Doug Silkstone - Full-Stack Engineer

Full-stack engineer with 10 years of production experience across React, TypeScript, Node, and Python. Built systems for Contra, Groupon, Motley Fool, and MIT. Available for founding engineer roles and technical consulting.

Full-Stack Engineer for Greenfield Projects & Startups

I’m Doug Silkstone, a British software engineer based in Prague. I specialize in Greenfield Projects and Early-Stage Startups, helping founders build their first production systems, MVPs, and AI workflows.

Over the past 10 years, I’ve built production systems for companies like Contra, Groupon, Motley Fool, Sky, and MIT. I combine full-stack engineering with growth, product, and marketing experience to build software that drives revenue.

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Building startup #4 in public: Join my Skool community to follow along as I document the entire journey from zero to exit. Weekly co-working sessions, show & tell, and access to all my boilerplates and starter kits.

My background:

• Built my first business in 2016, scaled to $100k ARR, and sold it twice
• Worked across engineering, growth, and product with teams at Contra, Sky, Groupon, The Motley Fool, and MIT
• Helped early-stage startups collectively raise $20M+ USD
• Course contributor for MIT’s Generative AI & LLM course
• Previous Head of Growth, managing systems that drove $10M+ in spend and over 1 billion product sessions
• Open-source contributor to TanStack, Mastra, and various tools

What makes me different:

I don’t just write code - I understand how software drives revenue. Whether it’s building Chrome extensions that double marketplace inventory, creating AI workflows that process thousands of hours of content, or architecting MVPs that scale to thousands of users, I focus on business impact.

On YouTube (@dougsilkstone), I teach practical operator engineering - how to use code to create revenue. I’m an early adopter of Cursor/Claude Code and agentic workflows, and I share what I learn as I build.

Companies I’ve Worked With

Services & Investment

Quick Answer: Engineering Partnership starting at $3,500/month. Includes discovery, automation tools, and continuous iteration.

Engineering Partnership

Starting at $3,500/month

Discovery, development, and deployment of production tools. Perfect for startups needing a founding engineer figure.

Enterprise Partnership

Custom pricing · 6-month engagement

Complete automation ecosystem for multiple teams. Large-scale transformation and complex integrations.

How It Works: The Greenfield Process

1. Discovery

   We identify your core revenue problems and technical requirements. No lengthy specs - just clear business goals.

2. Sprint

   I build your MVP, automation, or workflow in focused 2-week sprints. You get working code, not just updates.

3. Launch

   We deploy to production. I handle the infrastructure, monitoring, and handoff so you can focus on growth.

Specialized Engineering

I build systems that give startups an unfair advantage:

LLM & AI Agents

Custom AI workflows that automate complex tasks. From content generation to data extraction and analysis.

Chrome Extensions

Browser extensions that modify pages, scrape data, and automate user actions to double productivity.

Browser Automation

Headless browsers (Playwright) to automate any web-based task, from form filling to competitive intelligence.

MVP Development

Rapid 0-to-1 development for greenfield projects. I build the full stack: frontend, backend, database, and infra.

What I’ve Built

Contra’s Indy.ai - Chrome Extension for Crowdsourced Job Discovery Built a Chrome extension that turned 35,000+ Contra users into a distributed opportunity-finding network. The extension passively analyzes LinkedIn and X content while users browse, using LLM workflows to identify hiring signals. Result: 2x increase in marketplace inventory without hiring a single outbound recruiter.

• 30,000+ active users on Chrome Web Store
• 4.6 star rating
• Doubled job marketplace inventory
• Built with Plasmo, React, service workers, and LLM integration

Read the full case study →

Vouchernaut - Programmatic PPC Platform Built an automated PPC platform managing 100,000+ brands across affiliate networks. The system automatically generated campaigns, managed bids, and scaled to drive 60% of VoucherCloud’s revenue. Contributed to their eventual Groupon acquisition.

• Managed £2M+ annual ad spend
• 100,000+ brands automated
• Drove 60% of company revenue
• Scaled from side project to $100k ARR before acquisition

Read the full case study →

AI & LLM Workflows

Snacker.ai - AI Video Editing Platform Took a Lovable prototype and turned it into production with 5,000+ users. Built AI-powered video editing that removes gaps, mistakes, and produces polished content in 20 seconds. Productized GrowthMatch’s video concierge service into a scalable platform.

• 5,000+ users in 3 months
• 20 paying customers
• 20-second video turnaround
• Built with TypeScript, React, Hono, Supabase, and Web Codecs API

Read the full case study →

z3ro.tv Content Intelligence System Built an automated content research system that ingests and analyzes hundreds of YouTube channels. The system uses LLM classifications, GraphRAG, and custom agent frameworks to extract insights and track trends across thousands of hours of content.

• Ingests 800+ YouTube channels
• Processes thousands of hours of content
• Neo4j graph database with LLM classifications
• Custom agent framework in TypeScript

Read the full case study →

Recent Production Work

Client Projects (2024-2025):

• Contra.com’s Chrome extension (35,000+ users)
• Snacker.ai video platform (5,000+ users, TechStars alumni)
• z3ro.tv content intelligence system
• STRV.com frontend engineering and AI marketing tools
• The Motley Fool automation and PPC systems ($20M monthly budget)

Previous Roles:

• Lead Growth Engineer at Patrianna (iGaming, millions of monthly sessions)
• Head of Growth at Photologo.co (record-breaking $1M+ BFCM)
• Built and sold Vouchernaut (PE acquired, exited 2022)
• Head of Digital at Reach Robotics (Apple Store worldwide launch)
• Performance Marketing at Groupon/VoucherCloud

View all case studies →

Technical Capabilities

Frontend: React, TypeScript, Next.js, TanStack Start, Tailwind, Vite, Svelte, Qwik Backend: Node, Hono, Express, NestJS, Python, Go Full Stack: T3 stack, monorepo (Turborepo), serverless architectures Specialized: Chrome extensions (MV3), LLM workflows (OpenAI, Claude), browser automation (Playwright, Puppeteer), MCP servers Infrastructure: AWS, Kubernetes, Redis, BullMQ, Prometheus, Grafana Testing: Jest, Vitest, Cypress, Playwright

I’m looking for opportunities where I can make a significant impact:

Founding Engineer / First Technical Hire Early-stage startups that need someone who can wear multiple hats - build the product, set up infrastructure, and think about growth from day one. I thrive in 0-to-1 environments where speed and pragmatism matter more than perfect architecture.

Technical Consulting & Contract Work Short-to-medium term engagements (2-12 weeks) where I can solve specific technical challenges, build MVPs, or create custom automation. I work in focused sprints with clear deliverables.

Ideal Projects:

• Chrome extensions and browser automation
• AI/LLM workflows and content processing
• MVP development (6-8 weeks to production)
• Internal tools and automation systems
• Growth engineering and revenue-driving features

What I bring beyond code:

• Product sense from building and selling my own products
• Growth experience from managing multi-million dollar budgets
• Understanding of how engineering decisions impact business metrics
• Ability to work independently and ship quickly
• Strong opinions, loosely held - I’ll push back when needed

What Founders Say

Snacker.ai

“They’re smart, fast, and trustworthy! Took our broken prototype to a revenue-generating platform.”

— Shelby Stevens, Founder

Contra

“Doug was incredible to work with. He operated quickly & efficiently, and even proposed ways to improve the feature to exceed our expectations. 10/10!”

— Allison Nulty, Head of Product

The Motley Fool

“Doug is a pro. I’d hire him again for any future marketing & technology initiatives.”

— Brian Tighe, Head Of Technology

Featured Writing & Insights

I write about operator engineering, productization, and building revenue-generating software:

From Lovable to Production

Lessons from taking AI-generated prototypes to production systems with thousands of users

Programmatic Acquisition Playbook

How I built automated PPC systems managing 100,000+ brands

The Corner Cutter's Guide

Building fast and smart - why speed beats perfection in early-stage products

Why Build a Documentation Site Without a Product?

How this portfolio site became my most effective marketing tool

Get In Touch

For Founders & Recruiters: If you’re looking for your first engineer hire or need someone who can build and ship production systems quickly, let’s talk.

Email: [e-mail] LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dougsilkstone GitHub: github.com/dougwithseismic YouTube: @dougsilkstone

View Case Studies

See detailed breakdowns of production systems I’ve built with real metrics and technical implementation details.

Check Out My Work

Browse open-source projects and contributions on GitHub.

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Available for: Founding engineer roles, technical consulting, contract development Location: Prague, Czech Republic (open to remote) Rate: Available upon request (project-based or monthly retainer)

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