Author: Harsh Agrawal

Harsh Agrawal

Short Bio

Harsh Agrawal is a founder and entrepreneur who dropped out of college and landed a role as a Software Development Engineer at Avalara — a $10 billion tech company — when he was just 18 years old. He spent two years in the corporate world followed by another two years working remotely for US-based startups. He was selected for ZFellows, a highly competitive pre-accelerator program. His last product, getDevKit.com, attracted over 10,000 signups and drew interest from top-tier venture capital firms including Sequoia and a16z. He is currently building techkareer.com, a recruiting startup, and has helped more than 20 founders from the USA and India build their dreams. He is also an angel investor in three startups.

Extended Bio

Harsh Agrawal is living proof that the traditional path is not the only path — and for some people, it is not even the best one.He dropped out of college. This decision, which many would consider a risk or a setback, became the first step in a career that most college graduates would envy. At 18 — an age when most of his peers were still figuring out how to navigate campus life — he joined Avalara, a $10 billion technology company, as a Software Development Engineer. He was a teenager working alongside engineers with years of experience, and he held his own.His two years at Avalara taught him how software is built at scale, how engineering organizations operate, and what it takes to deliver reliable products in a corporate environment. But the corporate world, valuable as it was, was not where he wanted to stay. He left to work remotely for US-based startups, spending another two years experiencing the other end of the spectrum: the speed, chaos, and ownership of early-stage companies. This combination — corporate rigor and startup agility — gave him a rare dual perspective.He was selected for ZFellows, a highly competitive pre-accelerator program that identifies and supports exceptional early-stage founders. This was the launchpad for his entrepreneurial journey.His first major product was getDevKit.com. It resonated deeply with its target audience, amassing over 10,000 signups and attracting interest from Sequoia and a16z — two of the most prestigious venture capital firms in the world. Even though he chose not to pursue that particular path, the validation was clear: he could identify a real need, build a product that addressed it, and attract the attention of the best in the business.He is now building techkareer.com, a recruiting startup. The name — a blend of "tech" and "kareer" (career) — signals his focus on connecting talent with opportunity in the technology space. He has already helped more than 20 founders from the USA and India build their dreams, either through his recruiting platform or through direct support.Beyond his own ventures, he is an angel investor in three startups. He understands the founder's journey intimately because he is living it himself, and he invests not just capital but also his time, network, and experience in the founders he backs.He writes for the college student questioning whether the traditional path is right for them, the young engineer who wants to break into tech without a degree, the founder building their first product, and anyone who believes that capability matters more than credentials.

Primary Beats

• Non-Traditional Paths in Tech: Dropping out of college and breaking into top tech companies without a degree; alternatives to the traditional education-to-employment pipeline; building credibility and skills outside institutional frameworks.
• Early-Stage SaaS & Product Development: Building products that resonate with users and attract investor interest; navigating the journey from idea to signups to venture interest; understanding product-market fit in developer tools and recruiting.
• Recruiting & Talent in the Tech Industry: Building a recruiting startup for the tech ecosystem; connecting founders with talent; understanding what founders need and what candidates want; the evolving landscape of tech hiring in India and the US.
• Founder Journey & Angel Investing: The realities of building a startup as a young founder; what it means to be an angel investor with lived founder experience; supporting other founders through capital, advice, and network.