How old were you when you got your first paycheck?
Typically, you tend to be in your early 20s or mid-20s when you celebrate your first salary. But how about getting your first salary (or income) at the age of twelve, and that to the tune of $900? Don’t be surprised. Today, we are going to tell you about the startling rise of a teenaged sports entrepreneur who has become an inspiration for thousands across the world.
This young entrepreneur gained his leadership skills from a rich legacy of eminent scholars and intellectuals in his family who have served the nation for years and still continue to do so. We are talking about Aashir Sinha, the young founder of Global Heroes. His motivational journey to entrepreneurship began when he was just 12 years old.
Aashir is a diehard fan of the NBA, the popular basketball league. When he was 12, he began posting every minute detail pertaining to the NBA on his Facebook page. Soon, the page was followed by over a hundred thousand followers. Moreover, more than 20 handlers from different countries including Australia, South Africa, and Brazil among others began contributing to the page. Gradually, his NBA Facebook page became a raging success among teenagers and young adults from several countries.
Money, Money, Money
Aashir wanted to monetize this Facebook page, and when a popular sports portal showed interest in taking over his Facebook page, he sold his page for $900. This is how he made his first exit. Obviously, Aashir was thrilled but the happiness did not last long. He started missing his FB page which had by now become a crucial part of his life.
As he grew older, his enthusiasm and love for sports kept growing. Apart from basketball, he became an avid follower of cricket and tennis also. He started following famous cricketers and everything related to their day-to-day life. Moreover, he would discuss his favorite players with friends and wanted to know their opinions on those players.
Aashir shares one of the life-changing moments. He recalls putting himself in the shoes of Roger Federer, the world famous tennis player. One day while playing tennis, he was very frustrated because he was losing. He decided to try to play like Roger Federer, but the moment he thought of Roger Federer, his mind started looking for those snippets relating to Federer which could help him play better. This ignited his creativity and he started to develop a mobile app that would bring all the interesting player information in a well-packaged format to users.
Aashir travels a great deal. He has been all over India and has traveled across Delhi, Mumbai, and Jharkhand among others. He is very eager to know how people perceive one player or a sport. India is a country where cricket is considered a religion. Kids admire and idolize their cricketers. They want to know every little thing about their favorite player. But there is no unified platform where one can get all the information relating to a particular player. This pain point became a solid business idea for our young entrepreneur. The 15-year old founded “Global Heroes” in 2016 but it was not a cakewalk initially. discussing the struggles he had working on Global Heroes over skype with people from around the world, as a busy high school student to learn the art of entrepreneurship and had to develop crucial skills, necessary to bring-to-market the innovative concept that had sprung out of his imagination. It was not easy to pull together a team willing to work long hours for no salary. All their coordination work had to happen via long Skype conference calls. In addition, Aashir grew the Heroes of Cricket while he was working hard in high school on many exams and college applications.
Excellence can be acquired at any age
Dealing with the challenges of a startup is not a child’s play. Aashir proved his leadership by solving every problem and focusing only on the positive aspects. One of the earliest and biggest milestones that he achieved was bringing Harsha Bhogle, the renowned cricket commentator, on board. Mr. Bhogle loved the idea that was brought to him by Aashir. But winning the faith of this witty commentator was not an easy task. It took more than four months for Aashir to convince Mr. Bhogle to have a look at his one-of-a-kind startup idea. After winning the confidence of Harsha Bhogle, he worked on a robust UI platform that knew exactly the needs of people, their search preferences and how the information from different sources could be accumulated and compiled at a single destination. There were 7,000 visitors on the very first day of the portal and the platform was appreciated for being an innovative player-centric app.
Stepping stones to entrepreneurial success
Since then, the 3-year old startup has come a long way. It has become the must-have destination for thousands of sports fans be it in cricket or tennis. While talking to Aashir, one can feel his zeal and passion to make a mark. His confidence and humble nature go hand-in-hand. During our interview, which was his first interview to the media, there was not a pinch of hesitation in the entire interview. Taking into consideration that he is still a teenager, his in-depth knowledge about sports marketing, building a fan base, and how to develop technology is astonishing.
Global Heroes has added one more feather to its cap by becoming a partner with the Delhi Capitals, a major IPL team (erstwhile Delhi Daredevils). In such a short span of time, achieving such a colossal success is something that even the established entrepreneurs need to learn. Aashir is indeed a role model who is leading from the front.
Aashir has set an example for kids and teenagers of his age. You must be passionate about what you want to do. After that, it only takes determination, zeal and a willingness to carve out your own niche. If you have a clear goal set in your mind, then everything will fall into place one by one.
Aashir is attempting to expand the presence of “Global Heroes” to an all new level by tapping into major sports-loving countries. Moreover, he is willing to expand into other sports as well such as football, hockey, and basketball among others. Let’s wish him luck – a very bright future awaits him.
