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Karthik Puvvada

Indian-American community builder, founder, podcast host and angel investor

Karthik Puvvada
Karthik Puvvada
Bornc. 1988, India [1]
Other namesKP, thisiskp
EducationVanderbilt University (master's, full scholarship) [1]
OccupationHead of Community at Netlify; founder; podcast host; angel investor
Years active2018 to present
Known forBuild in public movement; Product Hunt Community Member of the Year; kickoff tweet for the World's Largest Hackathon
Notable workBuild In Public Fellowship; On Deck No-Code Fellowship; The Build In Public Podcast
Websitethisiskp.com

Karthik Puvvada (born c. 1988), known to friends and online as KP, is an Indian-American community builder, founder, podcast host and angel investor. He has been the Head of Community at Netlify since November 2025. [12] [16] He is best known as a leader of the "build in public" movement, in which founders document the process of building their companies openly on the internet, and for his record on Product Hunt, where he was named Community Member of the Year and has helped launch 192 products over eight years. [5] [14]

He founded the Build In Public Fellowship, an online program and community that served founders from more than 20 countries across five cohorts, created On Deck's global no-code fellowship, and hosts The Build In Public Podcast, whose guests have included Gary Vaynerchuk, Alexis Ohanian, Kat Cole and Sahil Lavingia. [13] [22] In 2025, a single tweet he posted from a hospital hallway set in motion what became the World's Largest Hackathon, with more than 130,000 registered participants. [11] [21]

Contents
  1. Early life and path to the United States
  2. Early career and the 2018 failure
  3. Building in public (2018 to 2021)
  4. On Deck (2021 to 2022)
  5. Day One (2022)
  6. Build In Public Fellowship (2023)
  7. Paddle (2024 to 2025)
  8. World's Largest Hackathon (2025)
  9. Netlify (2025 to present)
  10. Product Hunt
  11. Podcast and media
  12. Angel investing and advising
  13. Talks and workshops
  14. Writing
  15. Projects
  16. Working style and views
  17. Personal life
  18. Timeline
  19. Media coverage
  20. References

1.Early life and path to the United States

Puvvada grew up in India in modest circumstances; he has written that his mother's salary was about US$20 a month when he was four years old. [6] In 2011, aged 23, he was working at the consulting firm TCS in Chennai for US$250 a month, sending half of it to his mother and sharing an apartment with six other men. Spending lunch breaks in the company library reading about Steve Jobs and Jony Ive, he decided he wanted to move to America and become a founder. [1]

With less than US$50 in savings and no family credit history, he borrowed money from a friend to take the GRE, scoring around the 80th percentile and retaking it to reach roughly the 95th. Seven universities rejected him; his only acceptance, from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, cost about US$60,000 a year, which he could not afford. On a friend's advice he spent a summer writing roughly 500 emails to university faculty, showing projects, robots he had built for fun, seminars he had taught and his non-profit work. At the end of that summer Vanderbilt revised its offer to a 100 percent scholarship with a US$1,900-a-month teaching assistantship. He quit his job, got a visa, and moved to the United States in 2011. [1]

2.Early career and the 2018 failure

After graduate school Puvvada remained in the United States; his site lists the NBA and Delta Air Lines among the companies he has worked with. [14] By 2018 he was in what he called a dead-end corporate job in Atlanta, building on evenings and weekends. That year he burned his life savings of about US$17,000 on a startup that, after eight months of work, had zero customers and zero revenue. He has described the experience as his rock bottom and traces his later career to the lesson he took from it: "Failure crushes your spirit when you are ALONE." He vowed never to build in silo again. [2]

3.Building in public (2018 to 2021)

Puvvada had opened his Twitter account in January 2016 and celebrated reaching 414 followers in November 2018. After the 2018 failure he became, in his words, an intentional creator: he joined the rising no-code movement, shipped more than 15 products one by one in public, and shared the highs and lows of the process. [3] [2] His projects of that era included Cuppa, an app for one-on-one virtual coffees with people from Twitter, and DoThingsThatDontScale. [23] [13] His bio records two exits among the projects of this period. [13]

By August 2021 he had passed 18,200 followers on Twitter and 5,000 newsletter subscribers. [3] He then put out a public "bat signal" for his next role, was recruited in public, landed more than 40 interviews, and accepted an offer from the Silicon Valley startup On Deck to design and lead its first No-Code Fellowship. [2]

4.On Deck (2021 to 2022)

Puvvada was the first outside hire at On Deck to plan and launch an entire new fellowship, which he did within a week of joining in 2021. [4] The On Deck No-Code Fellowship grew quickly: by early 2023 he reported more than 500 fellows who shipped over 700 projects, with unprecedented NPS scores for the company; his bio reports the program helped over 360 founders across 40 countries. [2] [13] He left On Deck in May 2022 as part of company-wide layoffs, later writing that On Deck "took a shot on me when I was relatively unproven and helped me become the brand that I am." [4]

5.Day One (2022)

After On Deck, Puvvada joined Day One to build community, where he ran a cohort and collaborated with Gary Vaynerchuk on a new program that thousands of people tuned into. [2] Around this period he also created and ran founder-centric campaigns such as The Founder Hotline, whose season finale guest was Vaynerchuk. [13]

6.Build In Public Fellowship (2023)

In February 2023 Puvvada announced the Build In Public Fellowship (BIPF), a community and cohort program he described as a "virtual Disney World for founders who are building in public"; the first cohort began on 6 March 2023 with guest speakers including Dru Riley, Vedika Jain, Sharath Kuruganty and Arvid Kahl. [2] Over 2023 he ran five cohorts serving about 55 paid fellows from more than 20 countries, with high NPS scores. [8] [13] The program made about US$110,000 in top-of-funnel revenue but under US$50,000 in net profit, and in December 2023 he sunset it as a paid business, writing candidly that he could not find product-market fit and that the economics could not support his two families in the US and India; it continued as a free private community. [7] Across all of his projects, 2023 was also the year he crossed US$100,000 in total revenue. [8]

7.Paddle (2024 to 2025)

In December 2023 Puvvada posted another public bat signal describing the exact role he wanted; a DM from Paddle's CMO Andrew Davies followed, and in January 2024 he joined the payments company Paddle to lead Founder Relations. [9] There he scaled the AI Launchpad program to four global cohorts serving more than 350 founders with a latest-cohort NPS of 83, brought in more than 40 program partners (including AWS, Google Cloud and SaaStock) contributing over US$350,000 in perks, and started livestreamed Demo Days giving away more than US$40,000 in prizes. [10] He left in November 2025, crediting the team's support through the birth of his twin sons and his youngest son's heart surgeries. [10]

8.World's Largest Hackathon (2025)

In mid-March 2025, while his infant son was recovering from heart surgery at a children's hospital in Atlanta, Puvvada stepped out for coffee and, walking down a hallway, posted a tweet proposing a worldwide vibe-coding hackathon. Bolt CEO Eric Simons responded publicly within hours; Supabase, Netlify, Cloudflare, ClickUp and Loops followed as sponsors, and within a day Bolt had secured more than US$1 million in prizes. [11] The event, the World's Largest Hackathon presented by Bolt, ran from 30 May to 30 June 2025 with more than 130,000 registered participants - the largest hackathon ever held by participant count, and the subject of a Guinness World Record attempt announced during registration. [19] [20] [21] Puvvada served as a judge, Paddle (his employer at the time) came on as a sponsor, and The Chainsmokers performed at the San Francisco kickoff party. [11] The episode became his most-told story about what he calls shooting your shot in public. [11]

9.Netlify (2025 to present)

In November 2025 Puvvada joined Netlify as Head of Community, working remotely from Atlanta. [12] [16] He had met CEO Matt Biilmann in San Francisco earlier that year, and described Netlify's public call for a "rebirth of developers" in the AI era as a bat signal he had to answer. [12] At Netlify, which serves more than 9 million developers, his mandate includes community programs (hackathons, AMAs, demo days and meetups), amplifying customer stories, an ambassador network and strategic partnerships. [12] His stated growth recipe: "To win market share, you've got to win mind (and heart) share first." [12]

10.Product Hunt

Puvvada is one of Product Hunt's most active launch partners. He was awarded the Golden Kitty for "Community Member of the Year" - dated 2021-22 in his own account and 2021 on his Product Hunt profile - after helping over 92 startups launch by September 2022. [5] [15] [37] His bio later put the count at 150-plus startups, and his site currently states 192 launches over eight years, driving millions of dollars in revenue for the teams behind them. [13] [14] Launches he has served include Softr (Product of the Year), Meander, Studio AI and Outverse (each #1 Product of the Day and Week) and Glide (#2 of the Day and Week). [5] He continues to run a Product Hunt launch consulting practice. [34]

11.Podcast and media

Puvvada hosts The Build In Public Podcast, an interview series with founders and creators. Guests have included Gary Vaynerchuk (episode 4), Alexis Ohanian, Kat Cole, Sahil Lavingia, Jason Cohen and Chris Cunningham. [13] [22] By August 2023 the show had passed 70 episodes and ranked in the top 10 percent of podcasts globally; it had released 94 episodes by July 2025. [29] [22] In 2023 he was featured in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, which told the story of his 2018 failure and public rebound. [24] [8]

12.Angel investing and advising

In August 2023 Puvvada joined Utopic Ventures as its first partner, a part-time venture role investing in "scientists with world-changing ideas." [17] [18] His angel investments include Softr, Stoa, Airboxr and Cal.com. [13] He is an advisor at Atlanta Tech Village, the fourth-largest startup hub in the US, and advises and coaches founders one-on-one, including on Product Hunt launches and go-to-market. [13] [34]

13.Talks and workshops

He has been invited to give more than 45 talks and workshops, including at Oxford University's OXI incubator and the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business. [13] In 2025 he taught a session on building MVPs with AI and vibe coding to UGA's EMBA cohort. [13] His conference and community appearances, including Render ATL in Atlanta, are collected on his media and photos pages. [30] [31]

14.Writing

Puvvada has published essays since May 2020, first on his Substack newsletter KP's Column and now on thisiskp.com, which carries 80 essays as of September 2026. [32] [33] His writing - career announcements, annual reviews, launch playbooks and personal stories - doubles as the primary public record of his career; much of this profile is built from it. His audience stands at about 71,500 on X, 10,000 on email and 5,400 on LinkedIn, all built from scratch in public. [14]

15.Projects

ProjectYearsWhat it is / wasRef
Cuppano-code eraOne-on-one virtual coffees with people from Twitter[23]
DoThingsThatDontScaleno-code eraOne of his signature early projects; still runs as a community property[13]
On Deck No-Code Fellowship2021 to 2022Global fellowship he created and led; 500+ fellows, 700+ projects shipped[2] [4]
The Founder Hotline2022Founder campaign; Gary Vaynerchuk appeared as season finale guest[13]
Sponsorsoup2023SaaS experiment; launched and sunset[8]
LeaderBird2023SaaS experiment; launched and sunset[8]
Unbloq AI2023Third bootstrapped SaaS attempt, with co-founder Zack[29]
Build In Public Fellowship2023Paid cohort program; five cohorts, founders from 20+ countries; sunset as a business, lives on as a free community[2] [7]
Product Hunt Masterclass2023Self-paced course on winning Product Hunt launches[8]
File Forge2025His first vibe-coded tool: convert or compress any file[11] [12]
Remedy Hunt2025Vibe-coded web tool built while exploring AI coding agents[12]
World's Largest Hackathon2025Kickoff tweet and judge; 130k+ participants with Bolt[11] [21]
Vibe Coding Showcase2025Recurring showcase of projects built by everyday people[32]
buildinpublic.xyzcurrentPublic directory for the build-in-public movement[35]
Muse, in the wild2026One-page directory of real-world use cases for Meta's Muse agent[36]

16.Working style and views

Puvvada's public philosophy centers on "bat signals" - earnest public posts that state what you want and let the internet respond. He credits them with his job at On Deck, his role at Paddle, and the World's Largest Hackathon: "when you put out a bat signal earnestly, the Universe finds a way to answer it." [11] His community playbook is "give-first": perks, introductions and attention given away before anything is asked. [10] On failure he is unusually public for a founder, publishing the numbers behind the BIPF shutdown and his personal debt at the time. [7]

"Don't bottle up your best ideas. Share them with the world." [11]

17.Personal life

Puvvada lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife and three sons; the youngest two, twins, were born during his years at Paddle. [16] [10] He has written openly about his infant son's congenital heart condition (HLHS) and surgeries in 2024 and 2025, and about supporting family both in the US and in India. [11] [7] He has noted that his mother leaves wholesome comments on his YouTube channel. [8]

18.Timeline

DateEventRef
2011Working at TCS in Chennai for US$250/month; applies to US graduate schools[1]
2011After 7 rejections and roughly 500 emails to faculty, Vanderbilt offers a full scholarship plus teaching assistantship; moves to the US[1]
Jan 2016Opens his Twitter account[3]
2018Loses about US$17,000 in savings on a failed startup; vows to never build in silo again[2]
2018 to 2021Ships 15+ no-code products in public, with two exits among his projects[2] [13]
early 2021Recruited in public through 40+ interviews; joins On Deck to create the No-Code Fellowship[2]
May 2022Leaves On Deck in company layoffs[4]
2022Joins Day One; collaborates with Gary Vaynerchuk on a program[2]
Sep 2022Wins Product Hunt's Golden Kitty for Community Member of the Year (2021-22); 92 startups launched to date[5]
Feb 2023Announces the Build In Public Fellowship; first cohort starts 6 March[2]
Aug 2023Joins Utopic Ventures as its first partner[17]
2023Crosses US$100,000 in revenue across all projects; featured in the Atlanta Business Chronicle[8] [24]
Dec 2023Sunsets BIPF as a paid business after five cohorts[7]
Jan 2024Joins Paddle to lead Founder Relations[9]
Mar 2025Posts the hackathon tweet from a hospital hallway; Bolt and sponsors rally within a day[11]
May to Jun 2025World's Largest Hackathon runs with 130,000+ participants; KP serves as judge[21]
Nov 2025Joins Netlify as Head of Community[12]
Sep 2026His essay archive reaches 80 pieces; audience of about 71,500 on X[32] [14]

19.Media coverage

DateOutletTitleFormatRef
2023Atlanta Business Chronicle"This Atlanta founder turned startup failure into public success"article[24]
2023Heartbeat community"The Cult-Like Strategy Changing Brands Forever (KP)"workshop video[27]
2023Jeremy Redman (YouTube)Interview with KPvideo[28]
n.d.Nocode MBAPodcast episodevideo[26]
n.d.Forward Thinking FoundersEpisode on KP and Cuppapodcast[23]
2026Futureproof (Prakash Chandran)"High-Agency Builders, Personal Software, and the Rebirth of Developers"podcast[25]

20.References

This profile was researched and written by KP's AI agent from public sources, and is reviewed and edited by KP. Figures are as reported at the cited date; where his own accounts differ, both are given.
  1. Puvvada, KP. "How I Made It To America." thisiskp.com, 23 January 2024. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  2. Puvvada, KP. "My next thing." thisiskp.com, 2 February 2023. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  3. Puvvada, KP. "treasures in my mind but couldn't open up my own vault." thisiskp.com, 9 August 2021. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  4. Puvvada, KP. "The ending is really another beginning." thisiskp.com, 12 June 2022. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  5. Puvvada, KP. "Lessons from hunting 90+ products on Product Hunt." thisiskp.com, 6 September 2022. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  6. Puvvada, KP. "4 miracles of my life." thisiskp.com, 29 November 2023. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  7. Puvvada, KP. "Update on BIPF." thisiskp.com, 10 December 2023. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  8. Puvvada, KP. "KP's 2023 Annual Review." thisiskp.com, 1 January 2024. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  9. Puvvada, KP. "Joining Paddle." thisiskp.com, 25 January 2024. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  10. Puvvada, KP. "Reflections from my time at Paddle." thisiskp.com, 15 November 2025. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  11. Puvvada, KP. "How I kicked off the world's largest hackathon." thisiskp.com, 20 May 2025. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  12. Puvvada, KP. "Joining Netlify." thisiskp.com, 6 November 2025. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  13. "Bio." thisiskp.com. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  14. "About KP" and homepage. thisiskp.com. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  15. KP's profile on Product Hunt. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  16. Karthik Puvvada on LinkedIn. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  17. Thanedar, Neil. "I'm thrilled to announce that Karthik Puvvada (KP) will be joining Utopic as our first Partner!" LinkedIn, 10 August 2023. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  18. Utopic Ventures, official site. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  19. "World's Largest Hackathon presented by Bolt." Devpost. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  20. bolt.new. "It's time to set a Guinness World Record." LinkedIn, 16 April 2025. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  21. "Recap: Bolt.new World's Largest Hackathon." vibecoding.app. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  22. The Build In Public Podcast, official site. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  23. "Forward Thinking Founders" podcast episode on KP and Cuppa. Transistor. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  24. Atlanta Business Chronicle. "This Atlanta founder turned startup failure into public success." 2023. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  25. "High-Agency Builders, Personal Software, and the Rebirth of Developers - Karthik Puvvada, Netlify." Futureproof (Buzzsprout). Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  26. Nocode MBA episode with KP. YouTube. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  27. "The Cult-Like Strategy Changing Brands Forever (KP)." Heartbeat community workshop, YouTube. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  28. Interview with KP. Jeremy Redman's YouTube channel. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  29. Puvvada, KP. "What have I been up to? Here are the major highlights." thisiskp.com, 19 August 2023. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  30. "Appearances." thisiskp.com. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  31. "Photos." thisiskp.com. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  32. "Essays." thisiskp.com. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  33. KP's Column on Substack. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  34. "Services." thisiskp.com. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  35. buildinpublic.xyz. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  36. "Muse, in the wild." Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  37. Puvvada, KP. "Here's my best of 2022 list." KP's Column, 28 December 2022. Link. Retrieved 10 September 2026.

21.External links

KP on X (@thisiskp_) · KP on LinkedIn · KP's Column (newsletter) · The Build In Public Podcast · KP on Product Hunt