What I’ve built, and what each build taught me.
Production engineering, business experiments, and the venture I’m running now—organized by what the work actually was, with the decisions and lessons left visible.
- 4
- 3
- 17
Software that real users depended on.
Existing production codebases, merchant tooling, analytics implementation, performance work, and the practical discipline of shipping inside systems I didn’t create from scratch.
ShopClues
Where I learned to work on software that was already real.
I joined ShopClues as a trainee in March 2024 knowing HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, and a little JavaScript — no real DSA, no system design, limited backend exposure. The work was in PHP, so I learned PHP to deliver it. When Qoo10-related work needed Next.js and TypeScript, I picked those up too. By my second stint, starting March 2025, the work had shifted from learning technologies to running production systems: bug fixing, load-time issues, layout problems, GTM implementation across existing codebases, backend behavior, and SQL queries against live data.
Learning a language on the job, under a real deadline, sticks differently than a tutorial
SmartStore
I worked on SmartStore during my time at ShopClues.
SmartStore was where the ShopClues production work got more specific — storefront tooling built for merchants rather than end shoppers. It's the clearest single example of the shift from 'I know how to build a page' to 'I know how to build a system other people depend on.'
Merchant-facing tools have a different bar than consumer pages — every edge case is someone's inventory
V1 → V2
5+
100+
The Vibed Vines
Two attempts at the same question: what does it actually take to run a consumer brand?
V1 started when a work-from-home stretch freed up time: Placeit mockups, a ChatGPT-generated logo, an Instagram page, a handful of designs, and real research into how clothing dropshipping actually works. I paused it when circumstances changed. After leaving ShopClues, I came back to it — V2 was a different scale: five-plus collections, 100+ SKUs, a real Shopify storefront, an Instagram content grid, product mockups, and reels. Not a fashion-empire story. A story about what it costs, in time and attention, to actually operate a brand rather than just design one. I paused it a second time when time ran out, and that's part of the record too.
- Founder
- 2024 (V1) · 2025 (V2)
Designing a brand and operating one are almost entirely different skill sets
Read the storyThese are milestones, not a finished catalogue.
The Journey explains how each chapter connected. The Now page shows what is currently in motion.