

As long as you’re aware of what season of life you’re in and optimise accordingly, you’ll be just fine.

What season of life are you in right now?

A good friend asked me what to post about on LinkedIn.

I write LinkedIn posts for a living, this is what I told him 👇

1. Document your journey, tell people what you’re learning, show them the life you’re living, share your wins and losses, your story is more interesting and relatable than you think

2. LinkedIn isn’t a journal though, make sure you’re adding in something valuable for the audience to take away in each post, even if it’s just stirring a positive emotion in their minds

3. Packaging is everything, format your posts carefully, nobody likes reading long paragraphs, add in personal pictures whenever possible, insider tip: aesthetic pics with your face in them do better

4. To write banger hooks, ask yourself: what’s the most interesting part about the post, lead with that, remember - the hook is THE most important part of a post

5. Don’t overthink it, nobody cares as much as you assume they do, yes - some people will judge you and make fun of you for posting here, but I guarantee you: if someone’s trying to pull you down, they’re already beneath you anyway (literally and figuratively speaking)

Posting on LinkedIn can change your whole life, it’s certainly changed mine :)

P.S.
Please don’t post crying selfies though. What’s your most hated LinkedIn trend?

The best consistency hack I’ve discovered with habits I want to build:

Never miss 2 days in a row.

One day is okay - life happens.

But 2 days missed? 

That’s a choice :)

taplio

Varun Khadri's Linkedin Analytics

Varun Khadri

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.css-6ytdur{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39, 43, 72, 1) 0%, rgba(33, 47, 183, 1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Varun Khadri's Linkedin Analytics

Varun Khadri

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);}Varun Khadri's LinkedIn Performance

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Who is engaging with Varun

Varun Khadri's Best Posts .css-1emoo84{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:400;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);}(last 30 days)

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Varun Khadri's Linkedin Analytics

Performance ScoreVarun Khadri's LinkedIn Performance

Varun Khadri's Best Posts (last 30 days)