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Sahil Kapoor

Every Shortcut Is a Loan

Shortcuts feel efficient, until they start collecting interest. From tech debt to hiring gaps, this is a walkthrough of the invisible loans startups take every day - and what founders often underestimate in the rush to move fast.

Rubik's Complex: Solving the Wrong Puzzle

Some developers aren't building for users. They're chasing elegance and the urge to solve problems just because they're hard, not because they matter. It's a trap that kills velocity and distracts even the smartest engineers.

The Art of Figuring It Out on the Fly

Every culture has its own word for scrappy improvisation. In Portugal it is desenrascanço, in India it is jugaad. Both capture the art of making things work when plans fall apart and resources run thin.

How to Become a UX Designer Without a Design Degree

No design degree? No problem. Here’s a real path to break into UX, build proof-of-work, and stand out - without begging for certificates or bootcamp clout.

The best product decisions are made in DMs, not standups

Most standups are rituals, not tools. I get more signal from a good DM than a 10-person update circle. If you're building fast and lean, here's why async one-liners outperform scheduled meetings almost every time.

10 Years of Engineering: The Lessons Nobody Tells You Early

Building software is not about perfect code, fancy patterns, or being the smartest person in the room. It’s judgment, simplicity, communication, and the discipline to ship even when everything feels messy. This is what I wish someone had told me at year zero.

Pulse Candy: A Disruptive Story

How a ₹1 candy turned into a ₹750 crore obsession. Pulse nailed local flavor, sparked viral buzz, and rewrote FMCG playbooks without a single celeb ad.

Why "Monolith" Became a Bad Word

Everyone fell in love with microservices, but complexity came free. Modular monoliths might just be the smarter path for most teams today. Even Amazon and Shopify circled back. Here's why that matters if you're building something new.

Why I Had to Ask a Junior Dev to Stop Using AI

AI makes you faster - unless it makes you lazy. Here’s the real story of asking a junior dev to pause ChatGPT, and what it taught me about product judgment.

Adapt or Vanish

Every product operates under pressure from competitors, platforms, users, or internal growth targets. What survives isn’t always the best. It’s what adapts the fastest.

Why Remote Work Is Not The Same

Remote work felt like a revolution in 2020. But it wasn’t a revolution. It was an emergency. And now that life is back, remote isn't the dream everyone thought it was, it’s a system out of sync with reality.

The Bug Was the System

We fixed the tools. We cleaned up the code. But something still felt off. Everyone was doing their job, but velocity kept slipping. I couldn’t shake the feeling that what we were fixing wasn’t the thing that was broken.

How to Become a Product Manager

You don’t need a PM title to start thinking like one. This is a hands-on path to build product instincts, by noticing flows, fixing real problems, redesigning what’s broken, and learning to ship with judgment. No fluff, just habit and reps.

Cognitive Biases & Design Principles in Product Design

Design is psychology in disguise. Every scroll, tap, and wait time is shaping user behavior. Products that lean into these biases feel smooth and addictive, while those that ignore them feel clunky.

The Hidden Cost of Remote Work

Remote looks attractive in the short run, no commute, lower expenses, the ease of home. But years later, the regret surfaces. You realise you missed out on the social side of work, the compounding of proximity, the unspoken lessons that come only from being in the room.

The Secret to Faster, Better Teams

More headcount doesn’t guarantee more output, often it just adds overhead, slows decisions, and creates blockers. The real advantage comes from building small, values-aligned teams where every person raises the bar.

Living in a Two Player World

Across India’s biggest markets, two dominant names hold the top, and everyone else fights for scraps. It is efficient, but it raises questions about the future.

Everyday AI Prompts Worth Saving (For Engineers + PMs)

Most people use AI like a toy. I use it like a power tool. These prompts help me plan, write, prioritize, and think faster. Save them. They’ll compound.

Why We Made Copilot Mandatory (and Would Do It Again)

Everyone said "just try it," so we did. Then we made it non-optional. Not because we love AI, but because we hate wasting smart people’s time on dumb stuff.

Lessons from Working a Decade in Startups

If you’re about to start your first company, here’s everything I wish someone had told me before I burned through time, energy, and peace of mind.