Joe RezendesContact

§ 00·Portfolio · 2026 Edition · San Francisco

Joe
Rezendes

Engineering leader. Founding hire. San Franciscan.

I build the first engineering teams for companies and help them ship the product that actually defines the company. Currently leading engineering at #gifted. Previously founding engineer at Collective.com. Managing partner at Rezeverse.

See selected workSay hello →
J
Joe Rezendes

Joe Rezendes · San Francisco

Engineering leader. Founding hire.

Engineering leader · Consultant

§ 01·Now

Most of my week is spent managing a small engineering team, shipping product, and looking after a community or two.

I'm an Engineering Manager at #gifted, a lean, profitable creator-marketing platform where I've been since it was three people in a room. I also run Rezeverse, a small consulting practice focused on full-stack software and 3D web experiences for startups and online communities.

Outside of work I serve as Worshipful Master of Logos Lodge № 861 in San Francisco, and I run a small philanthropy practice at joe.gives.

§ 02·Selected Work

The companies I've helped build.

A selected few from a longer list. The through-line: being the engineer who ships the first version and stays long enough to see the work matter.

Nº 01

#gifted

2022 — Present
San Francisco

React · React Native · Node

Engineering Manager — Previously Senior Software Engineer

Employee #3 at a profitable creator-marketing platform. Scaling a marketplace that moved $4.7M+ in product last year alone, and eight figures since launch.

  • First engineer (employee #3), turned Engineering Manager, helping scale both the product and the team as the company grew into a profitable, revenue-generating platform.
  • Manage a lean team of engineers with direct ownership over shipping velocity, product quality, and the systems behind retention, matching, and campaign execution.
  • Led development of core platform features — automated gifting workflows, creator discovery and matching, the cross-platform mobile app, and beyond — powering tens of thousands of brand–creator collaborations.
Visit #gifted →

Nº 02

Collective

2020 — 2022
San Francisco

React · Django

Founding Full-Stack Engineer

The online concierge financial platform for businesses-of-one. I was the first engineer hired.

  • Founding engineer — responsible for shaping early product architecture and frontend systems as engineering scaled from 1 to 25+ engineers.
  • Led frontend direction across teams; introduced the structure and patterns the platform still runs on today during a period of extreme growth.
  • Contributed to a platform serving self-employed businesses while the company grew to ~130 employees and raised multiple rounds of venture capital.

“I had the great pleasure of directly managing Joe at Collective and contributing to his growth and success as an Engineer while we grew the team from 4 to more than 20. One of the oft-overlooked skills that Joe excelled at, despite being a determined and crafty builder, was in running efficient meetings and maintaining engagement from the Engineering teams. He was a valuable binding force on an all-remote team during and after the pandemic, and I would highly recommend him on any team.”

David Rogers
Engineering Leader · Joe's direct manager at Collective
Visit Collective →

Nº 03

Rezeverse

2022 — Present
Self-employed

Three.js · TypeScript · Node · WebGL

Managing Partner

My consulting practice. Full-stack software and immersive 3D web experiences for startups, creators, and online communities.

  • Built a real-time, browser-based 3D platform for online communities — avatar systems, spatial environments, and live voice interactions supporting hundreds of concurrent users.
  • Own technical direction and delivery across engineering and 3D design on every engagement — consistently delivering six-figure projects end to end.
  • Platforms used for live events and community engagement; work contributed to clients securing ~$750K in funding.
Visit Rezeverse →

Recent client work

Through Rezeverse
Small engagements welcome

  • LanternDesigned and implemented their first agentic workflows.
  • ArcadeBuilt the monetization plan and system.

§ 03·Field Notes

How I think about leading engineers.

Opinions, mostly earned the hard way. None of them original.

  1. 01

    Ship small things often.

    The longer a PR sits open, the more expensive it gets. Most progress comes from small, unremarkable changes compounded daily, not heroic launches. My job is to shorten feedback loops.

  2. 02

    Move fast, then correct.

    Early product work has a lot of wrong turns. The teams that win are the ones that iterate quickly and discard what doesn’t work. Speed isn’t the opposite of quality, it’s how you get there.

  3. 03

    Keep the team focused.

    I handle stakeholder alignment, clarify priorities, and filter out what doesn’t matter. Engineers should spend their time building, not context-switching. Everything else is my job.

  4. 04

    Outcomes matter more than activity.

    I care less about how much we ship and more about whether it changes behavior. The only features that matter are the ones that move the business.

  5. 05

    Stay close to the product.

    I still open PRs, still review code, and still talk to users. You lose context fast if you don't, and context is where most good decisions come from.

“Joe was a great addition to the team, not only is he extremely passionate about front end development, and the development community, he adds an extraordinary amount of culture to a team. His ambition and passion is contagious and empowering, and couldn't ask for a better person to collaborate with on projects.”

Zach Waggoner
Engineering Manager at Zuora · Managed Joe directly

§ 04·Service

Work off the clock.

San Francisco
Freemasonry

Logos Lodge № 861

Worshipful Master

I've served multiple terms as Worshipful Master of Logos Lodge № 861 in San Francisco, where I've focused on building a culture of education, mentorship, and long-term continuity.

The role is also operational, planning a full calendar of education nights, dinners, fundraisers, and community events for a membership that spans decades of life stages. Dozens of events a year, every year, on a volunteer budget.

It brings together people across generations around shared values, and creates a space for real personal development outside of work. I see it as something you steward, not just participate in.

Philanthropy
Hyper-local

Joe.Gives

Founder

A small philanthropy practice focused on youth opportunity and the arts. I believe local impact is achievable in a way global-scale philanthropy often isn't, and I think we have a responsibility to invest in the communities we actually live in.

See the causes →

§ 05·Off the Clock

The other half.

The things that don't show up on a résumé but do show up in a real conversation.

Music
Funk · Jazz · Pit

Trombone

long before I ever wrote a line of code, my first professional job was as a musical orchestra pit musician. I still play, mostly funk these days, with the occasional jazz gig when someone needs a bone.

Sailing
San Francisco Bay

The water

I have a love for taking people sailing in the San Francisco Bay. If we meet and you haven't been out yet, assume the invitation is already extended.

Joe sailing in San Francisco Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge behind

Golden Gate · SF Bay

§ 06·Side Work

Things I built for myself.

A small, deliberately curated set. I have many, many more, but this is the shortlist. See my older portfolio websites for longer descriptions of other projects, or just ask.

Multiplayer · Browser game

ShipWars.net

A browser-based multiplayer ship game built for fast, drop-in play. An ongoing experiment in real-time systems, matchmaking, progression, and monetization under live conditions.

Visit →

Social world · 3D environment

NullSociety.com

A browser-based social world designed as a place to spend time, not just pass through. Built around atmosphere, multiplayer presence, and small systems that reward curiosity, with early experiments in paid access.

Visit →

Open source · 350+ ★

Woah.css

A CSS animation library for eccentric developers. Trended on GitHub and topped /r/frontend the month it shipped; still installed through npm.

Visit →

§ 07·Writing

What I think about.

Longer form lives on the blog. A few of the pieces I keep coming back to:

§ 08·Contact

Working on something
I'd want to see?

I tend to work on small teams building things that matter. If that overlaps with what you're doing, feel free to reach out. I'm based in San Francisco but happy to start over email.

odd@hey.com →