EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Sai Karra: Never Turn Down An Opportunity
Sai Karra is a 17-year-old with the business savvy to rival leading entrepreneurs, and he told us just how he get its all done.
Social media is something that has weaved its way into the foundation of many a person’s day-to-day life. From a positive perspective, social media can be used to foster relationships and find like-minded people with whom to converse. It can be used as a form of creative expression with which to showcase one’s individual talents. It can serve as a way to get in a good laugh after a long day at work (who doesn’t love to watch those funny animal videos?). However, it can also serve as a platform from which to launch a lucrative entrepreneurial career. And no one knows this better than Sai Karra.
Sai Karra is an individual with the ambition, zest, energy, dedication, and know-how that could rival that of the world’s leading entrepreneurs. At just 17 years of age, Karra (along with his brother Srikar Karra) has built up a business framed around the social media platform TikTok. And Sai didn’t stop there. He is also the co-founder of Metaversity. He has written a book and sits as the youngest member of the Forbes Business Council. There really is no stopping Karra. I sat down with the young upstart to gain insight into his TikTok prowess as well as to better understand his unique motivations behind his entrepreneurial endeavors. What Karra shared not only framed the backbone that supports his success but also revealed how he aims to share his unique sets of knowledge to elevate others.
SAI’S STORY
It’s not every day that one hears of a 17-year-old that has profound business savvy. And not only that but a savvy that they are able to encapsulate and fully understand as well as execute successfully. Which serves to beg the question, how did Sai Karra rise to garner such success in multiple entrepreneurial spaces at such a young age?
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Karra said it all started back in 2015 when he was living in India for the year. During his time there, he said that there were moments when he was “bored out of his mind.” Thus, to rectify his boredom he and his brother decided to start posting things on YouTube. He explained that he and his brother Srikar were “really into basketball at the time” so naturally, they started posting videos relating to what they were passionate about. They started “posting NBA mix tape videos” set to “trending sounds and music.” Their very first video received around 150,000 views. As Sai puts it, that was his “first glimpse of content creation and the potential of social media.”
Despite his initial success on YouTube, Karra didn’t jump all into content creation just then. After returning to the states he focused on school and friends and other normal kid stuff. Around 9th grade, however, his entrepreneurial fire resurfaced. The brother duo decided to dabble in the money-making potential of the internet once again. The pair “started with drop shipping” to try and turn a profit. And even though they didn’t quite see a return on investment then, Karra says that the experience “started our whole business entrepreneurship mindset.”
ENTER TIKTOK
When Sai’s brother Srikar went off to college, his brother was able to further visualize the potential of social media. Karra said that his brother started posting on TikTok while away at college and was quickly able to generate about half a million followers on his account. After realizing the virtually unlimited potential of the TikTok platform, Srikar approached Sai about starting one.
Sai said that at first, he was reluctant. However, his brother was persistent and eventually swayed him. Sai was able to scale to an impressive 2 million followers in just a couple of months’ time. Fast forward to the present and the Karra brothers “are sitting at a collective 15 million followers.” Out of their success and expertise, BuiltGen was born.
WHAT IS BUILTGEN?
BuiltGen is the brainchild of Sai and his brother Srikar. It is a place where businesses and individuals alike can employ both Karra brothers’ expertise. It is where someone like you can “Learn how you can build a 7 figure+ following and multiply sales for your brand.”
Karra said that after garnering so much success he had a desire to help others reach the same level of acclaim. After considering how to do this, he and his brother were able to identify a void in the market. Essentially, with BuiltGen, the Karra brothers are filling the gap between businesses/individuals wanting to use TikTok to grow their brand but not knowing how to do it. BuiltGen is a resource for those who see the potential of TikTok and want to maximize its potential for their own personal or business growth.
WHAT IS METAVERSITY?
Building on this idea of giving back to other like-minded upstarts is what birthed Metaversity. Where BuiltGen aims to help existing businesses and entrepreneurs, Karra said that Metaversity or “a University inside the Metaverse,” is for those wanting to embark on a journey of entrepreneurship but who don’t quite know how to get started. With Metaversity Sai is hoping to attract hustlers who “know they want to get something done and want to make sure it happens” but “who don’t quite have the tools and resources to do it yet.”
While not quite fully up and running just yet, Karra beamed that its “Genesis launch is coming in 2 weeks” and the main launch is scheduled to happen in just a month and a half. However, for those looking to become a part of this emerging and exclusive community, it’s best to head on over to their Discord. Watch Sai below talk about how to become a part of the Metaversity community.
THE BOOK
It’s both clear and admirable that Sai’s entrepreneurial vision is to give back to and guide others. And his desire and dedication to making that happen doesn’t begin and end with just BuiltGen and Metaversity. To further drive his mission, as well as fuel a lingering childhood passion, Sai Karra wrote a book. Outset: The Start To Something Great was published on April 9, 2022. With it, Sai hopes most to reach his peers at a time when they are just about to embark on the start of the rest of their professional careers. “I really wanted to hit on teenagers,” said Karra. And “I waited for a time when I had some expertise and knowledge that I could share with other people.” Karra touts the book as “A complete guideline to a journey of fulfillment. Not mere words, but a complete lifeline providing a passage to achieve goals.”
HOW HE DOES IT ALL
From birthing BuiltGen to writing a book, Karra’s day is crammed with responsibility and numerous things that he has to be accountable for. That’s a lot for anyone to take on. So how does he do it? Karra says that’s the “beauty of having a brother.” They keep each other in check and “delegate tasks to each other.” He also knows when to hand tasks off to the team of other experts that he works with, so as not to burn himself out. But most importantly, Karra really enjoys what he does, he sees it as a hobby and not as work, proving that loving what you do goes a long way to help one on the path to success.
THE TAKEAWAY
Ultimately, Sai Karra attributes his attainment of success at such a young age to his willingness to grab the opportunities strung before him. “It’s all about taking the opportunity that’s right in front of you.” Disengage from preconceived notions, “question your current beliefs” and don’t be afraid to “experiment with things whether it be TikTok or anything else.” Karra’s success is unique because he never let himself stop himself, and that is a lesson that every individual no matter where they are in their life can benefit from.
