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Darshan Pandya

The longer version

Where I started, how I work, and a line I keep coming back to.

Profile

I’m a performance-obsessed product engineer building mobile and backend systems for millions - Android and Kotlin at heart, with plenty of iOS and SwiftUI too.

It started with modding my first Android phone (shoutout to CyanogenMod!) and pulling apart the apps on it - which turned into a career across mobile, open source, Ad‑Tech, Firebase and Appwrite. An MBA along the way taught me the business side of what I build.

Until March 2026 I was a product engineer and chapter lead at Appwrite. My own studio, Lazy Geniouz, has been running since 2017 - and still is.

Away from the keyboard: singing, long bike rides and a good book.

Based in
IndiaIST, UTC+5:30
Path
Self-taughtNo CS degree - an MBA instead
Certified
Associate Android DeveloperGoogle, 2021
Studio
Lazy GeniouzSince 2017 · 175M+ downloads
Studying
PG Diploma, CounselingIn progress
Honors
Smart India HackathonWinner, 2020
Currently exploring
  • TanStack
  • Go
  • all things AI

How I work

Four habits, roughly in order of how often they save me.

  • Docs are part of the product

    If it isn’t written down clearly and concisely, it doesn’t really exist yet.

  • Users first, then the edge cases

    Start from the person using it, then go hunting for the cases nobody asked about.

  • Smaller and faster

    Size and runtime, both. It’s the thread through most of what I build, and most of what I write.

  • Learn by shipping

    I learn by building - and by writing down what broke.

How I got here

Not the usual route.

Full work history

  1. 2014 · Homeopathy clinic

    Clinic receptionist

    My first job - appointments, patient records and inventory. Nowhere near code.

    Jun 2014 – Feb 20161 yr 9 mos. Picked up: Customer service, Records, Inventory

  2. 2016 · CA Ganesh Atal & Co.

    Assistant auditor

    Financial statements, audits, and Income Tax & GST returns - spotting the number that’s off.

    Aug 2016 – Mar 20181 yr 8 mos. Picked up: Excel, Auditing, Tax & GST

  3. 2017 · Lazy Geniouz

    Director & lead developer

    My own studio: Android and iOS apps, 175M+ downloads across them, plus consulting. Still running.

    Jul 2017 – Present. Picked up: Android, iOS, Kotlin, Ad-Tech

  4. 2019 · Welingkar

    The MBA

    An MBA in Finance - while the studio kept shipping. No CS degree, never stopped building.

    2019 – 2021. Picked up: Finance, Strategy

  5. 2020 · Dexter Intelligence

    Sr. Android developer

    Led the Android team, built an ad mediation framework and cut Firebase costs by 20%.

    Nov 2020 – Jan 20213 mos. Picked up: Kotlin, Firebase, Ad mediation

  6. 2021 · TM Capital

    Technical solutions consultant

    CDN and caching for video courses, content protection, and analytics for the ad funnel.

    May 2021 – Jun 20232 yrs 2 mos. Picked up: Cloudflare, CDNs, WordPress, Analytics

  7. 2024 · Appwrite

    Product engineer

    Contract to chapter lead - shipped Database Backups, then led a chapter across the console and backend.

    Jul 2024 – Mar 20261 yr 9 mos. Picked up: Svelte, TypeScript, Rust, Docker

  8. Now

    Building & studying

    Running Lazy Geniouz - building and managing our apps - plus a counseling diploma.

    2026 – Present. Picked up: Counseling, Swift, AI

Full work history

A line I keep close

Note to selfBhagavad Gita 6.6

The mind works like an enemy, no, a friend

For those who have conquered the mind, it is their friend. For those who have failed to do so, the mind works like an enemy.