Handback started with a cold email
How a May 11 email from Jay Patidar became a partnership, an AI-built product, and our September 22 launch.
On May 11, 2026, I got a cold email from Jay Patidar. He’d found websites I’d worked on, noticed we were both UT Dallas alumni, and wanted to talk about an app idea.
Four months later, we launched Handback.
A call, then a choice
Jay’s idea was to help people get misdelivered packages back to the right person. We got on a call, and there were two ways to go: a one-off payment for the build, or a partnership. I chose the partnership.
MyPanchang had been a solo side project. This was my first time becoming a cofounder with someone else, and I wanted to stay involved beyond delivering an app.
Building it together
Jay kept shaping the product. He sent spreadsheets, feedback, and product specifications he’d explored with ChatGPT. His questions about fake reports and confirming a handoff helped define the flow. Later feedback shaped the home screen, package search, and notifications.
The implementation is fully synthetic: AI generated the code and creative assets. Jay brought the idea and product direction; I directed the technical build and visual design through prompts, reviews, and revisions.
The central challenge was trust. A finder can photograph a label without learning who matched. The recipient verifies their identity before claiming the package and arranging a handoff. Those decisions shaped what the screens could show and say.
Finding the look
I wanted Handback to feel like an everyday favor between neighbors. The direction was warm paper, parchment, bronze, and a parcel mark that could work on its own as an app icon.
handbackLet’s get it home.
A little help for a neighbor’s package.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg · 0123456789The type took a few tries. Zodiak and Fraunces felt too loud, so I moved to Crimson Pro for headlines and Cabinet Grotesk for body text. Crimson gave “Let’s get it home” the right feel; Cabinet kept the interface readable.
I carried that identity into the site, store screenshots, and ad concepts. I used Shelfshot for the launch images—there’s a separate post about those.
September 22
We launched on September 22, 2026. A cold email had become a partnership and an app people could download. That’s what makes this one feel different from my earlier projects.
Try it at handback.co, or see the full case study on Rad Soft.