'When students of my age were partying, I had sleepless nights working:' Delhi founder who earns $500K annually

A 23-year-old Delhi-based entrepreneur named Kushal Arora recently faced both praise and criticism for sharing his personal journey toward success.

Arora, who claims to earn over $500,000 annually, took to X (formerly Twitter) to reflect on the sacrifices he made while others of his age were enjoying a more carefree lifestyle. His post resonated with many, but also sparked conversations about the pressures young entrepreneurs face.

In a now-viral tweet, Arora shared how, while his peers were out partying and chilling, he was working sleepless nights, missing social events, and battling failures and rejection. He mentioned about the challenges of losing work-life balance but expressed pride in choosing that path to build his dream life.

I'm 23yrs old earning over $5,00,000 annually.

When students of my age were partying & chilling, I was:

- Having sleepless nights working
- Missing social events
- Dealing with failures/rejection
- Losing work-life balance

But I chose that. Are you building your dream life?

— Kushal Arora (@digitalkushal) October 16, 2024

The post, which received over 163,000 views, sparked reactions from several users. While some praised him for setting an example for his generation, others were more skeptical, with one user even questioning if he was involved in multi-level marketing (MLM).

Arora clarified that he runs a legitimate marketing company that provides services like SEO and affiliate marketing.

Nai bhai, I run a proper marketing company where we offer services like SEO, affiliate marketing etc. Started working when I was 14 years old, hence this tweet!

— Kushal Arora (@digitalkushal) October 17, 2024

Still a long way to go :)

— Kushal Arora (@digitalkushal) October 17, 2024

I've always wanted to follow such a person , let's connect brother .

— UCN SACHIN (@UCN_SACHIN) October 17, 2024

However, not all feedback was supportive. A user named Mayank Sehgal voiced strong criticism of Kushal’s post. "You lived your life, they are living theirs. Not everyone dreams of earning so much, stop making it a fancy show off. You worked hard, you got your money. Live with it. Stop creating that pressure for the younger lot that if they don’t earn this much, they are useless," he wrote. 

Kushal responded: "I am just sharing my journey of retiring my parents when I was just 19, if that's creating any pressure on the youth they can happily mute my content. But my target audience is youth looking for motivation."