Prakhar Yadav

Spring Boot & DSA | Content | Tech

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Few weeks ago I negotiated for an unpaid internship.

Fought for terms. Pushed for a paid conversion. Got it accepted.

This week someone reached out to ME.

CTO of a startup.
Checked my GitHub.
DM'd me directly.

Asked if I'd be open to a paid frontend internship.

Had a call with the founder. Shared my work.

This is the part of building in public nobody tells you about.

You don't always have to chase the opportunity.

If you're consistent enough, it finds you.

Has building in public ever brought an opportunity to you instead of the other way around?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Few weeks ago I negotiated for an unpaid internship.

Fought for terms. Pushed for a paid conversion. Got it accepted.

This week someone reached out to ME.

CTO of a startup.
Checked my GitHub.
DM'd me directly.

Asked if I'd be open to a paid frontend internship.

Had a call with the founder. Shared my work.

This is the part of building in public nobody tells you about.

You don't always have to chase the opportunity.

If you're consistent enough, it finds you.

Has building in public ever brought an opportunity to you instead of the other way around?

[Palak @Palakonweb]

My bua is fighting stage 4 cancer. Every treatment is costly, and our family is doing everything possible to continue her care.

We are now seeking support from kind people who can help us during this difficult time. Any contribution, no matter how small, will directly help with her treatment and medical expenses.

If you are able to help, please check the QR code in the reply. If you cannot contribute, please share this post so it can reach someone who can.

Thank you for your support and prayers. Every bit of help means more time, hope, and treatment for her.

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Day 2 of the agency redesign project.

Got a teammate now.
Not solo anymore.

Pulled inspiration from multiple sites instead of copying one.

Basic UI/UX done on Figma.

The real challenge isn't the code.

Our manager's vision keeps shifting based on whatever reel she saw that morning.

We're not pushing back directly.

Navigating it diplomatically.
Showing options.
Letting choices guide consistency.

Nobody teaches you this in college.

Still have technical issues unresolved.

Effects that look simple in the reference site but aren't simple to build at all.

Complicated.
But progressing.

Also today:
LeetCode,
job applications,
personal project.

Anyone else ever had to manage a client/manager whose vision changes every few days?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

@jenatlionra The scary part isn’t that a model can be wrong.

It’s that it can be consistently wrong in a predictable direction.

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Day 2 of the agency redesign project.

Got a teammate now.
Not solo anymore.

Pulled inspiration from multiple sites instead of copying one.

Basic UI/UX done on Figma.

The real challenge isn't the code.

Our manager's vision keeps shifting based on whatever reel she saw that morning.

We're not pushing back directly.

Navigating it diplomatically.
Showing options.
Letting choices guide consistency.

Nobody teaches you this in college.

Still have technical issues unresolved.

Effects that look simple in the reference site but aren't simple to build at all.

Complicated.
But progressing.

Also today:
LeetCode,
job applications,
personal project.

Anyone else ever had to manage a client/manager whose vision changes every few days?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Day 1 of my 10-day assessment.

Task: Redesign their agency website.

Not a simple redesign.

They want premium.
Gen Z. An experience.

Inspiration: https://t.co/yISM6RA1NL

Open it.
You'll understand immediately.

9 effects to implement:

— Mouse interaction shaders
— 3D glass phoenix animation
— 3D project crystals
— Water reflection contact page
— Page transitions
— 3D scroll
— Bird fly-through animation
— Custom 404 element

Tech stack:

Next.js. Three.js. React Three Fiber. GSAP. ScrollTrigger. Lenis. GLSL WebGL shaders.

Had I used any of this before?

No.

First reaction when I saw that website?

Excited.
Immediately intimidated.
Both.

Day 1:
researched the stack.
Broke down every effect.
Started the wireframe.

I don't know how deep the Three.js rabbit hole goes.

But I'm going in anyway.

Have you ever been handed a tech stack you'd never touched before and just had to figure it out?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Day 1 of my 10-day assessment.

Task: Redesign their agency website.

Not a simple redesign.

They want premium.
Gen Z. An experience.

Inspiration: https://t.co/yISM6RA1NL

Open it.
You'll understand immediately.

9 effects to implement:

— Mouse interaction shaders
— 3D glass phoenix animation
— 3D project crystals
— Water reflection contact page
— Page transitions
— 3D scroll
— Bird fly-through animation
— Custom 404 element

Tech stack:

Next.js. Three.js. React Three Fiber. GSAP. ScrollTrigger. Lenis. GLSL WebGL shaders.

Had I used any of this before?

No.

First reaction when I saw that website?

Excited.
Immediately intimidated.
Both.

Day 1:
researched the stack.
Broke down every effect.
Started the wireframe.

I don't know how deep the Three.js rabbit hole goes.

But I'm going in anyway.

Have you ever been handed a tech stack you'd never touched before and just had to figure it out?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Quick update on the interview I posted about.

HR called today.

Good news — my proposal was accepted.

First month unpaid.
Paid for months two and three if I deliver.

Bad news — one more assignment first.
10 days.

Impress them — deal is on.
Don't — we part ways.

10 days to prove myself.

I said yes.

Because this phase doesn't hand you anything.

You earn it. Sometimes twice.

Also —
applied for more roles.
LeetCode.
Project work.

And something big is in the works. 👀
Reveal soon.

What would you do — take the 10-day shot or walk away from an unpaid offer entirely?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Quick update on the interview I posted about.

HR called today.

Good news — my proposal was accepted.

First month unpaid.
Paid for months two and three if I deliver.

Bad news — one more assignment first.
10 days.

Impress them — deal is on.
Don't — we part ways.

10 days to prove myself.

I said yes.

Because this phase doesn't hand you anything.

You earn it. Sometimes twice.

Also —
applied for more roles.
LeetCode.
Project work.

And something big is in the works. 👀
Reveal soon.

What would you do — take the 10-day shot or walk away from an unpaid offer entirely?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Quick update on the interview I posted about.

HR called today.

Good news — my proposal was accepted.

First month unpaid.
Paid for months two and three if I deliver.

Bad news — one more assignment first.
10 days.

Impress them — deal is on.
Don't — we part ways.

10 days to prove myself.

I said yes.

Because this phase doesn't hand you anything.

You earn it. Sometimes twice.

Also —
applied for more roles.
LeetCode.
Project work.

And something big is in the works. 👀
Reveal soon.

What would you do — take the 10-day shot or walk away from an unpaid offer entirely?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Got a call at 6PM yesterday.

Interview in 1 hour.

I was travelling. Not prepared.
Revised project concepts in a moving vehicle.

Founder joined at 9:10 PM sharp.

Walked her through my projects.
She looked impressed.

30 minutes. Done.

Spent the night with that feeling in my stomach.

Hope mixed with uncertainty.
Today afternoon — HR called.

"We are considering you for the unpaid internship."

Shocked.

Because the founder had looked impressed.

I was expecting something different.

But I didn't just say okay.

Asked for feedback.

Pushed back on the UI judgment — my projects were backend heavy.
Not my best UI work.

Offered my GitHub.
Asked them to show the founder.

Then asked — if I join unpaid and deliver in month one, will you convert to paid for months two and three?

She said she'd let me know.
Still waiting.

But here's what I learned today —

Don't just accept what's handed to you.
Ask why.
Push back professionally.
Create a pathway where there wasn't one.

Maybe it works. Maybe it doesn't.

But at least you tried.

Have you ever negotiated your way from unpaid to paid? What worked?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

X randomly changed my Following count to 1.

Even my social life isn’t that bad.

Anyone else getting premium bugs on this premium plan?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Got a call at 6PM yesterday.

Interview in 1 hour.

I was travelling. Not prepared.
Revised project concepts in a moving vehicle.

Founder joined at 9:10 PM sharp.

Walked her through my projects.
She looked impressed.

30 minutes. Done.

Spent the night with that feeling in my stomach.

Hope mixed with uncertainty.
Today afternoon — HR called.

"We are considering you for the unpaid internship."

Shocked.

Because the founder had looked impressed.

I was expecting something different.

But I didn't just say okay.

Asked for feedback.

Pushed back on the UI judgment — my projects were backend heavy.
Not my best UI work.

Offered my GitHub.
Asked them to show the founder.

Then asked — if I join unpaid and deliver in month one, will you convert to paid for months two and three?

She said she'd let me know.
Still waiting.

But here's what I learned today —

Don't just accept what's handed to you.
Ask why.
Push back professionally.
Create a pathway where there wasn't one.

Maybe it works. Maybe it doesn't.

But at least you tried.

Have you ever negotiated your way from unpaid to paid? What worked?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

X randomly changed my Following count to 1.

Even my social life isn’t that bad.

Anyone else getting premium bugs on this premium plan?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

@bosmeny The startup ecosystem really is full of second chances.

Sometimes a few more than you’d expect 😭

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

@asaio87 Vibecoding gets you to version 1.

Engineering gets you to version 100 when thousands of users are clicking buttons you never expected them to click.

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

@theo Everyone else is waiting for better access.

Karpathy allegedly chose the enterprise plan.

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

@tamaybes Honestly, this might be one of the more fascinating failure modes.

Not hallucinating facts—hallucinating shared context.

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

@joannejang The funniest part of AI discourse is watching people argue whether models are too capable or not capable enough at the exact same time.

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Got a call at 6PM yesterday.

Interview in 1 hour.

I was travelling. Not prepared.
Revised project concepts in a moving vehicle.

Founder joined at 9:10 PM sharp.

Walked her through my projects.
She looked impressed.

30 minutes. Done.

Spent the night with that feeling in my stomach.

Hope mixed with uncertainty.
Today afternoon — HR called.

"We are considering you for the unpaid internship."

Shocked.

Because the founder had looked impressed.

I was expecting something different.

But I didn't just say okay.

Asked for feedback.

Pushed back on the UI judgment — my projects were backend heavy.
Not my best UI work.

Offered my GitHub.
Asked them to show the founder.

Then asked — if I join unpaid and deliver in month one, will you convert to paid for months two and three?

She said she'd let me know.
Still waiting.

But here's what I learned today —

Don't just accept what's handed to you.
Ask why.
Push back professionally.
Create a pathway where there wasn't one.

Maybe it works. Maybe it doesn't.

But at least you tried.

Have you ever negotiated your way from unpaid to paid? What worked?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Cold mailed an HR on 3rd June.

She called on 6th June.
Paid web dev internship.
Voice call. Interview to be scheduled.

She asked when I'm free.

I said day after tomorrow — farewell tomorrow.

Then silence.

Today I followed up myself.

She replied — will schedule soon.

Still waiting.

Also today:

LeetCode.
Project.
Spring Boot.
Mailed 2 recruiters.
Cold DM'd 2 seniors.

Nobody replied yet.

But I'm learning one thing —
nobody chases the opportunity for you.

You do it yourself. Every single time.

How long do you usually wait before following up after an interview discussion?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

Cold mailed an HR on 3rd June.

She called on 6th June.
Paid web dev internship.
Voice call. Interview to be scheduled.

She asked when I'm free.

I said day after tomorrow — farewell tomorrow.

Then silence.

Today I followed up myself.

She replied — will schedule soon.

Still waiting.

Also today:

LeetCode.
Project.
Spring Boot.
Mailed 2 recruiters.
Cold DM'd 2 seniors.

Nobody replied yet.

But I'm learning one thing —
nobody chases the opportunity for you.

You do it yourself. Every single time.

How long do you usually wait before following up after an interview discussion?

[Prakhar Yadav @PrakharYxdev]

@amritwt DeepSeek engineers reading this:

“Best we can do is 95% of the performance, 10% of the cost, and a 400-page technical report.”