I'm Anand Patel — a self-taught developer who turned a detour into a decade-long passion for building the web.

Where It All Started

In 2008, I couldn't get into engineering after my 12th board exams — 55% wasn't enough. Instead of giving up, I took a detour through a Diploma in Computer Engineering. With almost zero exposure to computers, I discovered something unexpected — a genuine passion for programming. I was self-taught from day one, spending hours on lynda.com (now LinkedIn Learning), and quickly became the student who could build things rather than just study theory. My diploma project was a GSM PC Suite — connecting phones to PCs for data transfer in the pre-smartphone era. Completed with 8.70 CPI.

The BE degree I was denied after 12th? I earned it the hard way — building a techfest website, a Gesture Recognition System in C++, and graduating with CGPA 8.73. I had dreams of MNCs and Google, but chose to stay in Surat and build my career from here.

Building from Scratch

My first job was at Avinashi Ventures as a Junior Software Developer. I didn't start on big projects — I started from the absolute ground up. What is Git? What is SSH? How do you host a project? How do you deploy? These were the days of SVN and FTP deployments (2014). Within a year, I understood every small detail of web development — Laravel, OctoberCMS, API integrations for SMS, email, and more.

After one year, I was assigned to a ticket booking platform — a collaboration with another company. That's where I saw how large-scale systems really work. I was promoted to Front-End Team Leader at Avinashi Ventures.

Going Independent

After two years, I decided to go freelance on Upwork. My deep knowledge of OctoberCMS became my edge. I built open-source plugins — a WYSIWYG Editor and an SEO Extension — that became some of the most popular plugins on the platform. I started contributing on Stack Overflow, helping other developers. These small things built my reputation and brought in a steady stream of projects. For about two years, I worked with AngularJS, Laravel, and OctoberCMS as my core stack.

The Swiss Chapter

Freelancing opened a door I didn't expect — a full-time opportunity at Viable Labs, a Swiss-based agency led by Marcus Kuhn. I joined as a Full Stack Developer and within two years was promoted to Senior Developer. I kept pushing — adapting to Vue, Tailwind CSS, and whatever the latest technology demanded.

When Viable Labs merged with what. AG, I continued growing. I've been with what. AG for over 6 years now, serving as Laravel Tech Lead. I build scalable, full-stack solutions — I can work as a one-man army taking a project from start to finish, or collaborate within a team. Over the years I've worked across Ionic, React Native, integrated with Stripe, Bexio, Shopify, and countless other services — always choosing the right tool for the requirement, not the trending one.

The Mindset

I've always been an early adopter. When AI-assisted coding started with GitHub Copilot, I was there. When people were still choosing Cursor, I jumped straight to Claude Code. Something in me is always drawn to what's next.

I'm not sure what it is exactly. But even in my free time, I'm thinking about technology, about building things, about solving problems. It's been like this since 2008. It hasn't faded — not even a little. I think it's safe to call it passion.

Beyond the Code

I'm a proud father of two daughters. A pizza lover 🍕 who will never say no to a good slice. And I love exploring new places — Maldives, UAE, and Switzerland are a few I've had the chance to visit so far. Life is good when you do what you love.