Engineer by craft, entrepreneur by passion—building products that matter | 150+ products built | Founder of Crayon’d | Innovator | Mentor | Venture studio in the making 🎯

I shipped my first edtech product on a floppy disk when I was just 17.

It was 2001, and as a student entrepreneur, I set out to solve a simple problem—

Helping my peers learn vocabulary faster.

Who knew that tiny floppy disk would spark a lifelong passion for:

Technology
Innovation &
Problem-solving

Today, with 150+ products built across 12+ industries, I’ve learned that building impactful solutions requires more than technical skills—

It’s about:

Resilience
Purpose
People

Every failure, every connection, and every opportunity has shaped me into four things:

𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵. 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳. 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦-𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳. 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳.

✅ 𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭

For over two decades, technology has been my craft and calling.

- Built 150+ products for startups, scale-ups, and enterprises.
- Led ERP implementations and created cutting-edge solutions.
- Delivered transformative products across North America, APAC, EMEA.

✅ 𝐀𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫

Entrepreneurship wasn’t a choice—it was a calling.

- Bootstrapped five startups in edtech, mobility, ERP, and digital transformation.
- Founded Crayon’d, partnering with startups and enterprises to create scalable products.
- Built strong, people-first cultures that drive organic growth.

𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴?

Well, I’ve had my share.

But as a first-generation entrepreneur from a humble background I learned to embrace failure. 

My mantra—

“𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.”

✅ 𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫

I believe in using technology to solve meaningful problems.

Some of the initiatives I’ve launched:

𝐔𝐝𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐦: A geo-based platform for blood donations.
𝐁𝐞𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐇𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫: An afforestation drive to fight global warming.
𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦 108: A solution to help ambulances clear traffic efficiently.

I’m driven by the belief that—

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 5% 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 95% 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵.”

✅ 𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫

Early in my journey, I lacked exposure and mentorship. 

Today, I strive to give back by:

Guiding young talent, especially those overlooked by traditional systems.
Inspiring first-time founders and student entrepreneurs.

𝘔𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯?

To build the next generation of leaders.
To help them embrace entrepreneurship as a path to impact.

...

Bold ideas deserve world-class execution. 

Let’s collaborate to design, build & scale something truly extraordinary 🤝

Email: makesh@crayond.com

Makesh Gopalakrishnan

Founder: “Can I ask you something honestly?”

Me: “Of course.”

Founder: “Did you ever feel like quitting?”

Me: “More times than I can count.”

Founder: “Really? You don’t look like someone who doubted the journey.”

Me: “That’s because people only see the parts that worked.”

Founder: “What made you doubt?”

Me: “Silence.”

Founder: “Silence?”

Me: “The phase where you’re working incredibly hard… but nothing seems to move.”

Founder: “That’s exactly where I am right now.”

Me: “Most founders go through it.”

Founder: “But everyone online seems to be winning.”

Me: “Online, people share milestones.
In reality, they live through long stretches of uncertainty.”

Founder: “It feels like I’m behind.”

Me: “Behind compared to what?”

Founder: “Compared to people who raised money… scaled faster… launched bigger.”

Me: “You’re comparing someone’s visible moment to your invisible journey.”

Founder: “Still… it’s hard.”

Me: “Of course.”

Founder: “How did you deal with it?”

Me: “At first, I tried pushing harder.”

Founder: “Did that work?”

Me: “Sometimes. Mostly it just made me tired.”

Founder: “Then what changed?”

Me: “I realised something important.”

Founder: “What?”

Me: “Entrepreneurship isn’t a series of big wins.”

Founder: “Then what is it?”

Me: “Mostly quiet endurance.”

Founder: “That doesn’t sound exciting.”

Me: “It isn’t. But it’s real.”

Founder: “So the key is to keep grinding?”

Me: “Not blindly. Consistently.”

Founder: “What’s the difference?”

Me: “Grinding forces progress.
Consistency lets progress compound.”

Founder: “Explain.”

Me: “Every day you learn a little more about the problem.
Every week you refine something.
Every month you become slightly better than the person who started.”

Founder: “But those changes are so small.”

Me: “Exactly.”

Founder: “Then how do they matter?”

Me: “Because small improvements compound.”

Founder: “So what you’re saying is…”

Me: “Most founders quit when progress is invisible.”

Founder: “That hits hard.”

Me: “The ones who succeed aren’t always the smartest or fastest.”

Founder: “Then what are they?”

Me: “They’re the ones who stayed.”

Founder: “Stayed?”

Me: “Stayed curious. Stayed honest. Stayed patient.”

Founder: “So success is persistence?”

Me: “Persistence with learning.”

Founder: “What if things still don’t work?”

Me: “You still gain something valuable.”

Founder: “What’s that?”

Me: “A mindset that knows how to build.”

Founder: “And that stays?”

Me: “For life.”

Founder: “So the real danger isn’t failure…”

Me: “It’s quitting before learning compounds.”

Founder: “That’s… comforting.”

Me: “Good.”

Founder: “So what should I do tomorrow?”

Me: “Wake up.
Take the next honest step.
Keep walking.”

Because most entrepreneurial journeys don’t end in failure.

They end in fatigue.

And if you’re in that phase right now -
this is where most people give up.

The ones who eventually succeed
are the ones who refused to stop walking.

It doesn’t matter where you come from.
It only matters where you decide to go.

It doesn’t matter what you have.
It only matters what you want.

I didn’t start with a safety net.

No family business.
No roadmap.
No one around me who fully understood what I was trying to do.

Just curiosity.
A lower middle-class background.
And a stubborn belief that I could build something of my own.

My first product lived on a floppy disk.
Then on a CD.
I was still a student, figuring everything out.

Piracy hit.
Doubt hit.
Advice came in plenty.

“Be practical.”
“Take the safer route.”
“Why complicate life?”

But when you don’t start with much,
you learn something early:

You may not control your starting point.
But you control your direction.

You may not have capital.
But you can build capability.

You may not have influence.
But you can build impact.

Slowly, quietly, things begin to compound.

Skills compound.
Trust compounds.
Reputation compounds.

And one day, you look back and realise -
the place that once felt impossible
is now just part of your story.

Here’s what I’ve learned.

Your beginning doesn’t decide your future.
Your background doesn’t cap your ambition.
Your circumstances don’t get the final word.

What gets the final word
is the voice inside you that refuses to settle.

If you keep showing up,
keep learning,
keep building...

one day the very things that made you feel “behind”
will become the reason you never gave up.

And that’s when you’ll realise...

It was never about where you started.

It was always about how far you were willing to walk.

Technology has always been a means.

Never the destination.

We didn’t celebrate electricity.
We celebrated what it enabled.

We didn’t celebrate the internet.
We celebrated the businesses and connections it created.

And today…

Everyone is celebrating AI.

But AI, like every technology before it, is just a tool.

Users are not looking for AI.

They’re looking for relief.

Relief from repetitive work.
Relief from wasted time.
Relief from things that shouldn’t take hours anymore.

If AI removes real pain, users will love the product.

If it doesn’t…
AI won’t save it.

Technology changes.
The real job never does.

Solve something that matters.

AI did not make product building easier.

It only made building features easier.

There is a big difference.

Today anyone can generate:
• UI screens
• API endpoints
• database schemas
• even full applications

But that was never the hard part.

The hard part has always been:

• Knowing what not to build
• Knowing what users actually need
• Knowing when to stop building

AI accelerates execution.

But product judgment still decides success.

The real winners in the AI era will not be the fastest coders.

They will be the clearest thinkers.

A few years ago, someone asked me a question that stayed with me.

“How many products have you built so far?”

At the time, I paused for a moment and said something like,
“Maybe around 40 or 50.”

Back then, that number itself felt big to me.

Each product had its own story.
A founder chasing a dream.
A team trying to solve a problem.
Late nights figuring out what would work and what wouldn’t.

Years passed.

More founders walked into our office with ideas.
Some fully formed.
Some just a spark of a thought.

Some of those ideas turned into products that people now use every day.
Some never made it past the first version.

And that’s okay.
That’s the nature of building.

Today when someone asks me the same question, the number has crossed 120.

But what surprises me isn’t the number.

It’s how little the core of the work has changed.

The conversations still start the same way.

A founder explaining a problem they deeply care about.
A discussion around whether the idea truly solves something meaningful.
And then the long journey of turning that idea into something real.

Some days it’s exciting.
Some days it’s frustrating.
Most days it’s just quiet work.

Thinking.
Building.
Testing.
Learning.

Over time I’ve realised something simple about products and life.

The world celebrates launches.
But very few people see the long stretch of effort before that moment.

The doubts.
The pivots.
The small decisions that slowly shape something into existence.

Building 120+ products didn’t happen because of one big breakthrough.

It happened because of hundreds of small steps taken consistently.

One idea at a time.
One founder at a time.
One product at a time.

Looking back, the most rewarding part isn’t the number.

It’s the people who trusted us with their ideas.

And the quiet satisfaction of seeing something that once lived only in someone’s head
become something real in the world.

If there’s one thing this journey has taught me, it’s this.

Great things are rarely built in dramatic moments.

They’re built in the quiet consistency of showing up…
again and again.

AI will not replace engineers.

But it will expose weak ones.

Before AI, writing code itself was a strong signal of skill.

Now AI can generate most of the code.
So what becomes valuable?

• System thinking
• architecture decisions
• debugging complex problems
• understanding trade-offs

Engineers who only know syntax will struggle.

Engineers who understand systems will thrive.

The job is evolving.

From writing code

to designing systems.

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Makesh Gopalakrishnan

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