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

From Broken Code to Investor Demo in 6 Weeks