My TL is basically split into two. One side is preparing for FAANG and college placements while the others are indie devs printing money. Lowkey inspired by the latter 👀 (I dont think a job is gonna get me an AMG anytime soon)
This is how I made around ₹1crore by the age of 23.
Disclaimer - I’ve never really worked on any extraordinary things or got here within 5-6 months.
After 12th, I needed to earn money because of some financial issues.
The only skill I had was programming.
I tried to get a job installing cable TV antennas but I couldn’t even do that.
so I spent a lot of time searching “ways to make money” on the internet.
things like dropshipping, trading, content creation, affiliate marketing, etc. didn’t appeal to me because I didn’t have the time or money to invest in those things.
I wanted to get paid instantly for doing something, even if the money was small.
Obviously, freelancing made sense to me.
I knew how to code, but I hadn’t built anything serious, so I collected all my stupid little projects and started approaching random people I connected with on Facebook 😂
The first project I got this way was a small automation script in Python and paid me $100.
Then I helped a cybersecurity guy with some more Python scripts. made around $500. That same guy later paid me over $2000 for helping him for a couple of months.
I added everything to my portfolio and got some small projects on Upwork.
They were mostly prototypes. Sadly, I never took it seriously, so made only around ₹20 lakhs.
I made most of this money writing PHP, Java, Python and Javascript. I didn’t have a niche, I just asked to fix problems that others couldn’t or wouldn’t fix.
Then I worked on some React and React Native apps with some agencies in Noida and Gurugram.
For some months, I managed a small agency almost all on my own that I started with a friend. We basically worked for other agencies that worked for other agencies.
All this lasted until I was in third year at my university. Then I got bored and frustrated because this work was making me lose interest in programming.
Took a small break, working with only 2-3 clients, I did some small open source contributions and got a job in a US based startup.
In final year, I had ₹50 lakhs liquid and I didn’t know what to do, so I bought a plot and started a side business.
I graduated last year and took a whole year to just have fun.
My income dropped from ₹5lakh to around ₹3.5 lakh but my life has been really fun. Also, my investments are growing, and I don’t have any responsibilities, so I don’t really care.
Now, I’m finally planning to build something while pursuing my hobbies and without sacrificing my freedom.