From Broken Code to Investor Demo in 6 Weeks

The Challenge

Founder had beautiful Figma designs. Hired offshore dev for S$3k. After 3 weeks: broken code, no security, unscalable database. Panic mode: seed round pitch in 6 weeks. Everything had to be rebuilt.

What We Found

• No authentication layer (any user could be anyone)
• 47 SQL injection vulnerabilities in user-facing endpoints
• Passwords stored in plaintext, JWT tokens with no expiry
• Database schema unscalable for projected user growth
• Third-party API keys hardcoded in frontend

What We Built

• Secure auth layer: JWT + refresh tokens + password hashing
• RBAC: role-based access control for different user types
• API validation: every input validated, every response typed
• Scalable DB: redesigned schema for growth, proper indexes
• AWS infrastructure: VPC, IAM policies, secrets management
• Security hardening: CSP headers, CORS, rate limiting

Tech Stack

React 18, Node.js/Express, PostgreSQL, AWS (RDS, EC2, IAM, VPC)

Timeline

5 weeks intensive development, 1 week testing and cleanup

Outcome

• Demo shipped and working
• Pitch successful, seed round raised ($500k)
• Ongoing partnership for scaling

Quote

"AI gave me garbage code with security holes I couldn't even see. These guys fixed it and made it bulletproof. Professional." — Founder, AI startup