● CASE STUDY · 05
Expert–clientmobilemarketplace
Client · Spotlist Inc
Year
2020 — 2022
Role
Lead Backend Engineer
Stack
- Python
- Django
- Postgres
- Mongo
- AWS
(01) Context
Early-stage startup. Mobile-first marketplace matching experts to clients. I joined as the first backend hire, then took over the technical lead role. We needed a backend that could grow from prototype to product without rewriting the foundations every quarter.
The problem
When I came in: slow API responses under load, a fragile auth story, and no consistent process between engineering and the product team. The fixes were sometimes architectural, sometimes just process.
(02) Approach
- 01
OAuth 2.0 / JWT auth with role restrictions
Hardened APIs against brute-force and injection attacks, with rate limiting in front and role-based scopes inside.
- 02
Postgres + Mongo schema design
Indexed and tuned schemas to the access patterns. Latency on hot endpoints dropped to single-digit-percent of the previous baseline.
- 03
Stripe payments + verification flows
Built payment intents, subscriptions, and customer management against Stripe. Onboarding integrated Checkr background checks and SMS/email verification.
- 04
Geo search and matching
Expert search and filter APIs by location, availability, and skills, with Google Maps integration for live distance and availability.
- 05
Process
Acted as interim Scrum Master and introduced Jira-based metrics that improved sprint delivery visibility. Mentored 5+ junior engineers through code reviews and pair programming.
(03) Outcome
A backend that survived the startup's first product–market hunt with the same team and the same architecture, just bigger.
5+
engineers mentored
HTTPS
everywhere, day one
Lead
backend ownership