Ketan Goyal.

2020 → Now

The journey.

Nine eras, one pattern: curiosity, learning, building, testing against reality, sometimes pausing, understanding why, and building again.

CHAPTERS
09
TIMESPAN
6+ years
PATTERN
Build again
The pattern

No master plan. A visible progression.

Every chapter added a new layer—content, engineering, commerce, business, and now Kraftt Digital.

Journey roadmap showing ten stages from internet experiments to the current focus
THE PROGRESSION SO FAR · STILL IN PROGRESS

THE FULL RECORD

Nine chapters, in order.

The shipped work, the paused experiments, and the lessons each one left behind.

01 · 2020Paused

Curiosity

It started with YouTube. I didn't know anything about content or copyright, so I found out by publishing — including a few copyright strikes I had to learn from directly. Then crypto and NFTs. I studied the space, made my own NFTs, and listed them on OpenSea. None of it was a business yet. It was just finding out what happens when you actually do the thing instead of reading about it.

KEY POINTS

  • Ran YouTube channels, learned copyright the hard way
  • Studied crypto and NFTs, minted and listed on OpenSea
02 · 2024Shipped

Learning to Build

I completed my B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering in 2024. I joined ShopClues in March that year 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 on the job and shipped with it. Around the same time, Qoo10-related work needed Next.js and TypeScript, so I picked those up too. This is the point where 'learning to code' turned into 'learning to ship.'

KEY POINTS

  • Started as a ShopClues trainee with a front-end-only skill set
  • Learned PHP on the job to deliver production work
  • Picked up Next.js and TypeScript for Qoo10-related work
03 · 2024Paused

First Business Experiment

When circumstances shifted to working from home, I used the extra time to look at something completely different: clothing dropshipping. The Vibed Vines V1 was Placeit mockups, a ChatGPT-generated logo, an Instagram page, and a handful of designs — real research into what dropshipping actually takes. When my circumstances changed again, I paused it. That pause is part of the record, not a footnote.

KEY POINTS

  • The Vibed Vines V1 — Placeit mockups, logo, Instagram presence
  • Researched dropshipping mechanics firsthand
  • Paused when priorities shifted
04 · March 2025 — September 2025Shipped

Becoming an Engineer

Back at ShopClues in March 2025 as a Software Engineer, the work changed from learning technologies to running production systems: bug fixing, load-time issues, layout problems, GTM implementation, existing codebases, backend behavior, SQL queries. This is where engineering stopped being tutorials and started being systems that real users depended on. I also worked on SmartStore during this period, and built Aegis Squad on the side before leaving in September 2025.

KEY POINTS

  • Production bug fixing, performance and layout work
  • GTM implementation across existing codebases
  • Backend and SQL work on live systems
  • Worked on SmartStore
  • Built Aegis Squad while still employed
05 · 2025Paused

Trying Entrepreneurship, Properly

After leaving ShopClues, I didn't just start freelancing — I went back to The Vibed Vines. V2 was a different scale entirely: five-plus collections, 100+ SKUs, a real Shopify storefront, an Instagram grid system, product mockups, and reels. The point was never 'look at my fashion brand.' It was understanding what it actually takes to build and run a consumer brand end to end. When time ran out again, I paused it a second time — and that's fine.

KEY POINTS

  • The Vibed Vines V2 — 5+ collections, 100+ SKUs
  • Built a full Shopify storefront and content system
  • Ran an Instagram grid, product mockups, and reels
  • Paused a second time when time ran out
06 · 2025Ongoing

Studying Business Itself

My curiosity moved from startups to business fundamentals: import/export, FMCG, oil extraction, spice manufacturing, manufacturing economics, importing from China, wholesale markets, corporate structures. I physically visited wholesale markets around Delhi looking for opportunities — trying to understand how money actually moves through a business, from sourcing to margins to distribution to retail.

KEY POINTS

  • Studied import/export, FMCG, and manufacturing economics
  • Researched sourcing from China and wholesale supply chains
  • Visited wholesale markets around Delhi in person
07 · 2025 →Ongoing

Experimenting with AI

Not 'AI expert' — experiments. I built an automated YouTube pipeline using Claude for scripting, Google AI Studio for voice, Pexels for media, and Suno for music, and a finance-typography page as another test of what one person can build with the current generation of tools. That expanded into working with GPT, Claude, Gemini, Sora, Runway, Higgsfield, Lovable, Replit, and Emergent — testing how far a single builder can go.

KEY POINTS

  • Automated YouTube pipeline: Claude, Google AI Studio, Pexels, Suno
  • Built a finance-typography experiment
  • Tested GPT, Claude, Gemini, Sora, Runway, Higgsfield, Lovable, Replit, Emergent
08 · 2025 →In progress

Building Kraftt

By this point I'd seen technology, e-commerce, consumer brands, content, AI, retail, traditional business, wholesale markets, and manufacturing up close. One observation kept showing up: technology is moving fast, but a huge number of smaller businesses — especially outside major metros — aren't really part of that shift. Kraftt Digital exists to close that gap for the businesses everything else in this journey was, in hindsight, preparing me to help.

KEY POINTS

  • Founded Kraftt Digital to help smaller businesses build a real digital presence
  • Direct continuation of the engineering, commerce, and business research above
09 · August 2026Ongoing

Now

Building Kraftt, documenting what I'm learning, and figuring out what comes next. The story is still in progress.

KEY POINTS

  • Running Kraftt Digital
  • Writing down what's working and what isn't
Production proof

A closer look at SmartStore.

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.'

See the full SmartStore gallery
SmartStore public landing page promoting access to global and domestic marketplaces
SmartStore catalog dashboard with marketplace distribution and product status counts

The story is still in progress.

The Now page holds the current chapter. The Builds page holds the evidence.

See what I’m focused on nowBrowse builds