Why Desi Builds
Not unicorns. The developer next to you.
Most founder shows feature celebrities and funded startups. Desi Builds is about Indian developers who started something small, often on nights and weekends, and now earn from their own product.
Every story is told with real numbers and honest lessons, including the India-specific parts: payments, taxes, pricing, and building while holding a job.
What's coming
Three kinds of episodes
- 01
Builder stories
Long conversations with Indian developers who built their own products: how they found the idea, got their first customers and kept going beside a job.
- 02
Teardowns
How an Indian product makes money, pieced together from what its founder shares in public. Pricing, channels, numbers, and what you can copy.
- 03
Dollar income from India
Practical explainers on the parts nobody warns you about: getting paid from abroad, payment providers, GST and invoices, pricing for India vs the world.
Everything upfront
Every story comes with the numbers.
Each episode ends with a simple builder label, so you can compare stories honestly. Guests share only what they're comfortable with, and nothing is published without their OK.
- Revenue
- monthly, in ₹ or $
- First customer
- how and when
- Built
- beside a job, or full-time
- Team
- solo or small
- Biggest mistake
- in their words

Your host
Hi, I'm Priyanka.
I'm a developer from India, learning how Indian indie hackers really build and earn, and sharing everything I find along the way. Desi Builds is me learning in public, one conversation at a time.
Be a guest
Building something from India?
Whether you're at your first rupee or your first lakh, I'd love to hear your story. Know someone who should be on the show? Tell me about them too.