“Every Late Night Paid Off”: Techie Shares Journey From ₹18,000 To ₹1.8 Lakh Salary

A 28-year-old Indian software engineer has become the internet’s latest overnight sensation after revealing a jaw-dropping 10× salary jump—from a meagre ₹18,000 per month in 2020 to ₹1.8 lakh per month in November 2025—achieved in exactly five years of nonstop grinding. The anonymous developer, who goes by the handle u/throwaway_dev_95 on Reddit’s r/developersIndia, shared the milestone late Wednesday night, instantly rocketing the post to the subreddit’s front page with over 12,000 upvotes and 1,400 comments in less than 12 hours.

“Started at a tiny startup, long hours, zero work-life balance, tonnes of bugs, and even more rejections,” the techie wrote. Armed with a tech stack of React, Node.js, Python, and AWS, they switched jobs four times—each move netting a 40-60% hike—while spending every weekend on LeetCode, system-design YouTube marathons, and side projects that eventually became their golden ticket. “Every late-night debug session, every ‘you’re overqualified for this salary’ email, every imposter-syndrome meltdown—it all paid off,” they added, signing off with a simple line that hit home for lakhs of coders: “If you’re still grinding at 3 AM, keep going. It really does get better.”

The comment section exploded into a virtual support group. One user wrote, “Bro just gave 2025 its first dose of hope”; another confessed, “Started at ₹15k in 2021, now at ₹1.65L—your post made me cry at my desk.” Seasoned devs dropped free roadmaps—how to crack FAANG-level system design in 90 days, which certifications actually move the needle, and the exact salary bands for each YOE in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune. By Thursday morning, screenshots had flooded X, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp groups, with #10xEngineer trending across Indian tech circles.

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Corporate pages jumped in too—PhonePe, Zomato, and Groww recruiters slid into the comments with “DM for referral” messages, while angel investors offered to back the developer’s next side hustle. Even Shark Tank India’s Aman Gupta quote-tweeted the thread: “This is the real India story—zero funding, pure hustle.” The post has already spawned dozens of copycat confessions, turning Thursday into an unofficial “Salary Reveal Day” for Indian developers.

Five years, four job hops, one life transformed—and the internet can’t stop celebrating the reminder that in India’s cutthroat tech race, the tortoise who codes at 2 AM sometimes laps everyone else. As the original poster signed off in an update: “Taking the team out for biryani tonight. First time I’m paying without checking the bill twice.” For thousands still staring at ₹25k offer letters, that single line just became 2025’s most motivational push notification.

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