David Marin

Experience

1. Jan 2026 - present

   Sussur ↗

   Founder · Delaware, US (remote)

   • Building a Mac-native sales coach that listens to live calls and coaches the rep in real time, with audio that never leaves the device.
   • Own the frontend architecture: TypeScript, modern React, a design-token system, and a reusable component library shared across surfaces.
   • Design the client-server contract from scratch, including typed schemas, latency budgets and offline-tolerant data flows.
   • Run product end to end as a solo founder: RFCs, user research with pilot testers, and weekly production releases.
2. 2025 - present

   Basetool Labs

   Founder · AI-augmented software studio · Constanța

   • Custom-software studio for SMB founders and CTOs, delivering frontend-heavy product work with an AI-native engineering workflow.
   • Lead engineer and architect on client engagements: React and Next.js frontends, Node and GraphQL backends, deployed and operated in production.
   • Shipped an internal ERP platform on Railway (Laravel 11, Filament, PostgreSQL), including PHP runtime alignment, migration ordering, proxy trust configuration and SSO authentication.
   • Write the studio's public notes on personal websites in 2026 and on how AI-native engineering changes small teams.
3. Apr 2023 - Dec 2025

   The Social Cat ↗

   Product Engineer · London (remote)

   • Led product and engineering with the CTO in a three-person team at a fast-growing influencer-marketing SaaS. Owned roadmap execution: research, build, launch, measure, iterate.
   • Owned the React and Next.js frontend from wireframes and design reviews through production. Scaled the platform from ~15K to 150K+ users in under two years.
   • Built a reusable TypeScript component foundation and design-token system shared across the marketing site, the application and onboarding.
   • Built data-heavy creator-discovery UI over an ML pipeline of 1.5M+ Instagram and TikTok profiles (~10K/day ingested), with custom charts, filters and ranking views. Designed GraphQL contracts and integrated TikTok and Meta APIs for creator verification and campaign management.
   • Owned production observability through A/B testing, GA4 and Mixpanel funnels, and error tracking. Quarterly retention rose ~15%; organic sessions rose 32% through programmatic SEO and high-intent content targeting.
4. Aug 2022 - May 2023

   Oceaneering ↗

   Software Engineer · Remote

   • OceanSMART: a container-shipping ERP used by global logistics teams to plan, track and optimise vessel and container operations across ports and terminals.
   • Built React and GraphQL UI for port operators, including a data auto-fill connector that cut manual entry by 25-30% on critical workflows.
   • Delivered map-enrichment features (real-time vessel routes, layered geospatial data) that improved operational visibility for multi-port logistics teams.
   • Refactored and upgraded a two-year-old frontend dependency stack (Node, build pipeline, UI libraries) to improve security and deployment reliability.
5. Jan 2022 - Apr 2025

   Software Development Academy ↗

   JavaScript Trainer · Bucharest

   • Taught HTML, CSS, JavaScript and React to students entering tech at one of the largest accredited coding academies in CEE, with a practical, industry-focused approach.
   • Improved teaching materials and exercises iteratively based on student feedback. Mentored more junior trainers.
6. Oct 2021 - Aug 2022

   Waydev ↗

   Founding Software Engineer · San Francisco (remote, YC W21)

   • Owned core parts of the main Waydev app (Laravel, Vue.js) at a YC W21 engineering-analytics startup. Built dashboards visualising engineering KPIs (cycle time, PR throughput, code-review metrics) used daily by enterprise customers.
   • Migrated the platform to Laravel Octane, improving response time and uptime stability by about 35% under load.
   • Built a notification microservice for in-app, email and Slack / Teams / Google Chat channels. Also contributed to a metrics-trendline system, technical interviewing, and onboarding documentation.
7. Jul 2021 - Jan 2022

   Basetool (v1)

   Co-Founder · Bucharest

   • Co-founded the original Basetool: a TypeScript / React / Next.js platform for bringing data under one roof from all the tools a technical team already uses.
   • Built the fields model, the filtering system, views and role-based permissions.
8. May 2020 - Aug 2021

   Avo HQ ↗

   Co-Founder & Engineer · Remote

   • Co-built Avo, an open-source admin framework for Ruby on Rails, still actively maintained at avohq.io.
   • Co-built the UI layer and configuration system: reusable view components, form fields, filtering, roles and permissions. Validated across pilot projects.
   • Operated an open-source codebase publicly: reviewed contributions, wrote technical docs and RFCs, and supported a community of external developers.
   • Completed YC Startup School and the Romanian incubator Launch.ro with the team.
9. Oct 2020 - Aug 2021

   Amdocs ↗

   Software Engineer · Bucharest (Vodafone Romania account)

   • Built Java and Spring microservices for the Digital Experience platform serving Vodafone Romania. Owned Swagger contracts, unit tests and integration with the wider Amdocs infrastructure.
10. Oct 2020 - Feb 2021

    National Union of Public Notaries ↗

    Full Developer · Bucharest

    • Digitised state-institution workflows: rewrote the public-facing site and shipped a security-heavy internal app for meetings and document upload / download.
11. Dec 2019 - Sep 2020

    Deloitte Digital ↗

    Salesforce Cloud Consultant · Bucharest

    • Shipped Cloud4M, a Deloitte Manufacturing Cloud asset: frontend on Lightning Web Components, backend on Apex. Cut repetitive input by about 30%.
    • Completed the Salesforce bootcamp and earned Salesforce Certified Administrator + Platform Developer I in under six months.
12. Nov 2018 - Feb 2019

    EcoKnights ↗

    Web Developer Intern · Kuala Lumpur

    • Built a volunteer platform for a Malaysian sustainability NGO. Researched how technology can strengthen volunteer recruitment and engagement, and helped run sustainability events in KL.

Education

• 2016 - 2019

  BSc Technical Computer Science, University of Twente

  Enschede, Netherlands. Software systems, network systems, data & information, intelligent interaction design, algorithms.

• 2012 - 2016

  Mathematics-Informatics, National College Mircea cel Bătrân

  Constanța, Romania. Final grade 9.06 / 10. Goethe-Institut Deutsches Sprachdiplom B2, ECDL Core, Information Technology Olympiad.

Publications

• 2020

  Effectiveness of neural language models for word prediction of textual response reports

  Published at the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics (SMC). Best Paper Award at the 31st Biannual Twente Student Conference on IT.

Honors

• 2020

  Best Paper Award: Twente Student Conference on IT (31st Biannual)

  For the BSc final thesis on neural language models for medical report writing; published at IEEE SMC 2020.

• 2023 →

  Ironman Finisher

  Long-distance triathlon finisher.

• High school

  Information & Technology Olympiad: Romania

  National-level IT olympiad qualifier.

Certifications

• 2020

  Salesforce Certified Administrator (SCA)

  Earned during the Deloitte Digital Salesforce bootcamp.

• 2020

  Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I

  Apex and Lightning platform development.

• High school

  Deutsches Sprachdiplom B2: Goethe-Institut

  German language, B2 level.

• High school

  ECDL Core Certificate

  European Computer Driving Licence.

• -

  JavaScript (Basic) Certificate

  JavaScript fundamentals assessment.

Languages

• Romanian

  Native

• English

  Professional (fluent)

• German

  Professional (B2)

• Dutch

  Elementary

Hobbies

• Triathlon / Ironman training
• Reading
• TED talks & tech YouTube
• Hiking & snowboarding
• Cooking (Asian food bias)

• 2026-06-29Your vibe-coded MVP just got users. Here is what breaks first.You built an MVP with AI in a weekend. Now it has real users, and it is starting to break. Here is the honest harden-or-rebuild decision, and what fails first.
• 2026-06-28Five days at Delta Bootcamp: every lesson, and what I changed in SussurThe full field notes from the first Delta Bootcamp by Launch Romania, mentor by mentor: Irina Scarlat, Andy Budd, Zoltan Vardy, Jason Meresman, Cosmin Curticapean and Marius Nedelcu, plus what I rebuilt in Sussur two weeks after.
• 2026-06-27Café Cursor Bucharest: Cursor is not a VS Code fork anymoreCafé Cursor Bucharest landed the same week Cursor became a $60B company. Notes on the SpaceX deal, why Cursor was never just a VS Code fork, the room reckoning with enterprise, and the Sussur talk I gave.
• 2026-06-27DevNights 6: the room is worth the tripI made the trip from Constanța to Bucharest for DevNights 6. Notes on why community matters when you build with AI, what an honest room is worth, the people I want to build with, and what DevNights actually is.
• 2026-06-25Technical co-founder, agency, or fractional CTO: how to actually decideA non-technical founder with an idea has three ways to get it built. Here is the honest trade-off between them, including the equity math nobody puts in the pitch.

Speaking & press

Available for podcasts, panels, and press on AI-native engineering, founding engineering, consumer product shipping, and Rails developer tooling. Short and long bios below. High-res headshot on request.