Candidate • Chris Dorward
Swellbase

Founding Product Engineer

Verified Match

Direct application for Adam El-Naggar (Founder, Swellbase)

What are you looking at?

This robust, modern one-page landing page was created in a few minutes from a single prompt using our agentic AI workflow and guardrails to generate this unique, targeted application for the role of Founding Product Engineer at Swellbase.

Role Focus
Founding Product Engineer
1 Founder (Sales/Vision) + 1 Dev (Build)
Tech Stack
Next.js • TypeScript • Supabase • Stripe
1:1 Identical to Leida production architecture
Location & Model
UK Remote • Visits to Moray Coast
Dual UK & German (EU) • Full UK Right to Work
Experience & Terms
20+ Years • £50k FTE (£40k 4-day)
Day 1 EMI Share Options + Milestone Pay Rise
Download CV (PDF)
Personal Introduction & Roots

Real Outdoor Experience Meets 20+ Years of Software Craft

Most software engineers build for sectors they have never experienced. My career has always been balanced by time spent outdoors: on the waves, on snowy peaks, and deep underwater.

Lifetime Diver

PADI Divemaster & Scuba Diver

Operations, Safety & Customer Empathy

Lifelong diver and certified Divemaster. Deep, first-hand exposure to equipment maintenance, weather cancellations, customer waivers, instructor ratios, and the daily hustle of running dive charter operations.

Safety waivers, equipment maintenance & instructor ratios
Alpine Veteran

Chamonix Alpine Skiing

Years Living in the High Alps

Lived in Chamonix skiing season after season. Intimately familiar with mountain guides, seasonal staff scheduling, dynamic bookings, and extreme weather logistics.

Seasonal staff rosters, weather disruptions & guide scheduling
Ocean Enthusiast

Surf Culture from Late Teens

Tides, Swell & Beach Logistics

An enthusiastic (if self-admittedly terrible) surfer from late teens. Knowing how tides, wind direction, and swell windows dictate when lessons run and when coaches are called in.

Tide windows, swell forecasts & real-time coach dispatch
20+ Years Code

Web Engineering Since the Beginning

At University at the Dawn of the Internet

Began coding at university when the 'Information Superhighway' was first christened. Lived through every era of web development, building layered architectural lessons that make modern AI tooling uniquely effective.

20+ years of battle-tested engineering & modern AI velocity
Stack Alignment

1:1 Match with the Swellbase Architecture

Zero ramp-up time. Every pillar of your stack is what I build, type, test, and ship with on a daily basis.

Frontend & Full Stack

Next.js & React

Modern App Router, Server Components, streaming SSR, and edge execution. Fast, resilient UX built for operators on mobile and desktop.

Core engine of all recent commercial deliverables
Type Safety & Velocity

TypeScript

Strict end-to-end typing across schemas, API contracts, and UI components. Eliminates runtime regressions before code hits production.

Adopted many years ago; everything delivered is typed & tested
Database & Identity

Supabase (Postgres & Auth)

Multi-tenant relational schemas, Row Level Security (RLS), real-time subscriptions, and secure customer authentication.

Identical stack foundation used on the Leida platform
Payments & Payouts

Stripe Connect

Custom onboarding, automated deposit splits, booking charges, refund webhooks, and marketplace payout infrastructure.

Critical for outdoor centre revenue collection & multi-operator payouts
Deployment & CI/CD

Vercel & Nx Monorepos

Instant preview builds, automated staging environments, edge routing, and enterprise-grade modular workspaces.

Switched to Vercel from Firebase for superior Next.js performance
Built & Shipped Products

Proven Delivery: Live Products & Open Source Code

Real products shipped to real users alongside public open-source code. Demonstrating commercial 1-on-1 founder collaboration, independent product ownership, and complete architectural transparency.

Commercial Client MVPVisit askleida.com

Leida

1-Founder + 1-Developer Dynamic on an Identical Stack

Partnered directly with a solo founder who had a raw, vibe-coded prototype that was unviable for production. In a focused 3-month sprint, took the product from concept to a hardened, enterprise MVP architected specifically for AI-assisted velocity.

Identical tech stack: Next.js + Supabase Postgres + Stripe on Vercel
1 Founder + 1 Dev dynamic: founder owned sales/vision, I owned the build
Hardened architecture allowing rapid continuous AI-driven feature additions
Next.jsTypeScriptSupabase PostgresStripeVercel
Launch Live Site
Independent ProductVisit gpxroute.pro

GpxRoute

Complex GIS & GPS Track Visualisation Platform

A personal product born from years of recording GPS tracks on a Garmin dive watch. I always envisaged a tool that could display elevation, dive profiles, and route telemetries better than legacy tools. Agentic AI made building and launching this complex application achievable autonomously.

Created, built, and shipped independently from zero to production
Complex spatial parsing (GPX, FIT, KML) with interactive maps
Demonstrates rapid ideation-to-launch velocity using Agentic AI
Next.jsTypeScriptTailwind CSSGIS / LeafletVercel
Launch Live Site
Open Source Projectgithub.com/goldlabelapps/nx

NX°

Modular TypeScript Monorepo & AI Guardrails

Our open source framework and production monorepo powering this application. Provided so Adam can inspect actual production code, component architecture, TypeScript contracts, and automated unit test suites first-hand.

Inspect actual production code: typed components, Next.js routes & tests
Strict module boundaries (@nx/enforce-module-boundaries) prevent drift
Living proof of 20+ years of software discipline combined with Agentic AI
TypeScriptNext.jsNx MonorepoAgentic AIVitest
View Code on GitHub
AI-Native Development

How I Use Agentic AI Day to Day

AI doesn't replace software engineering; it magnifies the value of 20 years of architectural discipline.

AI-assisted development was built into Swellbase from day one.

I don't just use AI to write snippets. I orchestrate agentic loops that scaffold, type-check, test, and ship complete full-stack features in hours.

01

Thinking in Prompts & Precision

Just like early search transformed research, AI has fundamentally shifted how I code. I structure requirements with mathematical clarity, explicit schema contracts, and deterministic guardrails so agents never hallucinate.

Key Takeaway:Clear specifications generate flawless production code on the first pass.
02

Instant Context Switching & Modular Reuse

Agentic AI removes the friction of context-switching between codebases. I can rapidly lift proven UI patterns, API connectors, or test suites from one repository and adapt them seamlessly into another within minutes.

Key Takeaway:Ship in an afternoon what used to require an entire engineering sprint.
03

20 Years of Hard-Won Architectural Judgement

AI tools without senior engineering discipline produce brittle, unmaintainable prototypes. Decades of experiencing every web era ensure that every AI-generated file conforms to clean separation of concerns, strict typing, and high test coverage.

Key Takeaway:Fast execution built upon rock-solid architectural foundations.
The Founding Dynamic

Why Swellbase is the Exact Partnership I Want

A long-standing relationship where great software moves a real business forward every single day.

1 Founder + 1 Dev Purity

No middle management, no endless committee meetings, and zero corporate overhead. Pure velocity: Adam talks to operators, sets the direction, and I turn it into production reality.

Real Operators, Real Feedback

Having Adam as the reference customer running Blue Coast Surf & Paddle means questions are answered in minutes by an operator living the problem, not through weeks of speculative user testing.

Founding Engineer Longevity

I am seeking a long-standing technical home where I bring senior architectural maturity, share in the upside via EMI options, and continuously evolve the product alongside advances in AI tooling.

Focus on Core Craft

In a traditional company, my 20+ years of experience would push me into managing developers and debugging human politics. At Swellbase, I do what I do best: deliver robust, tested software fast.

1:1 Stated Requirement vs. Candidate Delivery

Direct point-by-point comparison of Swellbase's published role requirements against verifiable experience.

Swellbase Requirement

Own the build from brief to production

“Scoping roadmap items, designing UX, and making technical calls without being chased.”

What I Bring

20+ years of autonomous delivery. High comfort taking brief bullet points from Adam and turning them into polished, tested features ready for customers.

Verifiable Proof
Leida MVP (0 to production in 3 months) & Nx monorepo packages
Swellbase Requirement

Identical tech stack mastery

“Next.js, TypeScript, Supabase (Postgres), Stripe Connect, and Vercel.”

What I Bring

Zero ramp-up required. Already authored, shipped, and maintained production systems on this exact stack.

Verifiable Proof
Live on askleida.com & goldlabelapps/nx monorepo
Swellbase Requirement

Outdoor activity centre empathy

“Bonus for outdoor enthusiasts who surf, climb, paddle, or ski.”

What I Bring

PADI Divemaster, Chamonix alpine skier, and surfer. Understands tidal logistics, gear wear-and-tear, waivers, and the reality of outdoor activity operators.

Verifiable Proof
Personal lifestyle alignment matching Blue Coast & Swellbase operator base
Swellbase Requirement

1 Founder + 1 Engineer dynamic

“Adam focuses on selling and customer feedback; engineer owns the codebase.”

What I Bring

Thrives in high-trust, asynchronous, low-bureaucracy environments. No corporate politics, just weekly roadmap alignment and rapid delivery.

Verifiable Proof
Direct reference from solo founder collaborations
Swellbase Requirement

UK remote with Scotland presence

“Remote UK-based with occasional in-person days in Scotland.”

What I Bring

UK resident with dual UK & German (EU) citizenship. Full unrestricted right to work, available for regular visits to Moray Coast, Scotland.

Verifiable Proof
Unrestricted UK right to work, flexible UK travel availability
Let's Connect

“Adam, running Blue Coast, you understand first-hand why generic booking systems fall short for outdoor operators. My background in diving, ski chalets, and outdoor pursuits gives me that same operational lens. You won't have to explain why tide charts matter or how logistics impact an afternoon schedule; I appreciate the real-world demands.”
- Chris Dorward • PADI Divemaster & Software Engineer