Let’s be honest for a second. We look at the subscriber counts of CarryMinati or Bhuvan Bam and think, “Man, they got lucky.” We see the Ferraris, the brand deals, and the millions of views. But what we don’t see is the graveyard of failed channels, the deleted videos, and the years of talking to a camera with exactly zero people watching.
- 1. CarryMinati (Ajey Nagar): The “Stealth Fear” Era
- 2. Bhuvan Bam (BB Ki Vines): From Empty Restaurants to Billions
- 3. Ranveer Allahbadia (BeerBiceps): The Failed Startup Founder
- Snapshot: The Struggle Statistics
- 4. Tech Burner (Shlok Srivastava): Too Serious, Too Soon
- 5. Alakh Pandey (PhysicsWallah): The Empty Classroom
- Why Do Most Indian Creators Fail Initially?
- Conclusion: Fail Faster
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The truth? The Indian YouTube scene isn’t built on luck. It’s built on stubbornness. Before the diamond play buttons arrived, most of your favorite creators were failing. Badly. They were engineering students failing exams, singers performing in empty restaurants, or gamers streaming to an audience of two (probably their mom and a bot).
If you are a creator feeling stuck, or just a fan who loves a good underdog story, this is for you. Here are the Indian giants who flopped hard before they flew.
1. CarryMinati (Ajey Nagar): The “Stealth Fear” Era
Before he was the “Roast King of India,” Ajey Nagar was just a kid from Faridabad trying to be a gamer. In 2010, at the tender age of 10, he started his first channel. It wasn’t the aggressive, high-energy content you see today.
He started a channel called AddictedA1.
He posted football tricks and tutorials. The result? Crickets. Nobody watched. He didn’t give up, though. He pivoted to a channel called Stealth Fear in 2014, uploading gameplay videos of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). To make it “entertaining,” he mimicked Sunny Deol’s voice while playing.
The Failure Logic:
It didn’t work because mimicking a Bollywood actor while shooting terrorists in a game was… well, weirdly niche. It took him years to realize that his own voice and his raw, unfiltered ranting style were what people actually wanted.
Fun Fact: It took him nearly two years to reach his first few hundred subscribers. Today, he gains that many while brushing his teeth.
Indian YouTubers Who Failed Before Their First Viral Video2. Bhuvan Bam (BB Ki Vines): From Empty Restaurants to Billions
Bhuvan Bam is the poster boy for Indian YouTube success. But before “Titu Mama” existed, Bhuvan was struggling to make a name as a musician. He wasn’t trying to be a comedian; he wanted to be a singer.
He spent his evenings singing at a restaurant in Delhi. People were there to eat Butter Chicken, not to listen to his soulful covers. He was often ignored, earning a meager income.
The Accidental Viral Moment:
His pivot wasn’t planned. One day, while checking the front camera of his new Nexus phone, he jokingly recorded a video roasting a reporter who asked insensitive questions to a flood victim. He uploaded it to Facebook. It blew up in Pakistan first, then India. He didn’t start with a strategy; he started with a frustration.
If he had stuck to just singing covers in restaurants without experimenting, BB Ki Vines would never have happened.
3. Ranveer Allahbadia (BeerBiceps): The Failed Startup Founder
Today, Ranveer hosts India’s biggest celebrities on The Ranveer Show. But go back to 2015, and the picture was very different. He wasn’t a “podcast mogul.” He was an engineering graduate who had just launched a fitness startup that failed.
He started the BeerBiceps channel purely as a marketing tool to promote his fitness app. He wasn’t trying to be an influencer; he was trying to save a sinking business.
The Pivot:
The app didn’t take off, but the videos did. He realized people didn’t care about the product—they cared about the advice. He pivoted from “selling a service” to “selling value.” Then, he pivoted again from fitness to spirituality and business.
Lesson: Sometimes your failure (the app) is just the launchpad for your actual career (content).
Snapshot: The Struggle Statistics
Here is a quick look at the reality behind the numbers. This data proves that “viral” is a marathon, not a sprint.
| YouTuber | First Channel / Career Attempt | The Failure | The Pivot | Current Status |
| CarryMinati | AddictedA1 / Stealth Fear | Gaming videos with mimicry got almost zero traction for years. | Switched to “Roasting” + Gameplay. | Asia’s No. 1 Solo Creator |
| Bhuvan Bam | Restaurant Singer | Ignored by restaurant crowds; music career stalled. | Started 2-minute comedy skits on FB. | YouTube Empire & Actor |
| Tech Burner | ‘Video Explainer’ Channel | Created serious tutorials that were “too boring” for the Indian mass audience. | Added humor/desi style to tech reviews. | Top Tech Entertainer |
| Mumbiker Nikhil | Flight Attendant | Tried acting/modeling but faced rejections; hated the 9-5 restrictions. | Started Moto-vlogging (a new niche then). | Pioneer of Moto-vlogging |
| PhysicsWallah | Offline Coaching | Early whiteboard videos had bad audio and zero views for months. | Improved quality, stuck to low-cost education. | Unicorn Ed-Tech Founder |
4. Tech Burner (Shlok Srivastava): Too Serious, Too Soon
Shlok Srivastava is known for making tech reviews funny. But his first attempt at YouTube was painfully serious. He started a channel in his college days called Video Explainer.
He used to make proper, formal tutorial videos. He spoke in a monotonous voice, trying to be a “professional” tech guru.
Why it Flopped:
It was boring. India didn’t need another manual reader; we needed entertainment. His views were stagnant. He eventually realized that tech specs are boring, but he wasn’t. He deleted the old persona, injected his quirky “desi” humor, and Tech Burner was reborn. He failed at being a teacher so he could succeed at being an entertainer.
5. Alakh Pandey (PhysicsWallah): The Empty Classroom
Before he was the owner of a Unicorn company (a startup worth over $1 Billion), Alakh Pandey was just a physics teacher in a small town. When he uploaded his first videos in 2014-2015, the quality was… terrible.
It was just him, a whiteboard, and a cheap phone camera. The lighting was bad. The audio echoed. For months, his subscriber count barely moved. He wasn’t “viral.” He was just another teacher on the internet.
The Turning Point:
He didn’t change his niche. He didn’t start dancing or roasting. He simply improved his quality and, crucially, refused to sell out. While competitors sold courses for thousands of rupees, he kept teaching for free or dirt cheap. His “failure” to monetize early became his biggest asset—trust.
Why Do Most Indian Creators Fail Initially?
Based on the patterns of these giants, we can identify three “Death Traps” that kill new channels:
- The “Copycat” Syndrome: Trying to be the next CarryMinati instead of the first You. (See: Ajey Nagar’s early Sunny Deol mimicry).
- The “Perfection” Trap: Waiting for a DSLR camera instead of shooting with a potato phone. (Bhuvan Bam shot his first viral hits on a Nexus front camera).
- The “Niche” Confusion: Trying to sell a product instead of building a community. (Ranveer Allahbadia’s fitness app struggle).
A Word From The “Trenches”
Even the biggest stars have moments of doubt. Ashish Chanchlani, arguably one of the funniest men in India, often speaks about the pressure of numbers.
Here is a reality check he shared on X (formerly Twitter) about the mental toll of creation:
[Link to X/Twitter Post: Insert a relevant tweet from Ashish Chanchlani or similar creator about struggles/mental health here. Note: Since I cannot browse live social media in real-time to grab a specific URL, please link to Ashish Chanchlani’s official handle @ashchanchlani regarding his break from YouTube.
Conclusion: Fail Faster
If you are reading this and sitting on a channel with 42 subscribers, don’t delete it.
CarryMinati failed at football tricks.
Bhuvan Bam failed at restaurant singing.
Ranveer Allahbadia failed at building an app.
Your current failure isn’t the end; it’s just data. It tells you what doesn’t work so you can find what does. The only difference between a failed YouTuber and a viral one is that the viral one kept uploading after the flop.
So, go edit that next video. Make it terrible. Make it slightly better than the last one. Just don’t stop.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1: Did CarryMinati delete his old videos?
Yes and no. While his original channel ‘AddictedA1’ is no longer active in its original form, clips of his early days are available on fan channels. He has been very open about his failed attempts in interviews.
Q2: How long does it take to go viral in India?
There is no fixed time. Bhuvan Bam went viral relatively quickly after his Facebook pivot, while Alakh Pandey (PhysicsWallah) taught for years before gaining mass recognition. Consistency beats viral luck.
Q3: Is it too late to start a YouTube channel in 2026?
Absolutely not. While competition is higher, the audience has also grown. The key is “Hyper-Niche” content. General vlogging is dead; specific storytelling is alive.
Q4: Which equipment did these YouTubers use initially?
Almost all of them started with basic smartphones. Bhuvan Bam used a Nexus 5. CarryMinati used a basic PC setup. Content matters more than 4K resolution.
