Dositej Grbović — Founder & Principal Engineer at Aquarel
Dositej Grbović is the Founder and Principal Engineer of Aquarel, a senior software engineering practice specializing in AI-codebase rescue, security hardening, and production launches. Backed by 8+ years in production web engineering, including 4+ years as Frontend Tech Lead & Engineering Manager for a multi-million-user B2B time-tracking SaaS and MemberFix rescues, he executes every rescue personally.
"Why I rescue 80%-done apps instead of pitching rewrites"
When a Non-Technical Founder brings a broken Lovable, Bolt, Claude Code, Cursor, or Replit application to a traditional dev agency, the agency almost always gives the same self-serving answer: "Throw it away and pay us $40,000 to rewrite it from scratch." They pitch rewrites because reading someone else’s AI-generated code takes senior diagnostic discipline—and agencies make their margin billing junior developers for months of greenfield boilerplate.
In over eight years of shipping and rescuing production web software, I have learned the opposite lesson: roughly 80% of your application—your UI flows, domain logic, and core database tables—is already doing its job. What is blocking your launch or bleeding Monthly Recurring Revenue is almost always concentrated in the last 20%: wide-open Supabase Row-Level Security policies, brittle authentication state, non-idempotent Stripe webhooks, and 3,000-line god-components that cause AI coding agents to regress on every prompt.
I founded Aquarel to give founders a surgical alternative. Instead of burning your runway on a multi-month rewrite, I inspect your codebase in 48 hours for free, isolate the exact P0 and P1 failure modes in plain English, fix them in clean staging Pull Requests within 1 to 2 weeks, and hand back a Vibe-Safe repository locked down with CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md guardrails so you can keep shipping.
8+ Years Shipping, Scaling & Rescuing Production Web Systems
Frontend Tech Lead & Engineering Manager
4+ years as Frontend Tech Lead & Engineering Manager for a global B2B time-tracking SaaS platform used by millions of active users across web and desktop workspaces.
- ✓ Led frontend architecture, state synchronization, and performance optimization under massive multi-tenant concurrency.
- ✓ Eliminated high-frequency regression cycles and bottlenecks while maintaining continuous production delivery.
- ✓ Mentored engineering teams on strict code review standards, modular boundaries, and zero-downtime release hygiene.
Membership & Stripe Subscription Rescue Engineer
Hands-on membership, subscription, and payment gateway rescue engineering at MemberFix (memberfix.rocks), resolving live production emergencies for recurring-revenue businesses.
- ✓ Diagnosed and repaired broken Stripe, WooCommerce, and MemberPress webhook pipelines actively leaking MRR.
- ✓ Resolved authentication lockouts, session desynchronizations, and conflicting third-party scripts on live portals.
- ✓ Operated directly with non-technical founders under high-trust, rapid-turnaround diagnostic workflows.
Full-Stack Rescue & Modernization Engineer
3 years of prior software outsourcing and agency rescue engineering, parachuting into fragile, undocumented third-party web applications to stabilize them without costly rewrites.
- ✓ Took over brittle inherited codebases across React, Next.js, TypeScript, Angular, PHP/Yii, Node.js, and WebSockets.
- ✓ Isolated P0 security defects, hardened CI/CD deployment scripts, and modernized legacy server-rendered modules.
- ✓ Authored multi-tier AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md architectural specifications to make complex repositories safe for AI-assisted development.
No Junior Handoffs, Mutual NDA First & Automatic Credential Handoff
Direct Senior Execution (Zero Junior Handoffs)
Aquarel has no account managers, sales reps, or junior subcontractors. I personally conduct your 20-minute Triage Call, record your 48-hour Codebase Audit Loom video, and author every production Pull Request.
Mutual NDA Before Any Repository or Database Access
You never hand over GitHub, Supabase, or Stripe access on an intake form. We speak first, execute a mutual NDA, and start with read-only access for your 48-hour diagnostic.
Direct Personal LinkedIn & Reference Handoff Upon Triage Intake
To prevent search-engine cross-indexing while giving you 100% transparency, my direct personal LinkedIn profile URL and full career history are delivered automatically to your inbox the moment you submit a Triage Intake or book a call.
Why Non-Technical Founders Hand Over Production Keys With Zero Anxiety
Talk First Before Repo Access
Meet Dositej live on a 20-min Triage Call, verify credentials, and sign an NDA before granting repo access.
"Do No Harm" Staging & PRs
No editing live production files. Every fix ships in isolated PRs tested in staging with rollback safety.
10–15 Min Loom Walkthroughs
Every audit and sprint includes a plain-English video walkthrough of the root cause and the fix—zero jargon.
100% IP & Vibe-Safe Handover
You own all code, keys, and custom CLAUDE.md & AGENTS.md guardrails so future prompts never break production.
Principal Consultant & Verification FAQ
Will my codebase ever be handed off to a junior developer or subcontractor? +
Never. Every engagement at Aquarel is executed 100% personally by Dositej Grbović. That is also why ongoing Fractional TechOps Retainers are strictly capped at 2 active client slots at any given time.
How can I verify your full employment history and LinkedIn profile? +
The moment you submit the asynchronous Triage Intake brief on /triage or book a 20-minute Triage Call, you receive a personal confirmation email from dositej@aquarel.io containing my direct personal LinkedIn URL, full employment history, and our mutual NDA template before you share any repository access.
What tech stacks do you personally work in? +
I specialize in the modern AI/vibe-code and B2B SaaS web stack: Lovable, Bolt.new, Claude Code, Cursor, Replit, v0, Next.js (App Router & Pages), React, TypeScript, Supabase (PostgreSQL, Row-Level Security, Auth, Edge Functions), Stripe Billing & Webhooks, WordPress/MemberPress, as well as enterprise Angular, PHP 8.3 (Yii), and Ratchet WebSockets.
Speak Directly With Dositej Before Sharing a Single Line of Code
Submit an async Triage Intake brief or book a 20-minute Triage Call. You immediately receive my direct personal LinkedIn URL and mutual NDA template before any repository access is discussed.