Born in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, Ishan Sharma enrolled at BITS Pilani, one of India's finest engineering institutions and left to build something entirely his own. Today he is a published Penguin author, a YouTube creator, and the co-founder of MarkitUp, a content marketing agency he built alongside his college roommate, Saransh Anand.
• Some people leave college with a degree. Some leave with a company.
Ishan Sharma left with both a co-founder and a mission, and while his peers were preparing for placements, he was building an audience that would eventually number in the millions, writing books that Penguin India would publish, and growing an agency serving startups across India.
The story begins, as so many great ones do, in a hostel room. And it begins with a pandemic, a camera, and the decision to simply start.
A Hostel Room, A First Dollar, and the Realisation That Changed Everything
• Ishan Sharma was born on July 13, 2001. He initially aimed to become an engineer and, after completing his 12th board exams, enrolled at the BITS Pilani, Goa campus to pursue an Electrical Engineering degree.
• But something shifted during the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020. With the world at a standstill, Ishan turned to the one thing he could control: creating content. He began uploading videos on YouTube, about software, student life, freelancing, and career decisions. He was consistent, honest, and specific. His audience grew quietly but steadily.
• Then came the moment that changed his trajectory. He crossed YouTube's monetisation threshold, 4,000 watch hours and 1,000 subscribers — and earned his first dollar from AdSense. By his own account, it was "a very special day." A single dollar, but what it represented was enormous: proof that the world was paying attention, and would, eventually, pay.
• Looking at his video presentation skills on YouTube, Ishan was being approached by many startup founders and companies from August–September 2020 to work on their social media marketing. He started making videos for AbleJobs, GeeksforGeeks, and Leap Scholar, and then decided to launch an agency to work with many clients rather than just one or two.
The Defining Moment — One Phone Call, One Roommate, One Agency
• The demand was real. But Ishan knew he could not serve it alone. So he made the call that would define the next chapter of his life.
• Sharma co-founded MarkitUp with Saransh Anand, a social media manager. Saransh Anand has been co-founder of MarkitUp since January 2021, collaborating with notable brands such as GeeksForGeeks, 5Paisa, and Mirae Asset Management. Saransh was Ishan's roommate at BITS Goa, someone he already knew, trusted, and whose skills in social media management complemented his own strength in content creation perfectly.
• MarkitUp is a creative content marketing agency that helps brands establish a strong online presence and build trust channels. Their expert team collaborates with clients to manage content across platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more. Having partnered with dozens of renowned brands and influencers, MarkitUp has generated hundreds of millions of views.
• The agency was announced on Ishan's YouTube channel, not through cold emails or paid advertising, but through a transparent video that gave his audience a behind-the-scenes look at what he was building. A client signed on the very same day.
• This is the strategic genius at the heart of his story: he had spent months building real trust with a real audience. When he said "I am building something," thousands believed him, because they had watched him grow in public from the beginning. His content became his pitch deck. His audience became his sales funnel.
The Bold Decision — Choosing the Dream Over the Degree
• By 2022, the numbers were undeniable. Ishan earned more than ₹1.6 crore through YouTube AdSense and brand sponsorships combined in one year, and had several other revenue sources, with his marketing agency contributing a significant chunk of overall revenue.
• He eventually dropped out of BITS Goa to focus full-time on content creation and his entrepreneurial ventures.
• In India, an engineering degree from BITS Pilani carries enormous weight, socially, professionally, and within families. Walking away from it takes a particular kind of conviction. But Ishan had already seen the evidence in his own bank account and client list. The degree was one path. He had already built another.
Scale, Numbers & Real-World Impact
• MarkitUp was founded in 2021 by Saransh Anand and Ishan Sharma. As of July 2024, the latest employee count at MarkitUp is 14. The agency is headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, and serves startups, creators, and digital brands across India.
• At the age of 18, Ishan Sharma published his first book, Crush It on LinkedIn, which sold over 5,000 copies. He co-authored his second book, Unicorn Secret, with Kushal Lodha, which highlights the journeys of 20 Indian unicorn founders.
• The book Unlocking Unicorn Secrets, published by Penguin India, covers the entrepreneurial journeys of founders of unicorn startups including Zerodha, Razorpay, OYO Rooms, Policybazaar, ShareChat, Vedantu, Groww, CarDekho, Mamaearth and many more. It was the result of 400 emails, 455 days, 15 flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru, and interviews with founders of about 20 unicorn startups.
• He has taught as a part-time educator at platforms like Unacademy and GeeksforGeeks. Sharma is a frequent speaker at colleges across India. Beyond MarkitUp, Saransh Anand and Ishan Sharma also co-founded Sentora.ai in March 2023, a startup focused on AI tools, signalling their move into the next frontier of the creator economy together.
Build the Audience First. The Business Follows.
• The sharpest insight from Ishan Sharma's journey is straightforward: your audience is your most powerful business asset, and it is built through consistency, honesty, and genuine value delivered over time.
• Ishan launched a freelancing career through content. He launched an agency through a YouTube video. He launched a book through a community that already trusted him. Every business move he made was powered by the relationship he had cultivated with his audience long before he ever needed anything from them.
• Most people wait until they have a product to build an audience. Ishan built the audience first, and the business opportunities followed naturally, with a ready market already waiting.
• The second lesson is equally important: the right co-founder is often closer than you think. Ishan picked his roommate, someone he already knew, trusted, and whose skills were genuinely complementary to his own. There was no pitch competition, no formal co-founder search. Just one honest conversation, and a shared decision to build something together.
The Bigger Picture
• Ishan Sharma is in his mid-twenties. He has published two books, one self-published at 18 and one with Penguin India, co-built a digital marketing agency from a hostel room, co-founded an AI startup, educated students on multiple major platforms, and created content that has helped millions of young Indians think differently about careers, freelancing, and entrepreneurship.
• He did it by choosing to build in public, sharing what he was learning, building, and becoming before he had the titles, the office, or anyone's formal permission.
• His story is a direct message to every student wondering whether there is another way forward. There is. But it asks something more demanding than any exam: the willingness to begin before you feel ready, to show up consistently before the results are visible, and to trust the compounding effect of honest work done over time.
• The rarest skill in the world is the ability to start. Ishan Sharma had it at 19. His co-founder Saransh Anand answered the call when it came. Together, they built something real.
Sources: Wikipedia, Tracxn, YourStory / Metastory, Penguin Random House India, Google Books / Penguin India, The Org
