Tony Rice
Entrepreneur & Creator
Beloit, Wisconsin
+1-608-571-2809 | tony@tonyrice.me | linkedin.com/in/iamtonyrice | tonyrice.me
Professional Summary
Highly adaptable IT professional with a passion for solving problems. Proven ability to drive innovation and deliver results in fast-paced collaborative environments.
Qualifications
- 12+ years of experience in IT and full-stack software engineering, leading the development and launch of multiple successful products.
- Proven ability to lead technical teams, drive business outcomes, and adapt to diverse environments.
- Highly Proficient in a wide range of technologies.
Key Accomplishments
- Built and launched the world's first edible insect product with legal hemp-derived cannabinoids (Dusty Beetles), including product, packaging, and brand—sold the first product the same day the MVP was finished.
- Architected and delivered Automately Cloud, an open-source distributed backend platform, and led its acquisition and integration into a legal tech company.
- Scaled and operated multiple startups and e-commerce brands, including The Baked Potato Store (selling potatoes, bongs, and bags of bugs) and QuickStart.me (web-based phone and business platform).
- Rapidly prototyped and shipped MVPs for startups, landing first customers and iterating at startup speed.
- Played a key role in developing the Universal Shopping Cart platform, which contributed to Rakuten's $1B acquisition of Ebates.
- Led teams, managed infrastructure, and wore every hat from founder to full-stack engineer, thriving in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
Skills
NETWORKING & IT
- 15+ years: TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP, TLS/SSL, Server Deployment & Administration, Firewall Management, Virus Removal, Computer Repair, Site-to-Site VPN, Untangle, pFSense, OpenWRT
- 7+ years: Network Wiring/Installation
BACKEND DEVELOPMENT
- 12+ years: Web APIs (REST, JSON, XML, SOAP), Websockets
- 4-10+ years: Express.js, Routing, Spring Boot
- 3+ years: NestJS, Ruby on Rails, Laravel, Vendure
DEVOPS/CLOUD
- 15+ years: VMWare/VSphere, Openstack, Rackspace
- 4-10+ years: Docker, Kubernetes, Amazon Web Services (EC2, S3, VPC), OVH, Chef, Capistrano, Puppet
AI & LLMS
- 2+ Years: OpenAI, Prompt Engineering, ChatGPT, Google Bard/Gemini, Multi-Modal Development
- 1+ Years: Azure OpenAI
TOOLS & TECHNOLOGIES
- 12+ years: Git, Gitlab, Github
- 4-10+ years: Intellij Idea, VSCode, Todoist, Notion
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
- 12+ Years: Javascript, HTML, CSS, PHP
- 4-10+ Years: NodeJS, Node APIs, Typescript, Java, Python, Bash
- 1+ Years: Ruby, C#, Go/Golang, Lua
FRONTEND DEVELOPMENT
- 4-10+ Years: Angular/AngularJS, React/ReactJS, Handlebars.js, templating, CSS
- 1-4 Years: Laravel, Vue.js, Next.js, Webpack, Gatsby, Bootstrap, Meteor
DATABASE/CACHING
- 12+ years: MySQL/MariaDB, SQLite, redis
- 4-10+ years: MongoDB, DynamoDB, Hazelcast, NoSQL, PostgresSQL, Elastisearch
- 2+ years: TypeORM
APIS & SERVICES
- 10+ years: Twilio, Stripe
- 4-8+ years: Cloudflare API, Shopify API, Slack API, Plivo, IFTTT, Zapier
- 1-3+ years: Discord, PayPal, Make.com
CMS & WEB PLATFORMS
- 13+ years: Wordpress, Custom CMS
- 4-10+ years: Ghost CMS, Shopify
OPERATING SYSTEMS
- 14+ years: Linux, Ubuntu Server, Debian, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012
- 4-10+ years: Android, Mac OS X
VOIP & TELEPHONY
- 2+ years: FreePBX, Asterisk, Grandstream VoIP Deployment
MOBILE DEVELOPMENT
- 2+ Years: Basic4Droid/B4X
- 1+ Years: Apache Cordova, React Native
Work History
Founder & Lead Architect | Dusty Beetles (Hybrid) | 2022-2024
- Built the entire MVP for the startup in less than 48 hours—sold the first product the same day the prototype was done
- Designed the packaging, the product, and the brand for the world's first edible insect product with legal hemp-derived cannabinoids
- Managed infra, product, and brand presence; got Blind Fury (the BET rapper) to try them
IT & Project Management | Freelance Work (Hybrid) | 2012-2022
- Crafted various solutions, including CRM integrations, brand imaging, and content marketing strategies
- Collaborated on various projects and solutions with a wide range of clients
Full-stack Software Engineer | Catsy (Remote) | 2021
- Collaborated with the founder to rapidly prototype MVPs, increasing client acquisition
- Ensured the quality and functionality of prototypes through rigorous testing
Full-Stack Software Engineer | Artful Home (Hybrid) | 2020-2021
- Streamlined workflows by refactoring legacy tools and developing automation scripts
- Developed an HTML templating engine, reducing marketing email production time by 90%
- Troubleshooted and resolved a critical call center issue, restoring service availability
Full-stack Software Engineer | Storyscript (Remote) | 2019-2020
- Accelerated the development of the Storyscript Runtime by implementing key features
- Collaborated with a cross-functional team to ensure the ongoing development of backend components
Full-stack Software Engineer | Breezy HR (Remote) | 2018-2019
- Enhanced platform functionality and reliability by resolving bugs and developing partner integrations
- Supported sales efforts by providing technical expertise on client calls
- Ensured code quality and security through proactive vulnerability identification
Founder & Full-stack Software Engineer | The Baked Potato Store | 2018-2019
- Scaled an online store selling potatoes, bongs, and bags of bugs
- Expanded the product line and made some weird but wonderful partnerships
Full-stack Software Engineer | Two Tap (Remote) | 2018
- Improved platform architecture and functionality by providing industry insights and technical recommendations
Full-stack Software Engineer | Clause (Remote) | 2017
- Oversaw the successful acquisition of Automately Cloud
- Advised on the development of Clause's Legal Tech platform, optimizing performance and migrating Automately Cloud
Founder & Lead Architect | Automately Cloud | 2014-2017
- Architected Automately Core, an open-source distributed backend platform
- Developed the frontend, backend, and platform tooling
Software Engineer | Fatwallet/Ebates (Hybrid) | 2013-2017
- Developed web automation solutions to improve checkout processes for various merchants
- Scaled the Universal Shopping Cart, streamlining mobile commerce into a unified checkout experience
- Helped lead PCI compliance initiatives for the software development lifecycle
Founder & Lead Architect | QuickStart.me | 2012-2013
- Co-founded QuickStart.me, developing a web application for business record-keeping and a web-based phone system
- Connected directly with customers to troubleshoot issues and deploy new features
Founder & Lead Architect | SecTitan | 2011-2013
- Developed a customizable reverse-proxy solution for web applications
- Provided security testing for public facing web applications
Owner & Manager | Bestellen Software, LLC | 2011-2017
- Co-founded Bestellen Software during my final year high school, providing IT services to businesses and residents
- Developed custom web applications, focusing on streamlined operations and secure data management
- Managed cloud infrastructure and maintained physical networks
IT Assistant | School District of Beloit | 2011
- Worked as an IT assistant helping diagnose printers and other IT related tasks
Founder & IT Support | GBHTech | 2009-2010
- Started IT Support company before I graduated high-school
- Managed Windows Server, ESX Servers, Removed Viruses and Installed OSes
- Provided direct customer service to over 10+ customers weekly
- Repaired computers for residents