Today I sit down with Ritesh: a former Capital One engineer who made $180K from side hustles as a CS student—more than his six-figure salary.
We break down how he built profitable AI agents, landed a $15K client from one Reddit post, and the exact 30-day blueprint any CS student can follow. We also unpack his Reddit marketing system, the minimal-code tech stack he uses, why he quit after Amazon cut 30K jobs, and whether the AI agents space is a bubble.
If you're a software engineer or CS student looking to build recession-proof income before layoffs hit, this is a must-listen.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉 https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=Ritesh_AIAgent&video=hU83uz1h0z4
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I’m Aman Manazir, a career coach and software engineer. I interned at companies like Amazon, Shopify, and HP in college, and the day I graduated I landed a $168,000/year* full-time software engineering job. I help you make it as a computer science student & software engineer and get your dream job offer.
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👉 Ritesh's YouTube: https://youtube.com/@rkumarv?si=x69yN285NFW5fNPi
👉 Ritesh's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riteshkv_?igsh=MWdwbG1nYng2ZzdraQ==
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⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:35 Side Hustles Beat Six Figures
03:53 Building YouTube Automation Business
04:33 Traditional CS Path at University of Maryland
06:16 First Big Contract: $25K Web App
07:24 Viral Checkout Bot Video Success
09:51 Making Six Figures with Bots
10:01Bots vs Agents
14:41 Defining Modern AI Agents
15:50 Why CS Students Have Huge Advantage
17:45 Software Engineering Accelerator
18:38 First AI Chatbot Sale: $1,250
21:10 Building First Profitable Agent in 30 Days
23:33 Friends Laid Off Once or Twice
26:35 Amazon Cuts 30K Jobs, Layoffs Worsening
27:23 Anyone Can Build Profitable AI Agents
30:50 Reddit Marketing: $15K Client One Post
33:50 Reddit Strategy: No Calls to Action
35:29 Everything You Need to Kickstart Your SWE Career
36:00 Common Mistakes on Reddit
38:16 Platforms to Learn Automations
39:28 Biggest Mistake: Copying Exact Replica
41:13 Creating Concepts From Ideas Over Copying
42:14 How Much Work Is Actually Passive?
43:58 Are We in an AI Bubble?
45:44 Entrepreneurship is the Better Route
47:07 Personal Brand = 60-70% of Success
49:27 Always Find Out Target Demographic
51:35 Documenting Your Personal Brand
52:51 Why I Left My Six Figure Job
55:43 Nine-to-Five Not Safe Anymore
56:35 Building Business Alongside Full Time Job
57:45 It's All Mindset and Limiting Beliefs
59:43 Where to Connect With Ritesh
1:00:00 Outro