From Karachi to New York — The Digital Hustle That Built My Empire

I landed in New York with just $200 in my pocket and a dream taller than the skyline of Manhattan. I didn’t come for a job—I came chasing a vision. No fluent English, no Ivy League degree, and certainly no one to welcome me at JFK. What I did have, though, was grit—the kind you can’t teach or buy.

Back in Karachi, I was just a kid fixing broken computers for side cash. My real education came from dusty internet cafés and dimly lit rooms where I self-learned HTML. By 16, I was staying up till 3 a.m., watching YouTube tutorials on JavaScript with a cracked screen and headphones taped together. I didn’t realize it then, but I was unknowingly training to build something bigger than myself—a digital empire.

My early days in New York weren’t easy. I washed dishes at a restaurant in Queens during the day and coded at night. Every $20 job on Upwork, I grabbed it. Every Fiverr client who asked for extra revisions became a teacher. My first Shopify store was a failure. My second one barely broke even. But the third? It paid my rent.

I didn’t party. I didn’t waste time. Instead of Netflix, I networked. While others chased fun, I chased freedom. I worked silently while people slept. People back home thought I was successful—but I knew I was just surviving.

Then, in 2021, something changed.

I stumbled into crypto. Ethereum gas fees confused me, but I read every whitepaper I could find. I went to NYC blockchain meetups where no one looked like me, and I spoke in broken English until they listened. I bought my first NFT and flipped it for four times the price. Then I built a basic crypto portfolio tracker app. To my surprise, people actually paid to use it.

That was my pivot.

I met a friend in Queens who was also hustling like me. Together, we launched a Web3 consulting agency. By 2023, we were consulting two hedge funds on DeFi projects. When ChatGPT exploded in 2024, we didn’t hesitate—we pivoted again. This time, we built a no-code AI assistant for real estate agents. It went viral. Just like that, our small two-man team turned into a digital startup with 15 remote employees.

Today, I own a creative tech agency near Times Square. I live in Brooklyn Heights. I’ve spoken at NYU, mentored immigrant students, and helped others from South Asia break into tech. But none of this happened overnight. Behind every achievement was a thousand silent sacrifices—nights of hunger, moments of doubt, and the constant fear of failure.

I didn’t make it because I was special. I made it because I was obsessed. Obsessed with growth. Obsessed with learning. Obsessed with turning code into currency and failures into fuel. I believed that the internet wasn’t just a place for scrolling—it was a passport. A portal. A tool that turns underdogs into winners.

If you're reading this from a crowded street in Lahore, Dhaka, Nairobi, or Manila—know this:

You don’t need to be born in America to win in America. You don’t need to speak perfect English to speak success.

You just need relentless belief—and internet access.

This story isn’t about how to get rich. It’s about how to believe. How to bet on yourself when no one else will.

New York didn’t make me rich. The digital world did.

But New York taught me the most powerful lesson of all:

this story can give you more power

“No one owes you anything.

But the internet offers you everything—

if you’re willing to earn it.”