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New Delhi (India), February 10th: Ever heard of ordinary people becoming celebrities on Youtube overnight? Then you will love this. Let’s start at the end.
Vineet Hem Gaur, an IIMC graduate with three successful companies and experience working in media and multinationals, posted a video about “Top 5 Perfumes in India under Rs1000/-” one night and went to sleep. The next morning his channel grew by more than 400% and his earnings skyrocketed followed by several brands offering him collaborations and he met YouTubers like Tanmay Bhatt as a special guest creator at the Google India office. Today he has over 30 million views and Lakh+ followers on social media
But did it happen overnight? Behind this success is Vineet’s story of perseverance, hard work and dedication.
Vineet Gaur is popularly known through his YouTube channel as What the Dude and has two other businesses. After working for many years in media and other multinational companies as a digital marketing manager, he ventured into business by founding two companies while running the family business alongside a full-time job. Building up two new companies within five years and currently managing three companies alone must not have been easy, but he had the zeal for it. The history of running this business begins when he was actively involved in his family business in clothing retail when he set up a wedding clothing retail business in Chandigarh.
Being well versed in the garment industry from his early experience in the family business, he explored North India to start his business, thus establishing his own brand – Bridal Gown in Chandigarh. This proved to be exactly the stepping stone Vineet needed and he created his second startup focused solely on men’s grooming – The Prime Men. This brand’s vision was to create chemical-free men’s grooming products in India and bring them to the consumer at affordable prices to offer to the market.
His third project is of course his men’s lifestyle channel on YouTube called What the Dude, which brought him recognition and awards and made him an overnight celebrity. Vineet had started making videos on Youtube as a hobby as he had always had a knack for filmmaking and storytelling. Before completing his majors at IIM-C, he received his bachelor’s degree in mass media advertising from the University of Mumbai,
He had previously worked as an intern at major Mumbai production houses such as Balaji and MTV, which further enhanced his storytelling skills. Another turning point in Vineet’s life was music. Although he has played musical instruments since he was 8, his college life when he formed his own band gave him the confidence to perform in front of 10,000 people and made him comfortable in front of a camera.
This trust has given him today’s project with Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance, Croma, H&M & more as a digital creator. These big brands recognize Vineet as an entrepreneur who can deliver great content with high sales potential.
Every high has a low In 2020, when Covid hit, jobs were hit and salaries worsened. At that time he only had 3000 subscribers and 8000 views but that pushed him to do more. Vineet started creating content about choosing perfumes for men’s skin care and various other topics. This increased his following to 30,000, but when his mother fell ill, the house had to be converted into an intensive care unit, a step backwards on both the personal and professional fronts. In times of low he uploaded a video “Top 5 Perfumes in India under Rs1000”
And that brings us to the end where we started – a viral video that skyrocketed in views and multiple collaborations. What may seem like an overnight celebrity actually had a long and beautiful history behind it. In his own words, “I’m just starting out and I’m preparing for the best or the worst, whichever comes first.” He’s certainly brimming with talent, and with the kind of stamina and attitude he has, he will sure to reach milestone after milestone.