How Indian student made ₹80,000 a month from overseas clients - until 'CarryMinati's feature' exposed him

A viral LinkedIn post by Shirsh Bajpai, co-founder of AevyTV, has ignited discussion online after he disclosed that he once pretended to be from the Netherlands in order to secure international freelance work.

Bajpai said he began freelancing at the age of 17 and quickly realised that being identified as an Indian creator often made it harder to attract foreign clients. According to him, some prospects declined to work with him after learning where he was from, while others made racist remarks.

“At 17, I pretended to be a guy from the Netherlands so foreign clients would pay me. It worked. I was making ₹80,000 a month, as a teenager,” he wrote.

Adopting a new online identity

To overcome what he perceived as bias, Bajpai said he created an entirely different online persona. He changed his name, claimed to be based in the Netherlands and produced videos using what he described as a strong American accent.

The change had an immediate impact, he said. Clients who had previously shown little interest suddenly became more receptive, despite the quality of his work remaining exactly the same.

As demand grew, Bajpai began earning in US dollars rather than Indian rupees. He revealed that during 2017–18 he charged more than $50 for designing a single thumbnail. Since each assignment typically took between 20 and 40 minutes to complete, the work enabled him to earn close to ₹80,000 per month while he was still in college.

How he found clients

Bajpai explained that his early client acquisition strategy was surprisingly simple. He created a large collage featuring examples of his work and sent it to numerous people on Twitter.

Reflecting on those efforts, he said he had effectively been practising cold outreach before he even knew what “cold DM” meant.

Maintaining the fictional identity eventually became difficult. Bajpai recalled that the truth began to unravel after popular YouTuber CarryMinati featured his channel at a time when both creators had only a few hundred subscribers.

The exposure attracted attention from viewers who questioned why an Indian creator was speaking with a foreign accent. According to Bajpai, the scrutiny intensified to the point that he asked for the feature to be taken down.

Looking back, he said it was ironic that the same accent which helped him win overseas business also attracted criticism from audiences in India.

'It’s wild how often perception gets you the first opportunity'

Despite the deceptive start, Bajpai maintained that the fabricated identity only helped him secure initial opportunities. What retained clients, he argued, was the quality of the work he delivered.

His account struck a chord with many social media users, who viewed it as evidence that perceptions often influence opportunities before talent is assessed.

“It’s wild how often perception gets you the first opportunity, but competence is what keeps it,” one user commented.

Another wrote, “The most interesting lesson here isn’t about the accent. It’s about how markets often reward perception before they evaluate skill.”

A third user praised Bajpai’s initiative, saying, “What’s remarkable is that even after removing all the unfairness from the story, one thing remains true: A teenager was finding clients, cold messaging strangers, and delivering work people were willing to pay for.”

Social media users discuss prejudice in freelancing

Several commenters also pointed to the continued presence of discrimination in online professional spaces.

“And let me tell you all that kinda racism still exist,” one user wrote.

Another observed, “Perception may create opportunities, but performance is what turns them into careers.”

A further comment read, “This proves how talent can get overlooked because of assumptions people make before they even seen the work.”

Meanwhile, another user reflected on broader issues of bias on the internet, writing, “The sad reality is that the internet hasn’t changed much; people just hide their bias behind better corporate language now. but there is a massive lesson here for every Indian freelancer trying to go global.”

(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. Livemint has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)