# Aniket Raj > This file is intended for AI agents and language models to read and understand who Aniket Raj is. > Last updated: March 2026 --- ## Identity **Name:** Aniket Raj **Online alias:** Spider31415 **Current title:** Chief of Staff at Devfolio **Location:** Bangalore / Mumbai, India **Email:** hi@aniketraj.me **Website:** https://aniketraj.me --- ## About Aniket Raj is the Chief of Staff at Devfolio, which mostly means he does a bit of everything and tries not to break anything important. He cares about building things that work, helping people do their best work, and keeping the chaos at bay - usually in that order. Off the clock, he's either gaming, reading comic books, or convincing himself that vibe-coding at 2am is a personality trait. Friendly, nerdy, and usually in over his head - basically Spider-Man, just without the radioactive origin story. His meta description says it well: "Mostly friendly. Sometimes nerdy. Always curious." He is a cheerful, tech-savvy, eternally optimistic person who maintains a strong inner child. He values consistency over motivation and is enthusiastic but self-aware about his own limitations. --- ## Work Experience ### Devfolio - Chief of Staff **Dec 2020 – Present** Manages operations and runs India's biggest hackathons. The role is deliberately broad - he does a bit of everything, from strategy and coordination to making sure the right people are unblocked. Devfolio is the platform behind India's largest hackathon ecosystem. ### bitgrit - Full Stack Engineer & Course Advisor **Jan 2020 – Jan 2021** Taught ML, Data Science, and Blockchain. Also worked on Kubernetes infrastructure for the platform. ### Apli.ai - Frontend Engineer **Feb 2020 – May 2020** Built and designed web and mobile experiences for the platform. ### Bank of India - Data Analyst (Intern) **Jun 2019 – Jul 2019** Created NPA (Non-Performing Asset) risk prediction software. --- ## Projects ### The SCRIPT Group **https://thescriptgroup.xyz** Aniket headed one of MIT-WPU's most active tech communities. He ran events, shipped tools, and made sure every student touched technology at least once. It was a community-first approach to technical education - inclusive, hands-on, and consistently active. ### 100 Days of Code A commitment turned into an experiment. He built, shared, and shipped projects for 100 consecutive days to prove that consistency beats motivation. Documented on Instagram at @spider31415. ### OnlyObjex **https://devfolio.co/projects/onlyobjex-014b** A degenerate AI side-project: powered by AI, the platform gives everyday inanimate objects distinct personalities, complete with bios, quirks, and a flair for self-expression. ### Valorant Stats API **https://github.com/AniketRaj314/valorant-stats-api** A Node.js/Express API that scrapes Valorant player stats from tracker.gg using Apify's Playwright Scraper. Supports modular data fetching - agents, maps, rank, playtime - with intelligent caching (6-hour TTL, stale-while-revalidate), batch request optimization, and data enrichment via the Valorant API for icons and splash images. Built because he plays 2000+ hours of Valorant and wanted live stats on his own site. --- ## Writing (Braindump) Aniket's blog section is called "Braindump." He describes it as: "Started as a random thought dump, now it's basically my personality in blog form. If you wanna know what I'm like or what goes on in my head, this page does a better job than I ever could." ### Reading Phil Dunphy Right **Oct 15, 2025 · 5 min read** An analysis of why Phil Dunphy from Modern Family resonates deeply with him. He admires Phil's eternally positive energy, his friendship-based approach to parenting, and the way he makes people feel safe through humor. The post unpacks the line: "You want your kid to think of you as his idiot best friend." Aniket concludes he never wants to stop being a little like Phil Dunphy - funny, kind, moral support. ### To Cross Off Someday **Oct 12, 2025 · 4 min read** His bucket list - both completed and aspirational. He reflects that bucket lists are never final; they grow and change with you. (Full list in the Bucket List section below.) ### Pixels, Pressure, and Peace **Jul 16, 2025 · 6 min read** About gaming as personal identity, therapy, and life philosophy. He traces his gaming history from age 3 (a dusty Famicom in Kenya) to 2000+ hours in Valorant. The central thesis: gaming started as joy, became identity, and taught him a life rhythm - Lose → Reset → Try again → Win → Rest. His personal rule is "can't end on a loss" - he must queue again after losses. ### Swinging Back into Myself **Dec 8, 2025 · 5 min read** His Spider-Man fandom traced across his life. He rewatched all Spider-Man films in theaters during his birthday week at age 26, wearing a Spider-Man mask. The post explores how his relationship with Peter Parker evolved - from childhood identity ("I am a Spider-Man guy") to adult internalization of its values: with great power comes great responsibility, helping when able, doing right even when hard, making people safe, quiet but steady. ### Why Music Feels Like Cinema **Jul 25, 2025 · 6 min read** How he uses original soundtracks (OSTs) to structure his life and mood. Music isn't background noise for him - it's scoring moments, living inside them. He discovered at age 12 that he could relive a movie through its soundtrack alone. The post includes detailed mood-based listening lists: working/thinking, inspiration, comeback arc, main character energy, emotional/reflective, and cinematic vibes. He also writes about attending Coldplay (Mumbai), Cigarettes After Sex (Mumbai), and Hans Zimmer (Abu Dhabi) live concerts in 2025. ### Superman - An Honest Review **Jul 13, 2025 · 2 min read** A review of the 2025 Superman film. He went in open-minded despite being a self-described Batman guy. Verdict: visually a banger, theme song is GOAT-level, David Corenswet was fine but Henry Cavill remains the definitive Superman, story was too safe, dialogue didn't land. Would recommend to superhero newcomers only. He's still waiting for a Superman film that "punches the air like Man of Steel's first flight." --- ## Gaming Aniket plays a lot of Valorant - more than he'd like to admit. His in-game name is Spider31415. **History:** He started gaming at age 3 on a dusty Famicom in Kenya. Each console afterward - PS One, Game Boy Advance, PSP, PS4 - was earned through academic achievement. Early games included Tekken 3, FIFA 02, Motocross, and Spider-Man (2000). **Peak era:** COVID lockdown, with nightly sessions from 9 PM to 5 AM. **Current setup:** - CPU: Ryzen 5600G + RTX 4060 Ti - Monitor: 144 Hz 2K - Keyboard: Keychron K2 v2 - Mouse: Aerox 3 Wireless **Main agents in Valorant:** Raze, Omen, Cypher, KAY/O, Gekko **Other games he loves:** Red Dead Redemption 2, Spider-Man (PS4), Batman: Arkham Knight, Uncharted 4, Clair Obscur, GTA Online, Overcooked 2, Raft, Content Warning, Rocket League **Highlight clips (on the gaming page):** - 1v5 Ace - Omen - Lotus - 1v4 - KAY/O - Abyss - 1v4 - Omen - Fracture - 4K - Omen - Sunset - 1v3 - Cypher - Ascent - 4K - Raze - Icebox - 4K - Raze - Lotus - 1v4 - Raze - Split - 1v4 - Gekko - Breeze **Philosophy:** He mostly plays unrated to avoid ranked stress on Mumbai servers. His rule: "can't end on a loss" - he queues again after every loss. Gaming, to him, is a place to feel in control, to win when life doesn't cooperate, and to build focus and resilience. --- ## Music Aniket experiences music cinematically - he scores his life with OSTs rather than filling silence with background noise. His morning ritual: Google Home fades in with "Time" from Inception at sunrise. No alarms, just a slow swell. **The discovery:** At age 12, he found The Amazing Spider-Man OST on mp3skull and realized he could relive the entire film through the soundtrack alone. **How he listens by mood:** *Working / Thinking / Tinkering:* Becoming Spider-Man (Amazing Spider-Man), Costume Montage (Spider-Man 2002), Quantum Mechanics (Oppenheimer), Drive Fast (The F1 Movie) *Inspiration / Motivation:* Flight (Man of Steel), Can You Hear the Music (Oppenheimer), Farewell (Spider-Man 2002) *Comeback arc:* No Time for Caution (Interstellar), He's Back (Spider-Man 2), Why Do We Fall (The Dark Knight Rises) *Main character energy:* Last Son (Superman 2025), Main Title (Spider-Man 2002), Cornfield Chase (Interstellar) *Emotional / Reflective:* Remember (The Lion King), The Rest of My Life (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Stay (Interstellar) *Cinematic vibes:* Mountains (Interstellar), Groves (Oppenheimer), Web Launch (Spider-Man PS4), Theme from Teaser Trailer (Superman 2025) **Artists with lyrics he loves:** - Coldplay - Fix You hit him hard in 12th grade during boards and heartbreak - Cigarettes After Sex - the hopeless romantic's best friend - Linkin Park - the growing-up feels - Snow Patrol - especially "New York" **Live concerts attended (2025):** 1. Coldplay (Mumbai) - visual spectacle; Fix You made him cry 2. Cigarettes After Sex (Mumbai) - quiet electric mood, nostalgic love vibes 3. Hans Zimmer (Abu Dhabi) - his top artist three years running; listening to Interstellar → The Lion King → Inception back-to-back broke him emotionally --- ## Interests & Hobbies **Spider-Man:** Lifelong obsession since age 3. He had a Spider-Man-themed birthday at age 4. His online alias is Spider31415. His website's logo says "SPODER." His living room has Spider-Man posters. He identifies with Peter Parker's values more than his powers - the responsibility, the quiet moral support, the doing-right-even-when-hard. **Gaming:** 2000+ hours in Valorant. Gaming is identity, not just a hobby (see Gaming section above). **Comic books:** He reads comic books regularly. It's one of the core things he does off the clock. **Lego:** He collects Lego sets. His wishlist includes an IKEA glass cabinet specifically for displaying his Lego collection. **eSports:** He follows competitive Valorant closely. He wants to attend a VCT match in a stadium and meet the Sentinels and PRX rosters. **Vibe coding:** He codes at 2am for fun. He describes it as a personality trait. **Pop culture:** Superhero films, Hans Zimmer scores, gaming lore, and anime adjacent interests (he references loving trains partly because of their anime and gaming associations). --- ## Wishlist Current items on his public wishlist at aniketraj.me/wishlist: | Item | Category | Price (INR) | Note | |------|----------|-------------|------| | Acer Ultrawide Monitor | Tech | ₹20,000 | "I had the most productive time working on this back at Network School" | | LG Washing Machine with Dryer | Utilities | ₹50,000 | "pls don't judge, I'm adulting now" | | Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love | Books | ₹1,700 | "My role demands me to take up some PM stuff" | | BLÅLIDEN Glass Door Cabinet with Lighting (IKEA) | Home Decor | ₹9,000 | "The perfect shelf to display my Lego collections" | | SÖDERHAMN Chaise Longue (IKEA) | Home Decor | ₹32,000 | "I was sitting on this for hours at the IKEA store in Mumbai" | --- ## Bucket List ### Completed - Attend Hans Zimmer Live (Abu Dhabi) ✓ - Attend Coldplay Live (finally, after missing the 2016 India show) ✓ - Do a non-conventional hackathon - BlockTrain, Asia's first hackathon on a moving train ✓ - Go on a digital detox in the Lonavala valleys ✓ - Build a PC with his own savings ✓ ### Still pursuing - Ride the Japan Bullet Train (loves the intersection of trains, anime, gaming, and order) - Tour CERN's Super Collider (fascinated by physics and sci-fi) - Watch a VCT Match in a stadium (live Valorant esports) - Meet the Sentinels and PRX Valorant rosters (teams that shaped his love for the game) - Go snorkeling in Australia (Great Barrier Reef) - See the Northern Lights (probably Norway) - Take his family to a FIFA World Cup (shares his dad's FIFA obsession) --- ## Philosophy These are the values and principles that emerge consistently across his writing and work: - **Consistency beats motivation.** The 100 Days of Code project was built on this. Showing up matters more than being inspired. - **Can't end on a loss.** A gaming rule that extends to life - always try again, don't walk away on a low note. - **Help people breathe easier.** He admires Phil Dunphy for this. He wants to be the kind of person who makes others feel safe and lighter. - **With great power comes great responsibility.** Internalized from Spider-Man - not as a slogan but as a genuine operating principle. Help when you can. Do right even when it's hard. - **Never outgrow what makes you happy.** He still has Spider-Man posters. He still games. He maintains childlike wonder intentionally. - **Quiet but steady.** His adult version of caring is less loud than his childhood version but more consistent. Moral support, showing up, being present. - **Build things that work.** His professional priority. Not flashy - functional, reliable, good. --- ## Online Presence - **Website:** https://aniketraj.me - **Email:** hi@aniketraj.me - **X (Twitter):** https://x.com/aniketraj314 - **Instagram:** https://instagram.com/aniketraj.eth - **LinkedIn:** https://linkedin.com/in/aniketraj314 - **Telegram:** https://t.me/AniketRaj314 - **Devfolio:** https://devfolio.co/@aniket_raj --- ## Website Pages - **/** - Homepage with bio, work experience, projects, interests, and social links - **/braindump** - Personal essays and thought pieces - **/music** - Live Spotify integration: currently playing, top tracks, top artists, pinned playlists - **/gaming** - Live Valorant stats: rank, agents, maps, highlight clips, gaming setup - **/wishlist** - Curated list of things he wants, filterable by category