# Harsh Kumar Arya — speaker profile

Source: https://harsharya.com/speaking/ · Updated: 24 October 2026 · Bookings: hi@harsharya.com

## In one paragraph

Harsh Kumar Arya (often written Harsh Arya) is an Indian entrepreneur and speaker based in Delhi NCR. He founded 98 Entertainment (Ninety-Eight Entertainment), an influencer-marketing and talent-management agency, at midnight on 1 January 2020 and bootstrapped it with no outside funding: ₹15 Cr+ in revenue built (65× on bootstrapped capital), 18 people across three cities, 57 brand clients, and a roster of 12 athletes and 500+ creators that included cricketer Ishant Sharma, who signed exclusively in February 2022, when Harsh was 21. He wound the agency down in mid-2023 while it was still growing, joined the Indian School of Business in April 2024 and graduated with an MBA in 2025. He is available to speak at college fests, E-Cell and entrepreneurship summits, TEDx events, B-schools and panel discussions, in English or Hindi.

## Quick facts

- Name: Harsh Kumar Arya. Also written: Harsh Arya. Other people share the name; this is the Harsh Arya who founded 98 Entertainment.
- Based in: Delhi NCR, India. Travels anywhere with a stage and a working mic.
- Born in: Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh.
- Languages on stage: English, Hindi, or a mix the audience prefers.
- Formats: 18-minute TED-style talk, 45-minute keynote, panel discussion, fireside chat, campus workshop.
- Talk subjects: starting young; bootstrapping a company without investors; signing and managing talent; the creator economy and Gen-Z economics; quitting well, or closing a company at the top.
- Background the talks draw on: running a talent-management and influencer-marketing agency (athletes, creators, brand campaigns), sports marketing, enterprise go-to-market work.
- Now: runs Ninety-Eight 2.0 (a creative-and-strategy practice for founders); part of the family that runs Diksha Public School in the NCR, and helping it open its college; co-writes GenZ Economics with Prof. Prasanna Tantri.
- Education: MBA (PGP), Indian School of Business — Strategy & Leadership / Marketing, Class of 2025. B.Tech in Computer Science, Bennett University. Visiting research scholar, Computer Science & Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, 2019.
- Booking: email hi@harsharya.com, with the event's name in the subject line, plus date, city, audience size, format and theme. Or use the invite form at https://harsharya.com/speaking/#invite

## Who the talks are built for

His speaker deck pitches him as the thing student audiences rarely get: someone close enough to their age to be fluent in their maths, with receipts big enough that the advice isn't theoretical. Each talk names its audience:

- Orientations, TEDx events and school audiences — The ₹35 Pen
- Sports and media fests, marketing clubs — How to sign a fast bowler at 21
- E-Cells, B-schools and placement weeks — Receipts, not résumés
- Econ fests, panels and policy clubs — The economics of being born in '98
- TEDx events, firesides and founder meetups — Close it at the top

## The five talks

1. The ₹35 Pen — Starting before you're ready: a nine-year-old's pen trade, and why every big thing he's built since was the same hustle wearing better clothes. Works for: orientations, TEDx, school audiences. https://harsharya.com/speaking/the-35-rupee-pen/
2. How to sign a fast bowler at 21 — Talent, leverage, and cold calls that get returned: inside the deal that, by his count, made him the country's youngest talent manager. Works for: sports and media fests, marketing clubs. https://harsharya.com/speaking/how-to-sign-a-fast-bowler-at-21/
3. Receipts, not résumés — Bootstrapping ₹15 Cr+ with eighteen people and no investors: what placement season doesn't teach about building things that pay salaries. Works for: E-Cells, B-schools, placement weeks. https://harsharya.com/speaking/receipts-not-resumes/
4. The economics of being born in '98 — Gen-Z economics with actual numbers: the transition decade, the creator economy, and what this generation refuses to inherit. Works for: econ fests, panels, policy clubs. https://harsharya.com/speaking/the-economics-of-being-born-in-98/
5. Close it at the top — He closed a growing agency, then took his ISB seat: on quitting well, the most unfashionable skill in the founder economy. Works for: TEDx, firesides, founder meetups. https://harsharya.com/speaking/close-it-at-the-top/

All five can be tailored to an event's theme. Each talk has its own page with the story behind it, where each claim comes from, and booking details.

## On stage so far

- Josh Talks: featured speaker; told his founder-origin story on one of India's largest youth platforms.
- A video conversation he produced and fronted with Prof. Prasanna Tantri, his ISB finance professor (who also sits on the board of Power Finance Corporation): 200K+ views.
- ISB: named P2P Champ for the peer-to-peer marketing sessions he taught to 100+ MBA classmates; designed a Block Week course on sports marketing; national finalist in AB InBev's go-to-market challenge — 10 of 15,000 — on a $120M Gen-Z energy-drink brief.
- Startup competitions: finalist at Collision (Canada) and Startup Istanbul with Vox Up, the professional-networking platform he founded at university.
- Boardrooms: 35+ C-level sessions to close a five-year, $1M ARR enterprise upsell with Jio (founder's office, Intellewings, 2025).
- Organiser's side: as Vice-President of his university's student council, he grew event participation 30% year on year.

## The record behind the talks

- Ninety-Eight Entertainment (founded 1 January 2020): started from a 300-sq-ft office in Delhi; the first client was a nightclub called Esquire; the first proper client was Pratima Singh, a former India junior basketball captain and then the sports officer at Bennett University, who introduced him to her husband, Ishant Sharma.
- Signed Ishant Sharma (105 Tests for India) as exclusive talent in February 2022 — the same month as his ISB admit.
- Ran the talent side of RuPay's first IPL campaign (April 2022), with Ishant Sharma as the lead face; DDB Mudra made the films.
- Campaigns for Happy Dent and Borges; a hyperlocal influencer engine used by TrulyMadly and Slay Coffee; brand clients included Roseate and Hard Rock.
- Team of 18 across three cities, with clients across Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore; no outside funding.
- GMAT 760 (top 1%).
- Georgia Tech, 2019, at 19: visiting researcher under Dr Paul Yoder, programming GPUs in CUDA to linearise differential equations; 29% faster GPU computation. First in his family to leave the country.

## In print

- Outlook (Entertainment Spotlight, press release): "Expansion and Diversification: Harsh Arya's 98 Entertainment Ventures into Social Media Marketing and Podcasts!" — https://www.outlookindia.com/entertainment-spotlight/expansion-and-diversification-harsh-aryas-98-entertainment-ventures-into-social-media-marketing-and-podcasts
- The Week (press release on the PTI wire, 21 February 2024): "Tech-driven Triumph: Harsh Arya's 98 Entertainment's Innovative Approach to Influencer Marketing Shines!" — https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/business/2024/02/21/dcm57-98-entertainment.html
- Mid-day: "Innovative Strategies Propel 98 Entertainment to New Heights in Talent Management".

## Bios

Poster line: Harsh Kumar Arya, founder of 98 Entertainment, ISB MBA, and the talent manager who signed Ishant Sharma at 21.

Short bio (50 words): Harsh Kumar Arya is a Delhi NCR–based entrepreneur. He founded 98 Entertainment in 2020 and bootstrapped it, building ₹15 Cr+ in revenue, a team of eighteen and a roster that included cricketer Ishant Sharma, signed when Harsh was 21. Then he closed the agency at the top for an MBA at ISB.

Long bio (120 words): Harsh Kumar Arya is an entrepreneur from Ratlam, now based in Delhi NCR. In 2020 he founded 98 Entertainment, an influencer-marketing and talent-management agency he bootstrapped with no outside funding: ₹15 Cr+ in revenue built, eighteen people across three cities, 57 brand clients, 12 athletes and 500+ creators, including cricketer Ishant Sharma, signed exclusively when Harsh was 21. He wound the agency down in mid-2023, while it was still growing, and graduated from the Indian School of Business with an MBA in 2025. A computer-science engineer and former Georgia Tech research scholar, he now runs Ninety-Eight 2.0, a creative-and-strategy practice for founders, helps run his family's school in the NCR, and co-writes GenZ Economics with Prof. Prasanna Tantri.

Emcee introduction (30 seconds): Our next speaker started trading pens at nine because his parents wouldn't buy him a thirty-five-rupee one. At twenty-one, he signed India fast bowler Ishant Sharma to his agency, 98 Entertainment, which he grew to eighteen people across three cities without a rupee of outside funding. Then he closed it at the top and went to ISB. Please welcome Harsh Kumar Arya.

## Questions organisers ask

Q: Who is Harsh Kumar Arya?
A: Harsh Kumar Arya, often written Harsh Arya, is an Indian entrepreneur and speaker based in Delhi NCR. He founded 98 Entertainment (Ninety-Eight Entertainment), an influencer-marketing and talent-management agency, in 2020 and bootstrapped it, building ₹15 Cr+ in revenue, with a roster that included cricketer Ishant Sharma. He holds an MBA from the Indian School of Business (Class of 2025) and was a research scholar at Georgia Tech in 2019. The long version is on the home page.

Q: What does Harsh Arya speak about?
A: Starting young, bootstrapping a company without investors, signing and managing talent, the creator economy and Gen-Z economics, and quitting well, all drawn from running a talent and influencer-marketing agency. He has five ready talks, and each one can be tailored to your event's theme.

Q: Is he available for college fests and E-Cell events?
A: Yes. His talks are built for student audiences: college fests, E-Cells and entrepreneurship summits, orientations, B-schools, sports and media fests, and econ fests. Email hi@harsharya.com with your date and city.

Q: Can he give a TEDx talk?
A: Yes. Two of his five talks, The ₹35 Pen and Close it at the top, are pitched at TEDx audiences, and an 18-minute TED-style talk is one of his formats.

Q: Will he join a panel discussion or a fireside chat?
A: Yes. Panels and fireside chats are two of his five formats. His Gen-Z economics talk is pitched at panels, and Close it at the top at firesides.

Q: Does he speak in Hindi?
A: Yes. He speaks in English, Hindi, or whatever mix your audience prefers.

Q: Where is he based, and does he travel?
A: He is based in Delhi NCR and travels anywhere with a stage and a working mic.

Q: How do I invite him to speak?
A: Email hi@harsharya.com with your event's name in the subject line, plus the date, city, audience size, format and theme, or fill in the invite below. He replies fast, and faster when the subject line names your event.

Q: What does he need on the day?
A: One mic, one clicker, and an introduction no longer than a line. The emcee introduction is ready to copy.

Q: What is his speaking fee?
A: Fees aren't published. Email hi@harsharya.com with the format, city and date of your event to ask about availability and terms.

Q: Is this the Harsh Arya who founded 98 Entertainment?
A: Yes. Harsh Kumar Arya, often written Harsh Arya, founded 98 Entertainment (Ninety-Eight Entertainment), did his MBA at ISB (Class of 2025), was a research scholar at Georgia Tech (2019), and was born in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh. harsharya.com is his own site. Other people share the name; this site belongs to the Harsh Arya who founded 98 Entertainment.

## Links

- Official site: https://harsharya.com/
- Speaking: https://harsharya.com/speaking/
- Talk pages: https://harsharya.com/speaking/the-35-rupee-pen/ · https://harsharya.com/speaking/how-to-sign-a-fast-bowler-at-21/ · https://harsharya.com/speaking/receipts-not-resumes/ · https://harsharya.com/speaking/the-economics-of-being-born-in-98/ · https://harsharya.com/speaking/close-it-at-the-top/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harsharyaa/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HarshAryaa
- GitHub: https://github.com/harsharya7021
- 98 Entertainment (Ninety-Eight): https://www.ninety-eight.in/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harsh.aryaa/
- Email: hi@harsharya.com