Bengaluru Man Shares He Faked Being Dutch To Get Global Clients, Earned Rs 80,000/Month AT 17

A Bengaluru entrepreneur has sparked an online debate after revealing that he once disguised himself as a freelancer from the Netherlands to overcome racial prejudice and secure international clients during his teenage years. Shirsh Bajpai, co-founder of AevyTV, shared his story in a LinkedIn post, recalling how he entered the global freelance market at just 17 and was already earning nearly Rs 80,000 a month through design work.

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

According to Bajpai, the move was born out of frustration after repeatedly encountering racial slurs and rejection while trying to attract overseas clients. He claimed that offensive remarks such as “curry muncher” and “Paki, you Paki” were common, and that several prospective clients lost interest the moment they realised he was Indian.

Faced with what he described as a deeply unfair playing field, Bajpai created an alternative online identity. He presented himself as a Netherlands-based freelancer, complete with a foreign name and accent, while continuing to deliver the same quality of work.

“Nothing about the actual work changed. One difference. And suddenly people said yes,” he wrote.

The strategy, he said, quickly paid off. Freelance projects began flowing in, bringing dollar-denominated payments and rates exceeding $50 for a single thumbnail during 2017-18. At the time, Bajpai was aggressively reaching out to potential clients on Twitter, sending portfolio collages of his work long before he was familiar with the term "cold DMing."

Bajpai recalled that some of his work gained wider attention after being featured by popular YouTuber CarryMinati. The exposure triggered curiosity about his identity and accent, eventually prompting him to request that the feature be removed.

“The accent that got me foreign clients was the same one that got me roasted in my own country,” he wrote, highlighting the irony of being judged differently by audiences abroad and at home.

Bajpai stressed that the disguise only helped him get his foot in the door. Long-term success, he argued, depended entirely on the strength of his skills and the quality of his work.

“The market wasn’t fair, and I couldn’t fix that. So I found a way around it,” he wrote. “But the skill is what kept clients paying once they walked through it.”

The post has since sparked discussion online, with users divided over the ethics of adopting a false identity and the harsh realities faced by young Indian freelancers competing in global markets.