Richard Torenvliet

Full-Stack Engineer & Startup Builder · 12+ Years Experience

Bio

I live by the words Growth, Inspire and Connect. As a Full Stack Software Developer with over ten years of hands-on experience, I have a growing passion for AI-driven development. Most recently I integrated LLMs into a web application using LangChain. My technical foundation spans TypeScript, Node.js, React (Native), Python, Django, and work with LLMs. I thrive working across the full stack and never shy away from a new challenge. See my work at rizit.dev — and for my creative side, my photography at rizzygraphy.xyz.

Relevant Work Experience

Liquid| getliquid.appFintechread more ↗

Full-stack Developer | Oct 2023 — Jun 2026

  • Early engineer on a financial forecasting platform (P&L, balance sheet, cashflow) — contributing to feature development, refactoring, and ongoing maintenance.
  • Built an AI chatbot with LangChain for real-time report generation and in-app edits over SSE.
  • Built a custom report-builder and formula engine — letting finance teams design reports and define their own metrics without developer involvement.
  • Extended the platform to support multiple legal entities with inter-company elimination (Multi-Entity Consolidation).
  • Integrated Stripe and overhauled the licensing and subscription architecture.
  • Stack: Angular, Node.js, Express, MongoDB, LangChain, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes.

Artwell| artwell.nlArtTechread more ↗

Freelance Fullstack Developer | May 2023 — May 2026

  • Platform connecting auction houses with buyers online, matching lots based on buyer preferences — giving locally-operating businesses a digital reach they couldn't achieve alone.
  • Focus on the NestJS backend and PostgreSQL, with contributions to the React frontend and React Native mobile app for auction house staff.
  • Owned infrastructure and hosting architecture from day one; also acted as technical consultant to the founder on product and direction.
  • Integrated an LLM-based art categorisation model classifying lots by style, period, and medium — enabling smarter matching and reducing manual tagging.
  • Stack: NestJS, React, React Native, Tailwind CSS, PostgreSQL, LangChain, Hetzner.

Navara| navara.nlConsultancyread more ↗

Fullstack Software Consultant | May 2023 — Oct 2023

  • Embedded consultant in a team of 20+, working TypeScript-first across Node.js, NestJS, Next.js and React on AWS across multiple client projects simultaneously.
  • AWS Lambda specialist for Essent — serverless infrastructure responsible for calculating and maintaining monthly billing amounts for customers, where correctness is non-negotiable.
  • Independently designed and built a user management portal for BoveMij in React, delivered under a tight deadline.
  • Contributed to an internal ESG-Dashboard built with Django and Retool — picking the right tool for the job rather than defaulting to a full custom build.

Grofalex| grofalex.nlEcologyread more ↗

Fullstack Developer | January 2023 — March 2023

  • Built a planning and reporting tool for ecological field work — organisations must prove no protected animals inhabit a site before receiving a government building permit.
  • Supported multi-organisation scheduling with typed, time-constrained activities; planners can filter available workers by distance and qualifications such as a driving licence.
  • Field workers submit survey reports directly in the tool; reports go through an approval flow and worked hours with travel distances are aggregated monthly for payroll export.
  • Distances calculated using PostGIS on PostgreSQL. Stack: React, Tailwind CSS, Node.js/Express, Prisma, PostgreSQL, Docker, Dokku — built solo in three months.

NovaCair| novacair.comMed-Techread more ↗

Software & DevOps Engineer | June 2021 — January 2023

  • Built a digital preoperative screening tool used by multiple hospitals — patients complete a tailored questionnaire at home, reviewed by a doctor on the platform to determine surgical fitness.
  • Integrated directly with EPD (Electronic Patient Dossier) systems so completed questionnaires automatically update patient status in existing hospital software, saving significant time across the clinical workflow.
  • Questionnaire logic is fully customisable: conditional rules adapt questions based on prior answers, enabling personalised screening flows per hospital.
  • Role spanned frontend (Vue 3), backend (Laravel / PHP 8), and DevOps across AWS (EC2, S3, Lambda, CloudFront, RDS); also worked with Flutter for a period.
  • Working in a medical context sharpened precision as a developer — every change carries real clinical consequences.

Exact Online / SRXP| srxp.comFintechread more ↗

Developer → CTO | April 2015 — June 2021

  • Grew from developer to CTO over six years, eventually leading a team of six on an expense management system serving 3,000+ companies.
  • Responsible for architecture, API, portal, and server infrastructure; shipped a steady pipeline of features to attract and retain clients in a competitive market.
  • Notable projects: a web-based business insights tool for analysts, direct bank integrations pulling financial transactions automatically into user accounts, and major platform overhauls for flexibility.
  • Stack: EmberCLI, CakePHP, AWS (EB, EC2, S3, RDS, Redis, SQS, SNS, Lambda, WAF), Docker.

SightHubComputer Visionread more ↗

Co-founder & Developer | April 2014 — February 2015

  • Co-founded a startup giving shops the visitor analytics that online shops take for granted — foot traffic, peak hours, and store occupancy via Raspberry Pi cameras.
  • Built a multi-stage executable pipeline: frames pass through resizing, greyscale conversion, face detection, face recognition, and tracking before syncing structured data back to the API.
  • Stack: Python, Django, OpenCV, NumPy, FFMpeg, PostgreSQL; used HOG (Histograms of Oriented Gradients) for classical computer vision before deep learning was mainstream.
  • This project directly inspired my graduation thesis: Multi-Frame Face Reconstruction With a 3D Morphable Model.

Lento| lento.fashionFashion Webshopread more ↗

Founder & Developer | Side Project — since Jan 2020

  • Co-founded a fashion webshop for conscious men's clothing — sustainable, ethical, and transparent about production — stocking brands not found in regular stores.
  • Built with Next.js as a headless frontend over Shopify's commerce infrastructure: pre-built pages, better SEO, and API secrets kept server-side.
  • Integrated Builder.io so non-technical team members can update landing pages with a drag-and-drop editor, without developer involvement.
  • Self-hosted infrastructure: Docker registry, Drone CI/CD, Docker Swarm for rolling releases.

TjappLife-Styleread more ↗

Founder & Developer | Side Project — since Jan 2022

  • Social recipe app born from a personal need — the good answers to 'what do we eat tonight?' tend to get forgotten. Built to track your own recipes and the adaptations you've made.
  • Designed specifically for adding ingredients and step-by-step instructions, with a social layer for sharing and discovering what friends and family are cooking.
  • Stack: React Native (Expo), Node.js/Express, SWC TypeScript build, PostgreSQL; currently in active development.