In 2024, WebVeda managed about ₹9.56 crore in sales. Even if we take Warikoo's claim of a ₹100 crore turnover at face value, it's clear the business was already slipping. His courses belong to a segment that AI has basically commoditised overnight. The material he sold for ₹1,799-₹5,000 per course is now something you can get for free - often better tailored - by chatting with Claude or ChatGPT.
Indian edtech funding has crashed from a peak of $4.3 billion in 2021 to roughly $156.7 million by 2025 - a drop of more than 20-times in four years. Warikoo's courses always rode on a single asset - HIM. His face, his story, his credibility. That was a strong distribution moat until it wasn't, because you can't scale a single personality and AI can now deliver the same knowledge without the personal attachment, so conversion rates will inevitably fall.
People seem to be getting smarter. All these fraudsters selling courses should meet the same fate.
Influencers have a shelf‑life, and his is definitely over. Most of them rode the wave during the COVID lockdown, peaked around 2021-22, and then people realised these guys only had one edge - slick presentation skills. It's all about flashy videos that grab views, but you can't keep that up forever. Warikoo even promoted shady platforms like Vauld, leaving many gullible followers out of pocket. These days you hardly see anyone on this or other finance subreddits still following him or Akshat.
The content itself isn't groundbreaking; it's the presentation that people have grown tired of. Still, they probably made a tidy sum while the spotlight was on them.
Dhruv Rathee's so-called 'jhatu' courses should face the same end. Someone posted one for free on YouTube and it was literally the worst - you'd have to be paid just to watch that mess.
Please stop using GPT tools to write posts. PhysicsWallah is valued at about Rs 32 thousand crore, roughly $3.2 billion.
Most finance influencers are outright frauds, peddling common sense in glossy presentations. I still don't get what credibility he had that made people follow him.
You'd have to be unbelievably gullible to think Warikoo was credible.
I find it absurd when people give any credit to these scammy influencers, like the OP calling it a 'brilliant strategy'. It isn't a strategy at all - every scammer tells the same story.
The government has introduced a new bill that requires any financial influencer to submit proof or a certificate - things like NISM registration - to keep operating. So we'll likely see more decline, and AI is another factor.