In the aftermath of Meesho’s initial public offering, millionaires have burgeoned. So have stories.
Stories about people who ostensibly met Vidit Aatrey in a coffee shop in the SDA Market, across the road from IIT-Delhi, where the Meesho founder studied. The people in these stories say they always knew Aatrey was going to make it big and they were ready to put their money in whichever venture he started. There are stories about people who put a few lakh rupees in Meesho when it was starting up and are now preening over a number with too many zeroes in it. There are also people who say they too believed in Aatrey, but could not put money in Meesho because of a quirk of fate.
View full list: Forbes India 30 Under 30 2026: Meet our young groundbreakers and trendsetters
Regardless, both sets—those who made money and those who missed out—derive equal pride in their ability to spot Aatrey’s certain success. That is the thing about spotting a successful bet early. It is not just about the money; it is as much about one’s ability—supposed or otherwise—to recognise and value talent, and make forecasts that come true.
There is a YouTube clip doing the rounds in which Sunil Gavaskar, speaking with a callow Sachin Tendulkar, says that if the younger man did not score 15,000 Test runs and 40 centuries, he would personally strangle him.
Gavaskar was one of the earliest to predict a bright future for Tendulkar ever since he first saw him play fast bowling from 18 yards in the nets. But there are a large number of other people who say they recognised Tendulkar’s greatness before anyone else did. And they feel oddly vindicated because Tendulkar went on to fulfil those prophecies, regardless of who made them.
That said, Tendulkar is one of the few prodigies who fulfilled their promise—from the very beginning. Even Virat Kohli took a bit of time to find his feet at the highest level. And for every Tendulkar and Kohli who fulfilled prophecies, there are scores who did not. There are also the more painful stories where the prodigy looked poised to live up to their potential only to fall apart.
The unhappy stories are a dime a dozen not only in sports but in all walks of life where there is space for prodigies to prosper. Perhaps the most stark stories are to be found in the world of startups, where failure is the norm and successes are the rare occurrences that make everything else worth the pain.
That is why we take not-so-secret pride in saying that we put Aatrey and his co-founder Sanjeev Barnwal in our 30 Under 30 list as far back as 2018, one of numerous instances where our picks have gone on to live up to their potential. And here we are with another 30 Under 30 issue.
As always, we have followed an exacting and exhaustive methodology to arrive at this list. For evidence, look no further than the jury we put together—two members for each category and every jury member can walk into their area’s hall of fame.
With time, several personalities you come across here will probably become household names. Some of them already are, such as the person you see on the cover.
Saiyaara, the unexpected blockbuster of 2025, in which Aneet Padda plays the female lead, has given the film industry reason to believe that the future need not be confined to the type of storytelling that Pushpa, Animal and Pathaan employed. That there is place for another kind of cinema, the Saiyaara kind.
While we celebrate the newest 30 Under 30, we have taken a moment to gloat with a photo feature showing some of the biggest successes from our previous years’ lists. And we have been tactful enough not to highlight the other kind.
Suveen SinhaEditor, Forbes IndiaEmail: suveen.sinha@nw18.comX ID: @suveensinha
First Published: Jan 05, 2026, 11:58
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