Barter Share Trade was a self-funded startup aiming to build a local barter and giveaway marketplace–like Facebook Marketplace, but without money. The founder's vision was rooted in community access and sustainability: “Everything you need, nothing for money.” While the concept was compelling, the product direction, technical architecture, and go-to-market strategy were undefined.
I was initially brought in to help with UX design, but it quickly became clear that the bigger need was clarity–on the product, on the stack, and on the path to launch. Over time, I moved into a principal engineering and product strategy role.
The startup was in the very earliest stages: one founder, a part-time product advisor, and a single junior engineer. The original plan was to build a mobile app, but there was no roadmap for user acquisition, and no understanding of the technical debt or limitations that come with mobile-only launches–especially without a marketing budget or user base.
I began by designing the initial UX flows and product structure. But more importantly, I led a deep architecture and implementation review. I introduced a shared codebase strategy using Next.js and React Native, so we could target web and mobile from a single design system and component library. This change allowed us to support both a searchable, SEO-visible web interface and a mobile app–without doubling our engineering surface area or blowing the budget.
I also drafted a complete implementation design document, defined the MVP scope, and helped restructure the team to include myself in a hands-on technical leadership role–again, without requiring more funding. This ensured the founder didn't need to choose between design clarity, engineering quality, or product feasibility.
As a result, we moved from an aspirational idea to a fully scoped, technically sound product plan, with a clear foundation and a path to execution. Unfortunately, a family emergency halted the project before implementation began. But when it paused, it did so in a state of strategic readiness–not chaos.
This project is a strong example of the kind of early-stage, ambiguity-heavy work I specialize in: clarifying high-agency but undefined product visions and designing systems that make those visions executable.
