The Challenge
Joined Dr. Treat as the 3rd engineer with a mission to build the entire front-end engineering function from scratch. The company needed both iOS/Android mobile apps and a web application - all with aggressive timelines and limited resources.
- No existing front-end team or infrastructure
- Need for both mobile apps (iOS/Android) and web platform
- Tight budget requiring maximum code reuse across platforms
- Aggressive timeline to market for competitive advantage
- Need to hire and scale front-end team while architecting the solution
- Requirement for shared components and consistent user experience
The Solution
Architected and implemented an Nx mono-repo strategy using React Native for mobile and React for web, enabling unprecedented code sharing while maintaining platform-specific optimizations.
Approach
- 1Evaluated cross-platform frameworks and chose React Native + React for maximum code reuse
- 2Designed Nx mono-repo architecture to share business logic, components, and utilities
- 3Built component library with platform-adaptive UI (same API, different implementations)
- 4Established CI/CD pipelines for automated testing and deployment
- 5Recruited and mentored front-end engineers to scale the team
- 6Created coding standards, documentation, and development workflows
- 7Implemented comprehensive testing strategy (unit, integration, E2E)
Technical Architecture
Mono-repo Structure
Nx workspace with shared libraries for business logic, UI components, and utilities. Platform-specific apps consuming shared code with adaptive patterns.
Code Sharing Strategy
Achieved ~80% code reuse through shared business logic, API clients, state management, and adaptive component library. Platform-specific code limited to navigation and native integrations.
Component Architecture
Built adaptive component library with unified API but platform-specific implementations. Web components used standard React patterns while mobile used React Native primitives.
CI/CD Pipeline
Automated build, test, and deployment workflows for all platforms. Parallel execution for mobile and web builds with comprehensive test suites.
State Management
Unified state management solution working across all platforms. Shared business logic with platform-specific persistence strategies.
Impact & Results
Key Outcomes
- Successful company exit within 2 years of joining
- Shipped production-ready apps on iOS, Android, and Web simultaneously
- Established scalable front-end architecture supporting rapid feature development
- Built high-performing engineering team through effective hiring and mentorship
- Dramatically reduced development costs through code sharing
- Created reusable patterns and tooling adopted across the engineering organization
Key Learnings
- Mono-repos are powerful for code sharing but require thoughtful architecture and tooling
- Platform-adaptive components balance code reuse with native user experience
- Early investment in CI/CD pays massive dividends as the team scales
- Hiring and mentoring are as important as technical architecture for startup success
- Documentation and coding standards prevent chaos as teams grow
- Nx workspace management dramatically simplifies mono-repo complexity
Related Links
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