POINT BLANK DEV

Independent engineering studio · Since 2020

Senior engineering,
on call.

We help teams ship AI features, full-stack products, online stores and security fixes. Deep experience in enterprise tech and fast-moving startups.

Book a call or email ross@pointblankdev.com
$25M+
in transaction volume
20+ yrs
in fintech, AI and cloud infrastructure
$5K/mo
where retainers start

Trusted by teams at

  • Google
  • AWS
  • Discover
  • Comcast
  • Unisys
  • Loop
  • Stacks
  • Abra
  • MBX Systems
  • Gather
  • Apex Growth
  • Blockbeat
  • Innovative Solutions & Support
  • Merkatta
  • Tango
  • Charisma

Services

Senior help, where it counts.

AI integration

AI your users actually use

Assistants, search and automation inside your product and your operations. Built properly, measured, and safe with your data.

  • Assistants and searchChat and answers over your own data.
  • Workflow automationRepetitive work off support, ops and sales.
  • Safe by designEvaluation, guardrails and cost control from day one.
  • Ship, then improveLive in weeks, better every sprint.

RecentLLM summarization pipeline for Blockbeat's AI news terminal

Full-stack development

From idea to production

Senior engineers who design, build and run the whole stack with you, from the first sketch to the pager.

  • Web apps and APIsFront end to database, built to scale.
  • Proven stackTypeScript, React, Next.js, Node, Postgres, AWS.
  • Quality built inReviews, tests, CI/CD and docs as standard.
  • A team without hiringSenior output from week one.

RecentReal-time tournament platform for Gather, with a 12-engineer team

E-commerce

Stores that sell

Storefronts, checkout and payments that turn visits into revenue, and the testing to prove it.

  • Custom storefrontsFast, on-brand shopping around your products.
  • Payments and subscriptionsCheckout, billing, taxes and refunds, handled.
  • IntegrationsInventory, shipping and CRM, connected.
  • Conversion testingEdge A/B tests, measured by what sells.

RecentEdge A/B testing and conversion work with Apex Growth

Security review

Find the gaps first

Practical security reviews that end in a clear, ranked fix list, before someone else finds the gaps.

  • Code and architectureWhere the real risks are in how it’s built.
  • Access and secretsAuth, permissions and key handling, hardened.
  • Dependencies and cloudOld packages, open ports, misconfigurations.
  • Fixes, not just findingsRanked by risk, with help shipping them.

RecentDiscover financial systems and a $25M+ DeFi platform

Selected work

Shipped, and still running.

A few of our public products. Most client work lives behind logins.

How we work

No black box. You see it every week.

  1. 01

    Kickoff call

    We learn your product, your goals and what done looks like, then agree on the first milestone.

  2. 02

    Async updates in Slack

    We join your Slack. Short daily updates on what shipped and what’s next, without status meetings.

  3. 03

    Weekly demo

    Every week we show working software, not slides, and set priorities for the next one.

# project-updatesExample thread

  • Ross Ragsdale

    Morning! Yesterday: checkout moved to the new payment flow, tests green. Today: webhook retries and the refund edge case.

  • ClaudeAI

    Preview is up for the checkout branch. All 86 tests passing.

  • You

    Looks great. Can we see it in Friday’s demo?

  • Ross Ragsdale

    Already on the list for Friday.

The team

Small team. Experts only.

Ross leads every engagement and writes code himself. When a project calls for deep specialist knowledge, he brings in senior peers who are experts in their fields. Plus one very fast AI teammate.

  • Ross Ragsdale holding Pogi, his corgi, at sunset

    Ross Ragsdale

    Founder · Fractional CTO

    Has run Point Blank Dev since 2020, stepping in as fractional CTO and founding engineer for startups that need to move fast without breaking things. He has done every job on the team, so nothing falls through the cracks. Pictured with Pogi, head of QA.

  • The expert panel

    Senior specialists, by project

    Peers Ross has worked alongside, each an expert in their field, brought in when a project calls for that depth.

  • Claude

    AI engineer · by Anthropic

    Reads the whole codebase before lunch, writes the tests nobody asked for, and has never once said “works on my machine.” Works nights. Takes no PTO.

Ross, at a glance

6+ years
running Point Blank Dev, since 2020
Fractional CTO
for startups in fintech, AI, esports, health and commerce
$25M+
in transaction volume through Charisma, which we built and run
Every layer
DevOps, backend, frontend, testing, AI and security

Book a call

Got something worth building?

Retainers from $5K a month. Senior engineering on call, without a full-time hire.

Book a call
ross@pointblankdev.com