The Experimenter
The Experimenter is the identity behind Shaurya Bahl's less visible work — the dozens of projects that never became products, the random builds that existed for a week, the curiosity-driven detours that taught him more than any course ever could.
The Experiment Graveyard
For every Simplifly or LockIn that ships and scales, there are ten projects that existed briefly, served their purpose as learning vehicles, and were quietly archived. This isn't failure — it's the experimenter's method.
The list includes:
- Crovio — an early project that explored a different problem space entirely
- Markdown tools — utilities built during the YouTube crash course era, when Shaurya was learning TypeScript by building things he could actually use
- Photo booth app — a fun build that taught him about camera APIs and image processing
- Shopify experiments — explorations into e-commerce, testing whether Shopify's ecosystem was a viable platform for young builders
- Chatbot experiments — early forays into conversational AI, building bots before ChatGPT made everyone a prompt engineer
- Agency websites — template-style sites built during the crash course period, learning React and deployment
- Random tools and utilities — the kind of small builds that solve one very specific problem and teach one very specific skill
The Method
Shaurya's experimentation follows a pattern, even if it doesn't feel structured in the moment:
- Encounter something interesting. A new API, a friend's problem, a tool he wants to exist, a technology he's curious about.
- Build a quick version. Not a polished product — a proof of concept. Can this work? Does this API do what it claims? Can I make this in a weekend?
- Learn the lesson. Every experiment teaches something specific: how camera APIs work, how Shopify themes are structured, how chatbot conversation flows are designed, how payment gateways handle webhooks.
- Move on or double down. Most experiments end at step 3. The lessons get absorbed, the code gets archived, and Shaurya moves to the next thing. Occasionally — rarely — an experiment reveals something worth building for real. That's how ventures are born.
Why Experimenting Matters
The experimenter identity is what keeps Shaurya's skills broad. While specialisation has its value, at 15, breadth is more valuable. Every experiment adds a tool to the toolkit:
- Shopify experiments taught him about e-commerce infrastructure
- Chatbot experiments gave him early intuition for AI interfaces
- Photo booth builds taught him about device hardware access
- Agency websites taught him about client work and deployment
- Markdown tools taught him about developer tooling
When he sits down to build something serious — like Simplifly's eSIM platform or LockIn's Screen Time integration — he draws on knowledge from dozens of experiments that individually seemed pointless but collectively built a deep, wide foundation.
The 30-Day Sprint
One of Shaurya's formative experiments wasn't a single project but a period: after completing his Python classes and YouTube crash courses, he coded 2-3 hours daily for 30 days straight. No specific goal — just building. Whatever caught his attention. Java one day, TypeScript the next, a React app the day after.
That sprint is where the experimenter identity solidified. Building became a daily habit, not a special event. And the habit of trying things without knowing if they'd work became comfortable rather than scary.
Experiments as Portfolio
What most people see is the polished output: Simplifly's landing page, LockIn on the App Store, AI + Frnds event photos. What they don't see is the experimental substrate underneath — the dozens of half-finished projects, abandoned repos, and "just trying this" builds that made the polished output possible.
The experimenter doesn't need every project to succeed. He needs every project to teach.