CHENNAI: What he does inside a cozy apartment in Saligramam is being watched by nearly eight lakh people around the world. Ashwin Ganesh or Ash, known popularly for his YouTube channel C4ETech, reviews gadgets, compares performance, tests apps and makes a living out of it. With over 100 million views, his channel is one of the most sought-after in the world of tech. YouTube recently celebrated his work at an event in the city, calling him an asset for the platform.After dropping out of college because of a family situation, he worked at BPOs for years while nurturing his love for gadgets. When Ash wanted to buy an Xbox, it cost him `23,000. “We used to get paid `100 for every extra hour we worked. Since I lived on a tight budget, I decided to work 230 hours to earn that money...which included many night shifts,” he recalls. “When insomnia took the better of me, my doctor asked me to quit working at night. And I did,” he says. “My search for a fresh start led to me to do what I loved the most.”
Frustrated with his friends who only wanted to know if smartphones supported ‘Angry Birds’, he decided to create content for the niche audience that loved to know more about gadgets. “I’d already done a few videos that received good feedback. Then I learned about monetising my YouTube videos and decided to take a leap,” he grins.Within three months, he started earning more than his salary at the BPO. That’s when Ash realised that he could make a comfortable living just doing what he loved. “I first started with reviewing flagship products that had a viewership across the globe. But the Indian market was less receptive to flagship gadgets, unlike the US,” he avers.
Ash claims that India doesn’t have enough mentors for YouTubers as buying the right equipment becomes tough. “People knew about the right acoustics and lighting for short films, music productions and so on, but not for making YouTube videos,” he explains. “Every upgrade in quality of work was a bottleneck as I had to learn on my own to use better software and equipment.”With YouTube paying enough for his work, Ash has a team working with him now; his childhood friend Sundar and a young intern Harris joined him recently. The team contemplates moving to a tech-villa and expanding. “I am picky about the people I work with. The team I have now will work for me even if I cannot pay them for a few months. They love gadgets just as much as I do and they are the pillars of the future of C4Etech,” he adds.