Parents Forced Him Into Engineering But He Held On To His Passion, Became Millionaire

This inspiring phrase “Stop thinking and start working” has not come from any veteran, but from an ordinary-looking young man. This successful youngster is not only a first generation entrepreneur but also a filmmaker and a writer. He marked his identity as a leading entrepreneur with enormous grit and determination and believes that success is the result of right decision at the right moment, hard work, and learning from the failures.

He founded a million dollar-company despite the fact that he had to struggle to pass his engineering exam. This again proved that it is not the degree but the vision which makes a person successful.

Young entrepreneur Varun Agarwal was born and brought up in Bangalore where he received his early education from Bishop Cotton School. He was fascinated with film-making and photography since his childhood and aspired to pursue a career in film and photography, but because of his parents’ pressure he got admitted in an engineering course.

“I never wanted to do engineering. In fact, I applied for a film school after my STD 12 examination. But my parents did not allow me to enroll and I had to do engineering, which I hated the most. They were four painful years of my life.”

Even after getting admission in an engineering college (CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru), Varun’s attachment with films never diminished. He, in fact, started filming in the college itself. At the same time, he established a production house named “Last Minute Films” and produced many short films. Today, Last Minute Films is one of the leading film production companies in the country and it has produced many successful music videos, corporate films, and commercials that enabled it to receive over 3,50,000 hits on YouTube.

After several failed attempts, he somehow managed to pass his engineering course and then he started working as a film director in the Phat Phish Films company. He worked there for some time and at the age of 21 directed short films with superstar Preity Zinta as actor and AR Rahman as music director.

Varun then decided to venture into the world of entrepreneurship along with his career in films. At the age of 23, he co-founded a project Alma Mater with his friend Rohan Malhotra. Alma Mater has partnered with leading educational institutes of the country to produce and supply customized sweatshirts, T-shirts for students and alumni. This is now one of the largest fabric printing company of India. The annual turnover of Alma Mater is several crores rupees now. Varun also co-founded a social networking site named Reticular.

In the year 2012, Varun wrote his first book, “How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded A Million Dollar Company”. It was an instant hit and the book sold like hot cakes. In his book, Varun mentioned in detail his own success story, how he started his ventures with his friend and how a million dollar company was formed eventually.

From his childhood, Varun wanted to become a filmmaker. His parents forced him to join engineering that he never liked. He dragged the four years of college and found refuge in his passion of making films. He also never lost hope and continued to work harder with greater excitement and passion. The success of Varun is truly inspiring.

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