I’m Vandana Guru — part product thinker, part musician, full-time observer of life’s patterns, contradictions, and quiet magic.

I was born into a Palakkad Tamil Brahmin family and raised in Mylapore, Chennai — a neighborhood where classical music seeps through every street corner, and sabhas sit right next to silk stores. That early immersion in tradition, rhythm, and curiosity still shapes how I think, work, and create today.

Now based in Sunnyvale, California, I live a quiet but intentional life — designing thoughtful products, learning to balance ambition with stillness, and tuning into the things most people miss.

Music is my Lifeline

I’ve trained in Carnatic vocals and violin, learning in the lineage of Sangeetha Kalanidhi D.K. Jayaraman and Padma Shri A. Kanyakumari. While I occasionally share music online, it remains mostly an inward pursuit — a way to listen more closely to the world, and to myself.

My Product Philosophy

Product, to me, is less about shipping fast and more about noticing deeply. I believe the best products are:

• Crafted with clarity — built for real people, not personas in a slide
• Scaled with soul — solving problems without losing their humanity
• Run on trust — not just in users, but across teams and decisions

Whether I’m leading a zero-to-one initiative or cleaning up legacy logic, I treat product work as stewardship — of experience, of systems, and of long-term value.

I value kindness over cleverness, and think agency and alignment are worth more than features and deadlines.

What You’ll Find Here

This blog is where I slow down and write about:

• Product and design decisions I’m still chewing on
• Creative frameworks and mental models I wish more people shared
• Culture, identity, and what it means to build a life in-between worlds
• And sometimes, just fragments — from music, books, or moments I want to hold onto

There’s no hustle here. Just reflection, structure, and the occasional song.

Like what I write?

Go on, follow my blog and make my day. 😊