Ankur Warikoo, founder of WebVeda (Image: LinkedIn/ Ankur Warikoo)
Who is Ankur Warikoo? Just weeks after making headlines for shutting down his profitable Rs 100 crore online education business, entrepreneur and content creator Ankur Warikoo is back in the spotlight for another unconventional workplace philosophy. Speaking on the KaashSeAkash Podcast, Warikoo, the founder of WebVeda, an online school for life skills, revealed that creating unnecessary urgency at work is one of the fastest ways to lose your job at his company. He believes that most emergencies at work are self-created and arise from a lack of foresight rather than a real business need. The comments have also started a conversation about hustle culture, burnout and whether business overplays deadlines.
“Create Urgency, Get Fired”
Warikoo was very direct in describing his approach to workplace culture. “If someone creates urgency in my company, they are fired the next day,” he said on the podcast.
He said his position was that organisations often treat routine work as an emergency, even when the real-world consequences are minimal. Kuch urgent nai hai. Agar humara video kal nai gaya… agar humara course kal launch nai hua to kisi ki zindagi ko kuch nai fatega. “Sabki zindagi waisi hi chalu rahegi,” he said.
The entrepreneur says artificial urgency causes stress, impacts decisions and causes teams to focus on speed over quality.
Warikoo’s statement comes just days after he revealed the closure of his online learning business, which surprised many of his followers and fellow entrepreneurs.
I have shut down my 100 crores course business.
And converted it into a subscription!Between making more money and helping more people – the choice was super clear to me!
WebVeda now gives access to ALL courses, for the price of one course.
As a WebVeda member you will get:
-… pic.twitter.com/Z0pNNkXGKT
— Ankur Warikoo (@warikoo) May 17, 2026
The platform was launched in 2020 and enrolled nearly five lakh students and crossed Rs 100 crore in revenue. The business also earned around Rs 25 crore in profits, said Warikoo.
He said, “It makes no sense to continue it,” despite the strong financial performance.
The announcement generated a lot of discussion online, with some users questioning whether it was actually a shutdown or the beginning of a bigger education-focused business.
Warikoo’s story is anything but conventional.
His life plan as a child in a middle-class family in Delhi had three steps: go to the United States, work for NASA and be the first man on Mars.
That dream took him to Michigan State University with a full scholarship for a PhD in physics. But when he learned that he wasn’t satisfied with astrophysics, he made the tough decision to drop out and return to India at age 24.
He often says that joining the Indian School of Business (ISB) was life-changing, a move taken without a clear road map ahead of him.
After his ISB graduation, Warikoo worked with consulting firm A.T. Kearney before he took the entrepreneurial route.
He co-founded ventures like SecondShaadi.com and Gaadi.com, which Goibibo later acquired.
His biggest corporate milestone came as the founding CEO of Groupon India in 2011. He later led a management buyout to turn Groupon India into Nearbuy, with Sequoia Capital as the investor.
Warikoo led Nearbuy until 2019, after which he stepped down as CEO and focused on building his personal brand through content, education and entrepreneurship.
Today, Warikoo has built one of India’s largest creator-led businesses, with a social media following of over 17 million.
He is also the bestselling author of books such as Do Epic Shit and Make Epic Money, and his content focuses on careers, money, entrepreneurship, and personal growth.
His stated mission is still simple: “to help people make decisions based on awareness, not ignorance.”
Warikoo’s latest comments come at a time when conversations about burnout at work, toxic hustle culture and impossible deadlines are becoming more and more common.
His point is simple: if the delay doesn’t really affect customers or people’s lives, it shouldn’t be called a crisis.
For many professionals in high-pressure work environments, that message may be as provocative as his decision to walk away from a business that generated crores in revenue.
Priyanka Roshan is a business writer and assistant editor at the NewsX website who tracks everything from stock market swings and corporate earnings to personal finance trends and policy shifts. Known for turning fast-moving business developments into sharp, reader-friendly stories, she combines speed, accuracy, and a data-driven approach to break down complex financial news for everyday audiences.
With over 9.5 years of newsroom experience, Priyanka has worked with leading media organisations, including Moneycontrol, Times Now, and Ping Digital, covering diverse beats such as business, politics, technology, auto, travel, sports, and the world. From live breaking news desks to SEO-led digital storytelling, she specialises in creating engaging content that keeps readers informed without overwhelming them.
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