It all started in the summer of 2019 when I gave IIT JEE exam for which I had studied for the last two years.
I passed JEE mains but not JEE advanced, so couldn't get into any IIT.
I later gave BITSAT and got into BITS Pilani Goa (electrical engineering).
(2/n)
I decided to improve my skills and learn new things. Watching
@AmanDhattarwal, @BeerBicepsGuy, @garyvee content inspired me.
After the JEE advanced results, I started learning Python & reading a few books to learn soft and hard skills.
(3/n)
In July 2019, I went to the campus, joined a few clubs, made new friends and studied machine learning and data science.
I was also a little distracted but after the 1st semester, I took programming more seriously and started focussing on web dev.
(4/n)
After realising the opportunity of social media from
@garyvee, I started learning about the nitty gritty of social, what content works on which platform and how to contextualise it.
(5/n)
In December 2019, I launched my podcast. It was a series of talks I had with seniors from my college.
Everyone was familiar with YouTube but not podcasts.
Hence from January 2020, I began uploading my podcast episodes on YouTube every Sunday.
(6/n)
And in March, due to the pandemic, I came back home & had a lot of free time on my hand.
I used Angellist and LinkedIn to apply for several internships to get real world experience.
(7/n)
After a ton of interviews, I started working as a FB Ads manager in a startup in April'20
I used to work 9AM-6PM and wasn't able to focus on anything else, hence I left the 5K/month internship after a week to focus on other opportunities.
(8/n)
I believed I could do the same work for myself and grow more.
By that time, I had started making 3-4 videos on my YouTube and was using LinkedIn to share all my learnings.
(9/n)
In May 2020, I started working with
@mehulmpt as a growth marketer to help him grow
@codedamncom I worked on:
Product market fit analysis
Reiterating
Influencer marketing
refer and earn
Instagram page promo
Facebook ads management
Pitching VCs
Ad creative designing
(10/n)
I'd learned a lot about LinkedIn and decided to write a book on it titled "Crush it on LinkedIn"
I completed writing the book in a week and published it on 12 July, 2020, just a day before my birthday.
I gave away 4,000 copies for free.
(11/n)
On 18th July 2020, my channel got monetised and I made $20 that month.
The amount didn't matter, because I was so in love with the process.
I started working with AbleJobs in August 2020 to make videos on their channel. It taught me a lot about editing and how to speak.
(12/n)
In August 2020, I started investing with Parag Parikh Flexicap fund but then later expanded to ETFs and smallcases.
I learned about value investing, and how people like Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett invest their money.
(13/n)
I started working at
@unacademy in October 2020 as a python instructor and everything I learned about Python in 2019 came in handy.
Connect the dots.
Also started working with
@geeksforgeeks by December to make videos on their channel.
(14/n)
In Jan 2021, I ended up leaving codedamn because at the end of the day I wanted to build my own business.
Working at codedamn taught me soo much about cold emailing, PMF, FB Ads and I'm really thankful for the opportunity.
(15/n)
I launched
@markitup_in with my college room mate
@saransh_xD in February 2021. The idea was to help businesses grow on YouTube and Instagram.
We expanded quickly and today it's a 15 people company with over 13 clients with a goal of reaching $1M ARR in 2-3 years.
(16/n)
Throughout 2021, I spent most of my time growing my YouTube channel, working with brands, hiring people to delegate tasks and expanding
@markitup_in (17/n)
March 2022, college called us back in campus for offline classes.
I spent 3 weeks trying to manage my YouTube, MarkitUp, along with Acads
It got quite stressful for me. My sleep routine was messed up and I wasn't able to go to the gym.
(18/n)
I realised that I was not able to do anything properly in college. I couldn't produce quality content there.
I also wanted some free time in which I can be in a creative zone to come up with new content ideas.
I just had one more year to get my degree.
(19/n)
I realised that I am on an exponential curve, both in my business and YouTube.
If I stopped or slow down now, I wouldn't be doing justice to the hard work I've put in over the last 2 years.
(20/n)
I couldn't relate with people around me worrying about CGPA, compre, internships, placements, while I was focussed on content and business.
My degree was of no use to me. I was simply trying to pass tests and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to do it for another day.
(21/n)
So I decided to Drop out...
And in the first month of being free, I met a ton of amazing people in Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai.
What keeps me going is the impact I'm able to have through my content and
@markitup_in (22/n)
If you liked this thread, retweet the first tweet and follow
@Ishansharma7390 for more insightful content.😁
(23/n)