Music Startup: From Crisis to Full Rebuild in 4 Months
A music startup's DJ platform was unstable and the company was burning through runway. After initial stabilisation, layoffs hit - leaving me as the only full-time developer with the entire platform to rebuild from the ground up.
View siteSolo rebuild in 4 months
Event-sourced backend, full infrastructure, and product - built as the only full-time developer.
Kept through layoffs
When the company restructured, I was the one developer they kept on full-time.
Mission won't die
Board decided to wind down, but actively exploring ways to keep rewarding all levels of creators.
Approach
Rebuilt the platform twice. First: a 7-week Next.js/GraphQL/AWS rebuild that shipped 5 weeks early. Then, after layoffs reduced the team to one, spent 4 months rebuilding everything solo - event-sourced backend, full infrastructure, and product - with Gabriel supporting as a freelance dev keeping the live app running.
Outcome
Delivered a production-ready platform built on event-sourced architecture. The board ultimately decided to wind down the company - but the mission of rewarding all levels of creators won't die. Actively exploring ways to keep it going.
The first rebuild
I joined WeR1 to rebuild their DJ upload platform in Next.js, GraphQL, and AWS. The existing app was unstable - creators relied on it daily, but the codebase made even small changes risky.
I shipped the full rebuild in 7 weeks instead of the planned 12, then designed and built a web player in 3 weeks. That delivery earned trust - I was asked to take on engineering management, run standups, and guide technical direction.
Layoffs and restructuring
Startups go through hard seasons. WeR1 went through layoffs, and when the dust settled I was the only full-time developer left. Gabriel stayed on as a freelance dev, keeping the existing app live while I focused on what came next.
The company needed more than patches. It needed a fundamentally different architecture - one that could support the product vision without a large team to maintain it.
The solo rebuild
Over 4 months, I rebuilt everything from the ground up. Event-sourced backend, full infrastructure, new product surface. The goal was a system that was correct by design - where every state change was traceable and the platform could evolve without accumulating the kind of fragility that had brought down the original.
Gabriel handled the day-to-day of keeping the live app running for creators while I worked heads-down on the new system. That division of labour was critical - creators never lost access while the rebuild progressed.
What comes next
The board ultimately decided to wind down the company. The tech was ready, but the business reality changed.
That doesn't mean the mission dies. WeR1 was built around a belief that all levels of creators - not just the top 1% - deserve to be rewarded for their work. That conviction hasn't changed. We're actively exploring ways to keep it going - whether that means a new structure, new backers, or a different vehicle entirely.
Some things are worth fighting for. This is one of them.
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