Founder · Product Builder

Muhammed Iqbal Turning everyday problems into products people rely on.

I work with communities and businesses to understand what they really need, shape the right solution, and deliver software that keeps working long after launch.

See Selected Work Start a Conversation
Portrait of Muhammed Iqbal
Mess BookExpense management Village InfoCommunity app
  • 12+ yearsin software and products
  • 60,000+people use Mess Book
  • Across Keralacommunities running their own Village Info app
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How I work

Good products start with a conversation.

Before anything is built, I sit with the people it's for and listen. Then I recommend what they actually need. Sometimes that's an app, and sometimes a simple web page or a form does the job better. I never jump straight to building an app.

  1. ListenUnderstanding the people and the real problem
  2. ShapeThe right-sized solution: app, web or something simpler
  3. BuildDesign and engineering, done properly
  4. LaunchReleased to real users, not left as a prototype
  5. SupportImproved over time, based on real use

Selected work

Products that are live and in use

Two products I founded and continue to lead. Both started as my own ideas, and both grew through constant feedback from the people using them.

Mess Book logo Product 01

Mess Book

Keep track of personal, shared, lending and borrowing expenses.

A practical expense management app. It began as my own idea for a fair way for expats and bachelors sharing a living space to split their costs, and grew, one release at a time and driven by user feedback, into a product used across the GCC.

Role
Founder & product lead
Status
Live, actively improved
Reach
60,000+ people
  • Personal and shared expenses
  • Lending and borrowing
  • Reports by days or by shared expenses
  • Group expenses kept in sync
Explore Mess Book Watch how it works Premium passes (pay by UPI)
Mess Book's Select Report Type screen, with options to split expenses based on days or based on shared expenses

A different problem, the same approach: listen first, then build.

Product 02

Village Info

Useful information, made local.

A community app platform that brings useful local information, contacts and services together in one place. It's delivered as a separate, branded app for each community, and each community's own administrators keep it up to date.

Role
Founder & platform lead
Status
Live and used by communities across Kerala
Model
One platform, a branded app per community
Explore Village Info
Home screen of the Thalayatukar app, built on Village Info, showing local ads, bus timings and directory sections

A few of the communities using it

  • Thalayatukar app icon ThalayadKozhikode
  • Ente Erattupetta app icon ErattupettaKottayam
  • Bharananganam Naatukootam app icon BharananganamKottayam
  • eNadapuram app icon NadapuramKozhikode

Communities across Kerala have their own Village Info app, and these are just a few of them. Everything runs on one managed platform, so a community never has to worry about servers, hosting renewals or upgrades.

What I bring

From the first conversation to launch, and beyond

01

Product thinking

Turning what people need into a focused product and a clear plan to deliver it, without building what nobody will use.

02

AI-assisted building

I use AI throughout the build: planning, writing and reviewing code, and testing. Solutions reach you faster, without cutting corners on quality.

03

End-to-end delivery

Mobile apps, web and cloud, taken from requirements to launch, and supported long after release.

Also from me

AI videos that tell a story

Alongside building products, I create AI-generated videos: short, story-driven films with real emotion that make people stop and understand what a product or business does.

  • Product promos
  • App explainers
  • Business ads
  • Social media reels

See more of my videos on Instagram, and imagine the same for your business or product.

Talk about a video See my videos

Follow along

Follow the journey

Product updates, launches and experiments, shared on Instagram.

Muhammed Iqbal at his workspace

About

Hi, I'm Iqbal.

I'm Muhammed Iqbal (Iqbal Thalayad). I've spent more than 12 years in software, starting as an app developer and growing into the person who leads a product from the first idea to launch and beyond.

Mess Book and Village Info both started as my own ideas. Once they launched, I stayed in constant conversation with the people using them and kept improving them, release after release, based on what they told me. That's why they're used so widely today.

When someone brings me a problem now, I start by listening. I'll tell you honestly whether you need an app, a website, a web application or just a simple form, and then build what actually fits. You work with me directly, from the first call to long after launch.

Iqbal

  • Product strategy
  • Mobile apps
  • Web & cloud
  • AI videos
  • Community tech

Let's talk

Have a problem worth solving?

Tell me what you're trying to do. Whether it's a product idea, a community need, a video to tell your product's story or something that could simply work better, it starts with a conversation.

Message me on WhatsApp iqbaltld@gmail.com