01 — 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
02 — The approach
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.
- 01Evaluated cross-platform frameworks and chose React Native + React for maximum code reuse
- 02Designed Nx mono-repo architecture to share business logic, components, and utilities
- 03Built component library with platform-adaptive UI (same API, different implementations)
- 04Established CI/CD pipelines for automated testing and deployment
- 05Recruited and mentored front-end engineers to scale the team
- 06Created coding standards, documentation, and development workflows
- 07Implemented comprehensive testing strategy (unit, integration, E2E)
03 — Technical details
Mono-repo Structure
Nx workspace with shared libraries for business logic, UI components, and utilities. Platform-specific apps consuming shared code with adaptive patterns.
Nx · React Native · React · TypeScript · Workspace Management
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.
Shared Libraries · Conditional Exports · Platform Detection
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.
React Components · React Native Components · Styled Components
CI/CD Pipeline
Automated build, test, and deployment workflows for all platforms. Parallel execution for mobile and web builds with comprehensive test suites.
GitHub Actions · Fastlane · Jest · Detox · Cypress
State Management
Unified state management solution working across all platforms. Shared business logic with platform-specific persistence strategies.
Redux Toolkit · React Query · AsyncStorage · LocalStorage
04 — 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
05 — 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