Learn it, launch it: Step up from regular sessions
Gagan Juneja is a young civil engineer and building contractor with an idea for a restaurant. After taking restaurateur Priyank Sukhija’s masterclass on Whiz League, that idea evolved into a plan that he has now submitted to Whiz League’s Launchpad programme.
Here, a few participants are selected every quarter to be mentored or to apprentice with the celebrity instructor whose masin terclass they bought, exchange for an additional fee. If he is selected, Juneja will get six mentoring sessions with Sukhija over three months.
Launchpad is the USP of the masterclass venture by
Natasha Jain, 33, (top inset) and Sonia Agarwal Bajaj,
31 (bottom inset) . “As serial entrepreneurs ourhelp selves, we wanted to buyers build a career and find success in their chosen field. That was an important aspect to us,”
Jain says. “Even in the masterclasses, we ask speakers to talk about the skill but also about their entrepreneurial journey, and how to develop the right mindset to be successful.”
Whiz League, launched in April 2021, has seven masters on its roster so far, including chef Ranveer Brar, visual artist Jayesh Sachdev and fashion designer Sonaakshi Raaj. Jain and Bajaj are particular about what goes into each masterclass. Brar, for instance, offers one on Celebrity School too. On Whiz League he focuses on mastering spices. Raaj’s lessons include insights on the Indian market, how to create a niche, and how to scale up a fashion brand.
“A lot of our participants are in their late 30s and early 40s, transitioning from jobs that they had to do to jobs that they want to do. These courses then become valuable ways to learn how to think and approach a craft,” Jain says. Whiz League plans to add more names to its roster in the coming months, including in the fields of beauty, the culinary arts, and entrepreneurship.
(Whiz League’s prices range from Rs 499 for one masterclass to Rs 11,193 for an all-access pass + Launchpad for a year)