Virgil N.

I'm a real human writing this, not AI! I’m an NYC-based senior full-stack developer and project lead. I help people build SaaS MVPs, usually (but not always) with AI as a core part of the product. Clients come to me when they want peace of mind. My goal is to make this the best experience you’ve had with a freelancer. I communicate clearly and consistently, with words I actually write myself instead of using AI and making you feel like you're talking to ChatGPT. I set realistic deadlines, and I can comfortably handle anything from building a small prototype myself to sourcing, hiring, and managing a team of ~half a dozen engineers for larger projects. I’m usually the best fit for projects like these: ~AI SaaS MVPs~ You have an idea for an AI product, and you need someone technical to help you build it. I’ll help you work through the requirements, figure out what’s achievable with current AI models, choose the right technical approach, and build the product myself or lead a larger team through delivery depending on your needs. ~Vibe-code rescue~ You built something with Lovable, v0, Replit, Cursor, Bolt, or another AI coding tool, but now it needs to work as a real product. I can audit what you have, keep the parts that are useful, and clean up or rebuild the parts that aren’t. That often includes: • Authentication and permissions • Payments and subscriptions • Database design and migrations • File uploads and media processing • Background jobs and scheduled tasks • API integrations • Security and error handling • Testing, deployment, and production infrastructure ~AI integrations and automations~ You want to add AI to an existing product or automate what's currently a manual process. I’ve built systems involving: • Document parsing and structured data extraction • Image, audio, and video analysis • Chat interfaces and assistants • Multi-step LLM workflows • Tool calling and agentic workflows • Content generation • Scoring and recommendation systems • Vector search and retrieval • Internal business tools • API-connected automations I’ve worked with all the major AI providers and models, and I can help you figure out the best approach to get you what you're going for. ~Full-stack product development~ I handle the frontend, backend, database, infrastructure, deployment, in short - everything, including the technical product decisions that connect everything together. ~Technical leadership~ For larger projects, I can act as the technical lead and manage the project from beginning to end. That can include: • Defining scope and milestones • Creating realistic timelines • Making architecture decisions • Hiring and coordinating developers • Reviewing code and technical work • Communicating with owners, stakeholders, and engineering teams ~How I work~ I’ll communicate with you clearly and consistently throughout the project. I'm not gonna overwhelm you with incomprehensible jargon, I’m used to working with non-technical owners and stakeholders. I’m straightforward about timelines, tradeoffs, risks, and anything that may affect the budget or launch. I’m happy to offer suggestions on technical or product decisions along the way. My goal is to make the development process predictable and make the experience as smooth and pleasant as possible. Please feel free to check my reviews to see how clients feel about working with me! ~Technologies~ My usual stack includes, but is not limited to, Laravel, React, Next.js, PostgreSQL, Redis, Supabase, Tailwind, Stripe, OpenAI (ChatGPT), Anthropic (Claude), Gemini, Replicate, Fal, ElevenLabs, n8n, Vercel, AWS, Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, Hetzner, and Coolify. ~TLDR~ If you have an AI product, SaaS MVP, automation, or half-working prototype that needs to become real software, send me a message. I’ll be more than happy to have a chat and figure out how I can help! ~A bit more about me~ I'm originally from Southern California and now live in Beacon, NY with my wife. When I'm not working, you'll find me taking day trips into NYC to get the best bagels on Earth, exploring Hudson Valley towns and trails, snowboarding in winter when I can, or traveling abroad doing the digital nomad thing, sometimes for years at a time. We tend to gravitate towards Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.