The technical partner non-technical founders trust to design, architect, and ship — from the first decision to production. The engineer who thinks like a founder — because I am one.
You're a non-technical founder with a clear vision and the budget to build it right. What you don't have is someone who can look at the full picture — the architecture, the database, the APIs, the roadmap — and know exactly what to build, in what order, and why. That's where I come in.
Is your idea actually buildable? Get an honest, expert assessment — technical risks, stack recommendations, integration complexity, and what it will really take to bring your product to life.
The complete technical foundation for your startup. Walk away with a clear, buildable system design you can hand to any developer and immediately act on.
Backend-first engineering and a lean, AI-assisted approach that ships production-ready product, built right, fast. Greenfield builds and early-stage systems are where I do my best work.
He's a systems analyst, solution architect, business consultant, creative problem solver, strategic thinker, and an entrepreneur mixed with the technical skill-set of a first-rate, full stack engineer. He thinks fast, operates at a high level, and never tells you bullshit, even when it hurts. He's equally at home writing flawless code, leading a team of engineers, or doing whiteboard solution architecture during a client meeting.
Dragan has been an invaluable asset to work with. I tasked him with looking at the app and giving me recommendations on how he saw best for it to be broken down and rewritten. The work he produced was superb — several diagrams mapping out a high-level plan, communicated clearly and precisely. Dragan is a very capable dev and architect, and I can learn a lot from his passion for architecture.
Dragan was essential to the success of one of our projects. We started a brand new development and Dragan's help, insights, analytical thinking, and development skills allowed us to kick off a very complicated and multi-disciplinary development process. After a couple of years of very intense development, we were able to release the product with a very positive evaluation in the field.
There are few people I would classify as a league of their own as I do Dragan Rusnov. Going beyond just building simple things, Dragan went into architecture, helping us work through some complicated systems. He also built an Architecture Club to teach devs at any level the patterns and practices they need to build large things. Honest and humble, strong and collaborative — a person I would love to work with on anything.
Dragan is an exceptional and truly empathetic leader. I've had the privilege of working with him on several projects, where he seamlessly transitions between managing team members and designing complex architectural solutions. Whether you need someone to strengthen your current team, kick off a new product, or provide deep technical consultation, I strongly encourage you to connect with Dragan.
We worked together for about two years on an extremely complex product and his deep understanding of the system was invaluable to everyone involved. Dragan isn't afraid to take ownership of challenging tasks, will seek out answers proactively when requirements need to be improved, and will take work all the way from inception to completion. A great personality who is easy to get along with, and a talented developer — I'm happy to recommend him heartily.
Dragan consistently impresses me with his uncanny ability to cut through the fluff and get to the core of what our clients need and how their website or app should be organized. Efficiency with both his time and project workflow leads to solutions that are rock solid, on time, and usually under budget. It is a joy to work alongside Dragan day in and day out.
I am honored to recommend Dragan, a servant leader and exceptional Director of Software Development. As a servant leader, he consistently puts his team first, fostering an environment of trust, collaboration, and growth. His ability to mentor and guide his team members is unparalleled. Dragan's dedication, humility, and genuine care for others make him an extraordinary leader and an even better human being.
Dragan consistently balanced the team's growth and the company's success. He made it clear he valued not only the work we produced but also our professional development and well-being. Dragan's approach to leadership inspires trust and confidence. I highly recommend him to any organization looking for a leader who truly cares about both his team and the company's long-term success.
Dragan has an amazing way of delivering smart solutions to complex challenges. Not only is he a fantastic developer, his background in robotics gives him a unique perspective into digital system architecture and physical interfaces. He's a pleasure to work with. And I have yet to see him stumped — and I've tried.
I've spent 23 years building production-grade systems across a variety of industries — from real-time surgical navigation at NuVasive to HIPAA-compliant platforms to an autonomous cleaning robot for food processing plants.
I don't just write code. I understand the business behind the build — the constraints, the stakeholders, the strategy. I've led global teams through organizational crises, designed internal developer tooling adopted across engineering orgs, and am currently preparing to open-source a REST API framework built from years of production patterns. That's what makes the difference between software that ships and software that lasts.
Paper Plane Consulting brings a full team of 25+ professionals to tackle larger technical strategy, software development, and organizational transformation engagements — focused on healthcare and manufacturing.
Whether you need a feasibility review, a full architecture blueprint, or an experienced contractor to own your build — let's talk. First conversation is always free.