A 19-year-old earning around Rs 1 crore a month from an AI business was enough to spark admiration, disbelief, and a fair bit of self-reflection online.The story began with a LinkedIn post by Dinesh Singh, co-founder and CTO at Topmate. But it did not stay there for long. As screenshots and reposts spread across platforms, many users found themselves talking less about artificial intelligence and more about the age of the person behind the achievement.The young entrepreneur in question is Ayush Singh. According to Dinesh, his journey started years before AI became the buzzword it is today. His post traces the path from a difficult period during the COVID pandemic to building a business around the skills he taught himself.
How it all started
Sharing Ayush’s story, Dinesh said the teenager’s circumstances were far from ideal when he first began learning.“He’s not an IITian, not an MIT grad, and wasn’t born with a silver spoon. At 13, during COVID, his family hit a financial crisis. All he had was outdated courses, patchy internet, a laptop, and a ridiculous amount of curiosity,” he wrote.According to Dinesh, that curiosity eventually pushed Ayush towards artificial intelligence and machine learning.“So, he taught himself machine learning the hard way.”
From learning to working with startups
The entrepreneur said Ayush’s efforts soon began translating into opportunities.According to the post, he started working with startups abroad within months. Dinesh also claimed that when Ayush was 14, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) publicly recommended one of his courses.The post describes this phase as a period when he continued sharpening his skills while taking on projects in the AI space.
The turning point, according to the founder
Interestingly, Dinesh said the breakthrough did not come simply from becoming better at AI.He suggested that the real shift happened when Ayush figured out how to present and monetize what he knew. According to the post, he now runs premium AI cohorts on Topmate.
The bigger point behind the viral post
While narrating the teenager’s journey, Dinesh also used it to highlight a pattern he says he often notices among creators and professionals.“I see this so often in the creator economy that it’s a pattern I can’t ignore. Just like Ayush, most creators are sitting on something people would gladly pay to learn, and almost none of them earn a rupee from it,” Dinesh wrote.His argument was simple: many people already have valuable knowledge, but very few take the next step of turning it into a product or service.
Social media users react
The story quickly drew reactions from users who compared Ayush’s achievements with their own lives.Some found it motivating. Others responded with humour and honesty.“My 28-year-old self is feeling jealous and depressed seeing so many kids achieve so much at such a young age,” one user wrote on X.“My 18-year-old self is in depression,” another user wrote.A third user simply called it “inspiring.”Disclaimer: This article is based on information shared in a LinkedIn post and reactions on social media. The publication has not independently verified the claims mentioned in the post. The Times of India is attempting to contact Ayush Singh for comment. This article will be updated if and when a response is received.Thumb image: LinkedIn/Ayush Singh
