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“We don’t take ourselves too seriously,” says Jatin Varma, Founder, 20 Onwards Media, a Delhi-based media startup launched in April 2007. An economics graduate hailing from a well-off family, Varma was not only always sure he wanted to work for himself, he also knew what he wanted to do—run an atypical, fun, young and humorous media company.

Take one: Varma launched Traffic, an edgy lifestyle magazine that covered a mix of food, fashion and entertainment. It was aimed at a niche intellectual circle. Unfortunately, after seven issues, he realized that the magazine was not profitable; breaking into the industry wasn’t easy despite multiple approaches, including ad partnerships. But Varma realized that, by this time, Traffic was functioning as a quasi ad agency with a team of writers and photographers. So, he started offering the firm’s services—content, humor and audio—to larger media companies.

“We had built up our infrastructure for [providing] a lot of services,” explains Varma. The company’s USP remained its bunch of young talents and their alternative approach. So, he decided to revamp his strategy and leap into take two of his venture. Random, a bimonthly humor magazine priced at Rs.25, was launched in May 2008. And it proved to be a wise move, as it opened new doors for 20 Onwards Media. Although not a revenue generating vertical, Varma uses Random’s humor for different extensions, leading to more business. Bindaas TV, for instance, wanted the company to produce jokes for their online channel. In this way Random, as a magazine, started getting established as a brand.

In February 2009, Varma decided to take this up a notch and created The Golden Kela Awards—an award show he hopes will be India’s answer to the Razzies. “It’s a satire on awards ceremonies, felicitating the worst actors and comedians, voted for by the public on our website. During the first year, our site crashed four times!” laughs Varma. “The Awards is now in its second year and will turn profitable in its third edition,” he adds.

Varma received another shot in the arm with popular reality TV show Dare 2 Date, which he produced for Channel V. This naturally progressed into another business vertical—a production company, which he launched in June 2009. The 24-week long show ended up as the channel’s top show with high TRP ratings. “Channel V has now given us other shows—like Campus Blog—to produce,” he says.

Soon after Random was launched, Star India approached the company to license their characters Simpoo Singh and Lola Kutty to the magazine for one year. “Though we paid Star, Lola and Simpoo really helped us scale up from December 2008,” says Varma.

The young entrepreneur highlights the advantages of his Delhi-based company taking on creative production work in Mumbai, the hub of film and TV activity. According to Varma, production costs in Mumbai are almost double those in Delhi, especially as far as hiring equipment and editing is concerned. Also, it is cheaper to hire people in Delhi due to the lower cost of living. Factors like these have helped the company garner a strong portfolio of clients in a short span of time, while also maintaining competitive pricing. “We are new to the industry, but [the business has] picked up very fast; I believe we have a faster turnaround time,” he says.

According to industry professional Gaurav Bhatnagar, Founder and Partner, Mediology Software, “If a Mumbai-based national TV channel has sent their staff to Delhi to get production work done, the advantages of doing so are quite clear.” Varma now plans to open an office in Mumbai, a sales site to pitch to clients.

Another 20 Onwards Media vertical, Basement Records, produces ad jingles, radio spots, caller tunes and has already raked in an eclectic mix of clients from national lifestyle channels to corporate companies. Design and Creative Services, the fourth business under 20 Onwards Media, takes on a plethora of design and content work for corporates and has built up a portfolio of over 100 clients in the past two years.

The startup is expanding its sales team and is going on the offensive. But since the company mostly sells concepts, which are not really need-based, it’s not always a smooth sail. “Being part of our sales team isn’t easy, with long pitch turnaround times,” he quips.

In a span of three years, Varma has built a mini media conglomerate with four separate businesses—all (besides Random magazine) significant revenue-generating channels. According to Bhatnagar, Varma has had a strategic advantage with this business model, helping him attract good talent for his creative team. “Basement Records and Design and Creative Services are both service-based verticals, which makes them good add-ons to the core business, since they attract higher margins,” says Bhatnagar.

He believes that one or two of the startup’s business verticals will, by natural progression, become more significant in another 12-18 months, bringing in a sharper focus for the company. As the only production house with a niche in humor in an ever-growing industry, Varma is confident of the potential of his business. “Converting a concept into a business vertical is hard—but when it delivers, it delivers big,” he says.

©Entrepreneur May 2010

Tags:
20 Onwards Media, entertainment, humor, Jatin Varma, magazine, media, Random, startup, Traffic