Varun Agarwal is an Indian author, entrepreneur, filmmaker, teacher, motivational speaker and investor. He is best known as the founder and CEO of Mento, an online e-learning platform. Varun is also known for authoring the national bestseller How I Dared to Start a Million-Dollar Company with Anu Aunty.
Wiki/Biography
Varun Agarwal was born on Sunday, December 6, 1987, in Bangalore (34 years; as of 2021). His zodiac sign is Sagittarius.
Varun Agarwal childhood
He was educated at Bishop Cotton Boys School, Bangalore (1990-2004). He studied science in grades 11 and 12. Thereafter, he enrolled in CMR Institute of Technology, Bangalore to pursue his bachelor’s degree in telecommunications engineering. While studying in Class 11, Varun aspired to become a film producer. He was amused by the fact that people could use cameras to show what was going on in his head. However, his mother, under the influence of her best friend Anu (Varun’s Anu aunty), pushed him into engineering. Varun failed the exam in his first year of college but eventually passed. In an interview, he said about this incident,
I failed three times in network analysis (one of the papers) and only forced myself to pass the exam after I knew I couldn’t fail again. “
Soon, he started making YouTube videos. Halfway through his course, he received a job offer from a production company and decided to quit engineering. However, his mother convinced him to complete his studies. After graduation, Varun moved to Mumbai and started working as a director.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′10″
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family
Varun Agarwal was born into a middle-class family.
Parents and siblings
His mother’s name is Purnima Agarwal. He had a younger brother named Mayank who passed away on April 16, 2021 due to COVID-19.
Varun Agarwal and his mother Purnima Agarwal
Varun Agarwal’s younger brother, Mayank Agarwal
wife
Varun is unmarried.
Profession
As a YouTuber
While in college, Varun started making videos and uploading them on social media. In 2007, he created a music video for the music brand Pentagram, which quickly went viral and received approximately 100,000 views.
as a video director
When he was a sophomore in college, a production company offered him a job directing music videos. He wanted to seize this opportunity. However, his mother convinced him to finish his studies first. Soon after graduation, Varun moved to Mumbai and started working at Phat Phish Productions. In his first assignment, he directed a music video for AR Rahman.
Varun Agarwal directed by AR Rahman
He also directed a music video starring Bollywood actress Preity Zinta.
Preeti Zetta directed by Varun Agarwal
Later, he collaborated with Bengaluru-based stand-up comedian Sanjay Manaktala for a music video titled “Anu Aunty, Engineering Anthem”. The video is adapted from his book How I Bravely Co-founded a Million Dollar Company with Anu Aunty. The video was aired on The Enthu Cutlets, a YouTube channel launched by Varun in 2014 to showcase Bengaluru-based comedians.
as author
In 2012, he released the semi-autobiographical book How I Bravely Founded a Million-Dollar Company with Anu Aunty. Published by Rupa Press, the book quickly became a national bestseller. In the same year, it ranked fifth on the Amazon India bestseller list.
Varun Agarwal’s book How I Bravely Co-founded a Million Dollar Company with Anu Aunty
Varun Agarwal signs his book at a grocery store
Later, the book was also published in Vietnamese.
Vietnamese version of “How I Bravely Faced Aunt Anu”
In 2022, Bollywood directors Ashwini Iyer Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari decided to make a film based on Varun’s book How I Bravely Lived with A How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded a Million Dollar Company” to make a movie. The film is titled “Auntie Pascalo!”
Varun Agarwal with the makers and production team of Bas Karo Aunty!
as an entrepreneur
In 2005, during his freshman year of college, Varun founded a production company that produced online video content such as music videos, corporate films, and commercials. The company was named Last Minute Films. The company’s first video received about 300,000 likes on YouTube.
last minute movie logo
After working as a video director for about two years, Varun returned to Bangalore from Mumbai to take a break. In Bangalore, while out for dinner with a friend, he came up with a business idea. The idea is to produce goods for schools and college students across India and sell them online. In 2009, Varun and his friends founded ‘Alma Mater’, an online store offering customized merchandise to schools, colleges and the corporate sector. The company struggled for about two years before hitting $1 million in revenue in 2011 after finding the right investors. The company also launched an online custom T-shirt making tool called PLAY. He also appeared on the cover of India Today magazine.
Varun Agarwal on the cover of India Today magazine
As of 2022, the alma mater is associated with about 3,500 schools and colleges, 800 enterprises and 400 private groups in about 350 cities in India. In 2010, he founded a social media marketing company called Retillary. He then founded an online e-learning platform called Grades Don’t Matter. The company is India’s first edtech platform for creative curriculum. Later it was renamed Mento.
Mantu’s logo
As a motivational speaker
As a motivational speaker, Varun has shared his success story with employees of Philip Morris Macau on multiple public platforms such as Google India, Cisco India, Yahoo India, HP India, Unilever (London).
Varun Agarwal addresses EY employees
He has also appeared as a speaker on INK Talks, sharing his story from an engineering student to a successful entrepreneur.
Varun Agarwal during INK talks
other works
Varun has given guest lectures at various schools and colleges across India.
Varun Agarwal addresses students at PECFEST 2019
He also promoted the Sapling Challenge, an initiative to make Bengaluru a green city.
Varun Agarwal’s Instagram post
He also served as a brand ambassador for Lenovo Flex products. Talking about how he got the interview opportunity, he said:
I was contacted by the creative agency 22 foot. They want someone who is young and they want someone who can live two lives at the same time. They liked what I had done so far and I ended up doing a commercial for them. I think this is great because for entrepreneurs, endorsing any brand is a big step forward. “
sign
Varun Agarwal’s autograph
Favorites
- Cuisine: South Indian, Italian
Facts/Trivia
- Varun is often spotted drinking on various occasions.
- He quit smoking.
- Varun is an avid dog lover and once owned a pet dog named Biscuit.
Varun Agarwal’s pet dog
- Varun revealed in an interview that he was a very shy and quiet child during his school days.
- In an interview, when Varun was asked about the idea behind his book How I Bravely Founded a Million Dollar Company with Anu Aunty, he said,
I used to blog on my alma mater’s Facebook page and they became famous and someone suggested I write a book. I ended up writing the book in 7 days, putting it together and sending it to Rupa Publishing. It will be ready in a month. Failure is a good thing because unless you fail, you will never succeed. Indian society encourages people not to fail, but I disagree. I learned the most from my failures. “
- Varun follows a non-vegetarian diet.
Varun Agarwal’s Instagram post
- His family and friends called him Varu.
- In an interview, talking about the film based on his book, he said:
I wrote this book in 2012, not knowing that one day a movie would be made of it. I remember when I wrote this book, I wondered who would read it and that maybe writing it would be a stupid thing to do. A great man once said ‘stay hungry, stay stupid’ and I assure you, every word of this statement is true. “
- In 2020, he was selected as one of the jury members for Forbes India’s 30 Under 30 list.
Varun Agarwal serves as judge on Forbes India’s 30 Under 30
- In his Instagram post, he had revealed that he had been suffering from clinical depression for about three years. With constant therapy and medication, he got out of trouble. Apparently, after launching his startup Grades Don’t Matter, Varun doesn’t want to go to the workplace and prefers to stay in bed all day. Later, he discovered he was clinically depressed.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education