About Me

In recent years, the focus has been on building and scaling products at Launcher Labs, a Y Combinator–backed startup (YC21) originally launched as Newzip. The company began in real estate, creating an online marketplace for neighborhood advice that connected local experts with people seeking insights about cities, schools, and communities. From the start, the goal was rapid product iteration and testing assumptions—essential for an early-stage startup.

Multiple client applications were built from scratch, leveraging React, Node.js, GraphQL, Next.js, and Google Cloud. Frequent pivots demanded constant adoption of new technologies, which ultimately led to developing a custom backend framework. Initially built to support MVPs, it evolved into the foundation for nearly every subsequent project at Launcher Labs.

Over time, the scope of projects expanded beyond real estate into Web3, streaming, and social platforms. Notable products include:

• Newzip – The original marketplace for neighborhood advice, with an additional React Native streaming app that enabled experts to livestream, upload videos, and sell products in real time.

• Maindrop – Simplified NFT gifting by allowing tokens to be sent to an email or phone number, enabling recipients without crypto wallets to claim ownership.

• Launchcaster – A platform for crypto projects to showcase themselves and attract early adopters. Acquired by OrangeDAO.

• Frameboard – A crypto-powered curation platform, inspired by Pinterest, where users could monetize collections via NFT gating or mint referrals.

• Launcher – A PWA combined with a token-curated registry that let users back app concepts, progressing them from idea to launch with revenue shared among supporters.

• Sweetheartz – A Valentine-themed NFT experiment allowing ERC721 tokens to be minted directly into another wallet.

This journey involved building across web apps, PWAs, React Native, and Web3 products. Projects like Newzip, Launchcaster, Frameboard, Launcher, Maindrop, Sweetheartz, and others reflect a consistent pattern: rapid iteration, technical innovation, and learning by doing. It was an intense period of exploring new technologies almost daily, while shipping production-ready solutions to meet evolving market needs.