Founder Profile · Issue No. 02
The Story

A young Indian entrepreneur, founder & operator.

I didn't wait for permission. I built ventures, taught what I learned, started the conversations I wanted to be part of — and I'm still very much at the start.

“Most startup stories are told after everything works. This isn't that — I'm Documenting the Entrepreneurship Journey.”

I'm Cephas Cardozo, a young Indian entrepreneur from Goa and the founder of GoPing.in — India's Online Discovery & Marketplace Platform. I also founded Opule Media, host The Cephas Cardozo Podcast, and have authored three books on entrepreneurship and AI.

India has incredible young talent, but most of it sits idle waiting for someone to give it a chance. I built GoPing.in to give every Indian a free place to post, connect and discover opportunities. I built Opule Media so young founders don't have to wait for branding help — because shipping in the real world teaches you what classrooms can't.

My work spans Udemy courses (1,700+ students globally), books on Amazon Kindle and Waterstones, a LinkedIn newsletter, and a podcast — all built with discipline.

Early life

Cephas Cardozo was born on into a Goan-Indian family. He grew up abroad in Doha, Qatar, where he spent his school years studying. Living in Doha exposed him early to a global, multicultural environment and sparked his curiosity for the internet, technology and how small businesses operated across borders.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, his family returned to India. With the world locked down, he turned to the internet — diving deep into online courses on coding, digital marketing and the early wave of artificial intelligence. Self-taught and relentlessly curious, he used that period to build the technical and business foundation most teenagers never get exposed to.

As a teenager, he started experimenting with online business: building a small online e-commerce brand, running organic WhatsApp marketing, and eventually generating his first ₹7,000+ in sales without any paid ads. That early hustle taught him the fundamentals of marketing, distribution and customer behaviour — long before any classroom could.

By the time he was 17, he had founded Opule Media, a youth-led branding micro-agency offering free mentorship and remote internships to young Indians. Soon after, he began building GoPing.in — India's Online Discovery & Marketplace Platform — published three books on entrepreneurship and AI, and launched The Cephas Cardozo Podcast.

His belief is simple: a startup in India doesn't have to begin in a metro city. With the internet, discipline, and a bias for action — it can begin anywhere, even in Goa.

Timeline · 2023 — Present

The path so far.

2023
First Udemy Course
Launched on Udemy. The catalog now spans AI design, Canva AI, LinkedIn marketing, ChatGPT and dropshipping — with 1,700+ students globally.
2023
Online E-commerce Begins
First steps in online retail. Built a small e-commerce business out of Goa, learning marketing, creative and conversion the hard way — by selling.
2024
₹7K+ via WhatsApp Marketing
Documented selling results with zero ad spend — pure organic WhatsApp distribution and obsessive creative iteration.
2024
Opule Media Founded
Started Opule Media — a youth-led, remote-first branding micro-agency with free mentorship and internships for Indian students.
2024
Podcast Launched
Started The Cephas Cardozo Podcast — now on Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible and YouTube.
2025
Books Released
Published Born to Build, Hacking Homework with ChatGPT, and ChatGPT for Beginners — Amazon Kindle, Waterstones, eBay, Coupang.
2025
GoPing.in Goes Live
Built and launched India's Online Discovery & Marketplace Platform — List. Find. Discover. Connect. Listed on Tracxn and Crunchbase.
Origin

Building a startup in India doesn't always begin in Bengaluru, Mumbai, or Delhi.

Sometimes it begins with a very local problem and a strong belief that local platforms, when built right, can scale nationally.