Indie By Design

Independent agencies grow when they master capital, not just creativity: Atul Hegde lays out the hard truth.

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tul Hegde is one of the most enduring voices in India’s digital marketing story — an entrepreneur who has spent over 25 years shaping how brands think about media, creativity, and scale. He’s best known as the Founder & Director of YAAP, a techand data-led content agency operating across India, the UAE, and Singapore. This integrated model — blending creative design, and influencer and content marketing — has helped YAAP grow as one of the few independent agencies competing at national scale.

As Co-Founder of Rainmaker Ventures, he also backs early-stage technology startups and mentors founders closely. In conversation with Gautam Shelar, he reflects on his early innings, the keys to scaling an independent agency, and building a politics-free structure at YAAP.

Edited excerpts...

Q. What makes great campaigns great?

A. Great campaigns are built on simplicity. A sharp, single-minded idea is everything. At the script stage, the agency’s clarity is critical — then a great filmmaker elevates it. If you look at the classics, they're incredibly simple at heart. That’s the combination you chase every time — a tight script and the right director to bring it alive. Even then, it’s hard to predict what will become iconic. Over three decades, out of hundreds of campaigns, only a handful truly endure. That’s the creative struggle.

Q. Do budgets matter?

A. Budgets matter, but they’re not the starting point. Not every film needs a massive budget, but every script deserves the budget appropriate for its idea and treatment. You can't underfund a script that requires scale — it will simply not work.