At 17, while preparing for the JEE, Bansal reached out to entrepreneur and podcaster Raj Shamani after watching one of his videos. What followed was his first paid writing opportunity and, he says, the beginning of a journey that eventually helped him make ₹ 1 crore by the age of 22. A single DM sent late at night changed the course of Aditya Bansal’s life.
Instead of studying, however, he found himself deep in the self-improvement side of YouTube and regularly watching Shamani’s videos. “I had been trying to make money for a while by then. Tried graphic design, website development, and a few other things. Everything failed,” he wrote. His original plan was straightforward: clear JEE, become an engineer and get a job. Bansal admitted that the thread was far from his best work. With no degree. No experience. Nothing to show. He still bet on me. For Bansal, however, the biggest impact was not the money. “He even wished me a happy birthday. He noticed the small things,” Bansal wrote. The work eventually ended when Shamani needed a full-time team, but he left Bansal a testimonial. That testimonial helped him land his first retainer client.
In 2021, Bansal was preparing for the JEE, which had been pushed to October. But Bansal said he could already see that path ahead of him and did not want it. (Also Read: Man walks away from luxurious Dubai life to open a small shop in Uttarakhand: ‘Bahut bhaag liya life mein’ ) He sent the DM at 10:41 pm. At 3:53 am, Shamani replied. It received around 1,200 likes, but he had little writing experience at the time. “I was 17. He hired the 17-year-old kid,” Bansal wrote.
Because bansal did not have a bank account, he eventually wrote five or six threads for Shamani, who paid him in Amazon gift cards.
X user Aditya Bansal recently revisited the moment, sharing the story he says he had never told anyone before. He said Shamani provided insights and sources, gave him the material he needed and treated him like a member of his team.
He credited that first opportunity with giving him the confidence to continue pursuing independent work, even during periods when he had no clients or revenue. “Thank you, @rajshamani. That DM is still the best thing I ever wrote,” he concluded. “This is one fine piece of cold outreach. Taking notes,” another commented. “Such a cool story my brother! You are such an inspiration, ” another person wrote. (Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
Bansal said he has since worked with more than 45 founders and eventually made ₹ 1 crore by 22. I still remember our call in 2022.
The two have never spoken outside a podcast, Bansal said, adding that he hopes they get to speak one day. Take a look: The story resonated with people online, with one user calling it “one of the best stories I read after a long time”. A third user wrote, “It’s incredible how a single encounter can shift your entire trajectory.” (Also Read: UK vlogger visits Chandigarh, says it feels ‘miles different’ from major Indian cities: ‘Everything is organised’ ) Another said Shamani “gave you a reason to believe you could actually build something for yourself”.
