Rubber Soul Architects, Goa
Rubber Soul Architects is an architecture and design practise based in Goa.
Projects
View all projects
Blog
Hardening Your Linux Server: A Practical Checklist
A no-nonsense guide to securing your Linux server covering SSH configuration, firewall rules, fail2ban, and unattended upgrades.
Systemd for Web Developers: Services, Timers, and Journals
A practical introduction to systemd for developers who need to manage daemons, replace cron jobs, and inspect logs on Linux servers.
The Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Every Developer Should Know
A tour of the Linux directory structure explaining where things live, why they live there, and which directories matter most for web development.
View all posts
Professional Summary
Full Stack Web Consultant
Full Stack Web Consultant with 24 years designing, scaling, and rescuing SaaS, startup, e-commerce, education, media, and hospitality products; deep backend expertise across Laravel, PHP, TypeScript, Node.js, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Redis with modern Vue, Inertia, Tailwind frontends; owns architecture, performance, security, and DevOps for long-term remote consulting and senior IC mandates.
Professional Experience
Freelance Full-Stack Web Consultant
Self-employed consultant delivering architecture-to-production ownership for SaaS, education, ERP, e-commerce, and hospitality teams; leads 3–6 person squads, mentors juniors, rescues legacy WordPress properties, integrates Stripe, Razorpay, PayU, and BillDesk, and sustains Dockerized Linux deployments with authentication, RBAC, and performance-tuned data models; engagements retain ~80% of clients, power 5,000+ users, support $4K+ MRR, and automate away ~75% of support load.
Technical Lead, Srijan (now Material)
Directed a four-person engineering team shipping Drupal publishing platforms, steering backend architecture, Cloudflare-backed performance gains, Drupal 7→8 upgrades, agile delivery in Jira, and executive communication before returning to independent consulting.
Senior Full-Stack Developer, Next Big Thing Media
Senior IC in a six-member group building client websites, publishing platforms, campaign microsites, and internal tools; owned backend-heavy features in WordPress, CodeIgniter, and Laravel, introduced Laravel for major workstreams, implemented Stripe payments and API workflows, contributed to Ionic mobile backend support, and strengthened product-oriented architecture.
Project Manager (Platform & Systems), Justdial
Managed internal and consumer platforms for India’s leading local search engine across 15 developers, 5 QA, 15 database engineers, and 15 infrastructure engineers; scaled business listings from ~1M to ~10M and reviews from ~200K to ~10M, built reseller-driven data contribution systems, integrated payment gateways and Akamai CDN, led SVN→Git migration, and reinforced CLAMP-stack operational rigor.
Early Career & Management Foundations
Held progressive leadership roles including Manager – Business Development at ScalArc (2009), Project Manager at iConsultech (2008–2009, remote), Project Lead at Intelenet Global Services (2004–2008), Team Leader at Wipro BPO (2002–2004), and Faculty at NIIT (2001), delivering distributed-team oversight, infrastructure optimization, PBX rollouts, Joomla knowledge systems, COPC-aligned operations, and multi-year computer science instruction.
Representative Projects
xAPI Learning Management System
Architected and scaled an xAPI-based LMS for an EU certification organization, aligning complex competency models with reliable reporting and certification pipelines.
Weclapp ERP Integrations
Developed backend integrations bridging a SaaS platform with Weclapp ERP to synchronize product, billing, and fulfillment workflows.
High-Traffic WordPress Re-architecture
Stabilized and re-architected a nationally televised product’s WordPress backend, improving performance and resilience through targeted scaling and observability upgrades.
Education
Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Loyola College, Chennai
Undergraduate degree with emphasis on economics-driven decision making and analytical rigor.
Diploma in Computer Science (3-Year Program), NIIT Chennai
Professional diploma spanning C, C++, Java, MySQL, Linux, ASP, and systems programming.
Secondary Education, Lawrence School, Lovedale
Comprehensive schooling providing foundational STEM and humanities training.
Skills
Backend & Data
Laravel, PHP, Node.js, TypeScript, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, REST APIs.
Frontend (Supportive)
Vue.js, Inertia.js, Tailwind CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Angular.
CMS & Platforms
WordPress, Drupal 7/8, Joomla!.
DevOps & Infrastructure
Docker, Linux, Git, SVN, CI/CD (manual and semi-automated), Cloudflare, Akamai.
Architecture & Delivery
SaaS architecture, multi-tenant systems, legacy modernization, performance optimization, zero-downtime deployments.
Leadership & Consulting
Technical leadership, mentoring, Agile/Scrum, Jira, client consulting, stakeholder communication, vendor evaluation.
Certifications
Six Sigma Yellow Belt
Process optimization and quality rigor applied to engineering delivery.
NIIT Diploma in Computer Science
Credentialed recognition of three-year advanced computer science training.
Writing
Author at abyshakes.com
Publishes essays on engineering, systems, product thinking, and technical leadership.
Speaking
Goa IT Day
Delivered sessions on engineering leadership, scalable systems, and product resilience.
WordPress Training, Goa Engineering College
Conducted hands-on WordPress training focused on real-world deployment and customization.
Community & Events
WordPress and Laravel Meetups, Goa
Organizer and host facilitating local engineering knowledge-sharing and mentorship.
Consulting & Mentorship
Trusted go-to engineer for clients navigating high-pressure incidents and long-term roadmaps.
Open Source
GitHub: https://github.com/abyshakes
Shares tooling, experiments, and infrastructure learnings with the broader community.
Notable Achievements
Client & System Outcomes
Secured long-term client retention across multiple product cycles, kept systems operating reliably for 10+ years, and led successful zero-downtime migrations.