Developer turned designer, building beautiful and functional products

I am not from a design background. I graduated with a degree in Agricultural and Food Engineering from IIT Kharagpur between 2008 and 2013. From the start, I knew that it was not my calling, but I also knew that IITs provide many other avenues for everyone to explore and find something they can be passionate about. For me, it was social, cultural, and sports activities. For the next five years, I immersed myself in all the extracurricular activities I was interested in. Unfortunately, jobs in my field of interest (Design) were not abundant in 2013, and there was also a lack of awareness on my part. Hence, I joined an MNC as a software developer.

After working for almost six months, I realized that software development was not my cup of tea, and at the same time, entrepreneurship was on the rise. Call it FOMO or a push from my miserable job, I started a company called PocketChef (like TinMen) on the side. I ran it for almost a year and a half but had to shut it down due to a lack of funding. It was during this time that one of my co-founders introduced me to the design thinking process. Within three months of starting PocketChef, I knew that I would be designing things for the rest of my life if PocketChef did not work out.

After shutting down PocketChef, I was excited to move into design. I started working on building my design portfolio by working on projects for free. Soon, when I had enough projects and knowledge to showcase my skills, I started applying for jobs. After applying for almost 14 jobs and sitting for over 40 interviews over a period of two months, I finally got my first offer at a startup in 2016. Since then, I have been extremely lucky to work with various companies on various design projects across industries.

Life was good, and work never felt like work. Everyone who knew me knew my passion for growth and constant learning in whatever I do. I am often called a “growth junkie” due to my unrelenting desire to learn and pursue new projects. That desire took me back on the entrepreneurship path again, and I left my job, took a four-month sabbatical, and started working as a freelance designer. Since December 2020, I have been fortunate to work with great companies and build products that generate $100 million in revenue every year.