By Major Sunil Shetty, SM (Retd.)
At the buzzing heart of Startup Mahakhumb 2025, where the energy of innovation filled the air and the who’s who of India’s startup ecosystem gathered, one moment stood out—a young student, barely 18, taking center stage as Aman Gupta, co-founder and CMO of boAt Lifestyle—an Indian electronics brand & a judge and investor in Sony TV‘s business reality show Shark Tank India —officially unveiled the Startup Playbook. The crowd erupted in applause—not just for the book, but for the boy behind it.
Meet Shubham Bhasin: student, innovator, and the author of a one-of-a-kind guide created by a student for students who dream of becoming entrepreneurs.
“So basically, this is a playbook for all the students who aspire to be future entrepreneurs, change-makers—the ones who want to build their own startups,” Shubham explained during his interview with My Startup TV at the event. His words carried a maturity far beyond his age.
The Startup Playbook is born out of personal struggle and passion. For the past year, Shubham has been working on his initiative, Community CX, while juggling school and everyday teenage life. “Balancing school, life, and building something like this was a very tedious task,” he shared. But through that journey, he realized there was no practical, student-oriented resource to guide young minds like his. So, he created one.
The book, which was officially launched at the Mahakhumbh by Union Minister Piyush Goyal himself, outlines a clear roadmap of the entrepreneurial journey:
• Defining a problem
• Crafting a solution
• Understanding the impact you aim to create
• Marketing your idea
• Funding your venture and generating revenue
• Building connections and networking effectively
“All of this is covered in the playbook,” Shubham said with quiet pride.
At the moment, only limited hard copies are available, with a full market release and downloadable PDF version on the horizon. “This event was just to unveil it. Soon, it will be available to everyone,” he added.
As other young attendees at Startup Mahakhumb gathered around him—many with notebooks, some simply starstruck—it became clear that Shubham is more than an aspiring entrepreneur. He’s an emerging youth leader, paving the way for a new generation of innovators.
With Startup Playbook, Shubham isn’t just telling students what to do—he’s showing them what’s possible.
