At 26 years old, earning 77 million rupees in a single day sounds like a movie plot, but Siddharth Saxena, an IIT Kanpur graduate, has claimed such an achievement. Recently, AI-based startups have attracted significant attention, and Saxena's story is actively being discussed on social media following a recent interview.
Creation of the AI Startup Merlin
He stated that he managed to earn about 8 million dollars, equivalent to approximately 77 million rupees in one day. Siddharth Saxena holds a B.Tech degree in Computer Science from IIT Kanpur. After graduating, he worked at major companies in machine learning and artificial intelligence fields.
Later, he co-founded the startup Merlin with his colleagues, which is an AI-powered extension for Google Chrome. This tool assists in writing emails, extracting the essence of web pages, generating content, and performing numerous other tasks. Merlin solves a problem by transforming standard browsers, such as Chrome or Edge, into agentic browsers.
Functionality and Company Growth
Using the Merlin extension allows users to summarize page content or conduct research on it directly within the browser, without switching to other tabs or websites to use generative AI. Saxena emphasized that the functionality is similar to what is available in Comet Browser from Perplexity. He clarified in the interview that this amount was earned through a specific deal or transaction but did not disclose this information publicly.
Merlin was launched in 2022. Saxena created it together with his friends from IIT Kanpur, Pratyush Rai and Sirsendu Sarkar. The company grew rapidly, and reports suggest its valuation reached approximately 50 million dollars. Additionally, Siddharth is a co-founder of another AI startup named Thine.
Business Philosophy and Education
Siddharth believes that most people in India grow up in environments of limited resources, leading them to avoid risk. In his view, creating a successful company requires unconventional thinking and setting ambitious goals. He also noted the difference between approaches in the US and India: in America, many start companies out of passion, whereas in India, career choices are often dictated by necessity.
During the interview, Saxena made a bold statement regarding IIT Kanpur, asserting that getting into the Computer Science program at IIT Kanpur is more difficult than getting into Harvard University, by about 20 times.
