In 2019, I had 0 friends 0 money $35K in student loan No pu…

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)

In 2019, I had
0 friends
0 money
$35K in student loan
No purpose

In 2022, I have
800K following, 50M views
2 Businesses that make over $400K ARR
0 Liabilities
On a mission🚀
Age: 20

Here's how I did it🧵

(1/n)

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In 2019, I had0 friends0 money$35K in student loanNo purposeIn 2022, I have800K following, 50M views2 Businesses that make over $400K ARR0 LiabilitiesOn a mission🚀Age: 20Here's how I did it🧵(1/n)

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In 2019, I had
0 friends
0 money
$35K in student loan
No purpose

In 2022, I have
800K following, 50M views
2 Businesses that make over $400K ARR
0 Liabilities
On a mission🚀
Age: 20

Here's how I did it🧵

(1/n)