Available · Chennai, IndiaFounder / Designer / Operator
I build before I feel ready.
I’m Kamal Raaj. I turn messy human problems into focused products, then stay for the research, systems, pitching, rejection, iteration, and work required to make them real.
BUILD FROM ZERO ◆ TALK TO USERS ◆ SHIP THE LEARNING ◆ STAY RESOURCEFUL ◆ MAKE USEFUL THINGS ◆BUILD FROM ZERO ◆ TALK TO USERS ◆ SHIP THE LEARNING ◆ STAY RESOURCEFUL ◆ MAKE USEFUL THINGS ◆
Founder evidence / not adjectives
Signals that survive the pitch deck.
I’m not presenting a perfect founder story. I’m presenting evidence that I can start, learn, earn trust, and keep going when the work stops being glamorous.
01 / BUILD0→1
Started with a thesis, not a brief.
Led Licaverse across product strategy, research, UX, systems, validation, storytelling, and venture operations.
02 / RESOURCEFULNESS$205K
Created runway before revenue.
Secured Microsoft, PostHog, and AWS support to extend the product’s ability to experiment and learn.
03 / EXTERNAL SIGNAL12
Repeated proof across hard rooms.
National wins spanning product design, research, hackathons, market validation, and venture storytelling.
04 / LEARNING VELOCITY313+
Curiosity with structure.
Deliberate learning across product, design, AI, cloud, research, and the operating knowledge a founder needs.
05 / COMMUNITY2 yrs
Helped other founders find focus.
As Product Design Mentor at Vel Tech TBI, I translated complex venture ideas into testable product decisions.
06 / CONSISTENCY576
Days of showing up quietly.
Meditation trained the less visible founder skill: staying clear enough to make the next honest decision.
One venture / three years
Licaverse made me more than a designer.
A gamified learning and knowledge platform built to connect what people learn, build, prove, and become.
Learning activity was fragmented across tools while credible proof of progress barely existed.
THE BET
A learner’s daily work could become a living system of progress, skills, and professional identity.
MY OWNERSHIP
Product thesis, user research, architecture, UX, visual system, validation, partnerships, and the uncomfortable decisions between them.
THE LESSON
Validate the smallest risky belief earlier, protect founder energy as infrastructure, and keep the user’s real job visible.
Focus mode2H 34M today
Second product / digital wellbeing
Focus, made physical.
ZenMode is an open-source mindful Android launcher designed to reduce digital noise, now expanding into a privacy-first IoT companion that makes screen-time awareness ambient and tangible.
MINDFUL BY DEFAULT ◆ OPEN SOURCE ◆ OFFLINE FIRST ◆ PRIVACY BY DESIGN ◆MINDFUL BY DEFAULT ◆ OPEN SOURCE ◆ OFFLINE FIRST ◆ PRIVACY BY DESIGN ◆
What changed
I stopped treating design as the finish line.
Founding taught me that a beautiful interface cannot rescue a weak assumption. Now I look for the risky belief, the smallest honest test, the signal that matters, and the system required to act on it.
“The venture did not merely produce interfaces. It produced sharper judgment.”
Why Startup School
I’m applying for pressure, not prestige.
I want a room that rewards weekly progress, direct user evidence, and honest founder conversations. I’ll arrive ready to absorb, build, and contribute.
01
Compress the loop
Turn hard-won lessons from Licaverse into faster customer conversations, narrower bets, and more decisive shipping.
Learn faster ↗02
Build beside builders
Replace founder isolation with peers who understand the emotional and operational reality of starting from zero.
Stay accountable ↗03
Contribute my edge
Offer sharp product framing, UX research, interface critique, and generous feedback to founders who need clarity.
Give back ↗
National Winner · Design Forge’25 ◆ Top 5 of 26,500+ Designers ◆ Microsoft for Startups · $150K ◆ NIT-K · Top 3 ◆ MIT ID Quasar · Runner-up ◆ WTFund · Top 8% ◆National Winner · Design Forge’25 ◆ Top 5 of 26,500+ Designers ◆ Microsoft for Startups · $150K ◆ NIT-K · Top 3 ◆ MIT ID Quasar · Runner-up ◆ WTFund · Top 8% ◆
The next room
Put me around serious builders.
I’ll bring founder scars, product taste, research discipline, a global perspective from Chennai, and the willingness to be useful before being impressive.
Open the complete founder case ↗
Focus mode
2H 34M today