Aniket Pandey
18-year-old student entrepreneur, Founder of Leanpreneurs and CEO of Sanity Gaming recognized by IIT Bombay.
Starting an esports company as students wasn't part of any traditional career plan. But when you see a problem worth solving and have the passion to build, conventional paths become less appealing. Here's our journey building Sanity Gaming and Toornify.
Gaming isn't just entertainment anymore—it's a massive industry with professional players, huge tournaments, dedicated fans, and serious money. But the infrastructure supporting competitive gaming remained fragmented and outdated. We saw an opportunity to build the tools that the esports community desperately needed.
We didn't have funding, fancy offices, or industry connections. What we had was technical skill, deep understanding of gaming communities, and relentless execution. We started by organizing small tournaments manually, learning pain points firsthand, and building relationships within the gaming ecosystem.
Our biggest advantage was being part of the community we were building for. We understood tournament organizers' frustrations because we organized tournaments ourselves. We knew what players wanted because we were competitive players. This insider perspective shaped every product decision we made.
Getting recognized by IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, and ISB was a turning point. It validated that what we were building had serious technical and business merit. These institutions don't recognize just any student project—it meant we were solving real problems with innovative solutions.
Building Toornify required learning advanced technologies—real-time systems, scalable architecture, complex state management, and database optimization. We didn't have formal training in many of these areas. We learned by doing, made mistakes, refactored code, and gradually built expertise.
As a small team, everyone wore multiple hats. One day you're coding, next day you're reaching out to tournament organizers, then you're designing UI, then managing Discord community. This breadth of experience is invaluable, though sometimes overwhelming.
When our platform started gaining traction, we had to scale quickly—both technically and organizationally. Servers needed upgrading, code needed refactoring, and we needed more team members. Growing sustainably while maintaining quality was challenging but necessary.
We shared our journey openly—wins, failures, challenges, and learnings. This transparency helped build trust with our community. People saw we weren't some faceless corporation but real people passionate about improving their gaming experience.
Our Discord server became more than just a communication channel—it became our feedback loop, beta testing ground, and community hub. Engaging with users daily, addressing concerns, implementing suggestions, and celebrating wins together strengthened our platform and community bonds.
We're not stopping at tournament management. Our vision is to build a complete esports ecosystem—covering tournaments, team management, player development, sponsorship opportunities, content creation, and career pathways for aspiring professional gamers. Toornify is just the beginning.
The gaming industry is open to innovation from anyone with good ideas and execution skills. You don't need permission or perfect timing—just start building. Engage with communities authentically, solve real problems, iterate based on feedback, and stay persistent through challenges. The gaming community rewards genuine efforts to make their experience better.
Being a student entrepreneur in esports is challenging but incredibly rewarding. You get to combine your passion for gaming with entrepreneurship, technical skills, and community building. If we can do it, so can you.
