I lead, build, and ship — actually.
I'm Douglas — founder and CEO of Reffo and Pelagora, former creative and marketing director, and an advisor to startups, investment firms, and AI companies. I've shipped 35+ apps since 2009, and I'm genuinely full-stack with a designer's eye. Bring me in as a fractional CXO, advisor, co-founder, or consultant — and let's go.
Four ways to put me to work.
Pick the shape that fits where you are. Not sure which? That's a conversation — start anywhere.
Fractional CXO — CEO, CMO, or CTO
Drop me into the seat you're missing. I've run product, creative, and marketing, and I'm full-stack technical — so I can own the function, set the bar, and ship, without you hiring three executives.
Advisor
A steady outside brain for founders, teams, and investors. I've advised startups, investment firms, and AI companies — I'll help you see around the next corner and call what's real.
Co-Founder
If it's the right idea and the right people, I go all in. I founded and led Reffo and Pelagora from zero — I know how to turn a 2am idea into something people actually use.
Consultant
A focused engagement with a clear finish line — a launch, a redesign, an AI rollout, a gnarly build. You bring the problem, I bring the range to close it.
Cross-functional by default — which is why one hire can cover three seats.
Strategy & advising
SpecialtyWhere I shine. I've advised startups, investment firms, and technical AI companies — the zero-to-one judgment a founder or board actually leans on.
Creative & marketing direction
Years as a creative director and a marketing director — the CMO chair, basically. Brand, story, and launch, not just the build.
Front-end & design
Interfaces, design systems, motion, and the obsessive last 10% that makes a product feel good to touch.
Full-stack engineering
Comfortable in the backend too — APIs, data, infrastructure. The technical seat, owned end to end.
Things I'm building, in motion.
Clips from recent projects — vertical or wide, whatever the moment called for.
Platforms, games, fintech, and a few quiet ones.
A slice of 35+ published apps — most designed, built, and led end to end. The throughline: take the idea seriously, the ego not so much.
Division 6
My studio and label — the home for the apps, games, and Bitcoin tools I design, build, and publish under one roof.
influence.INC
A clone of the stock market that trades shares of influencers instead of companies. Buy low on someone before they go viral.
critically.io
A research network built to fight disinformation — people share sources as bite-size, linked chunks of information instead of hot takes.
Lexicube 3D
A Rubik's Cube that fell in love with Scrabble. Twist letters into words across three dimensions.
Reffo.deals
Real-time flash deals at restaurants — the scrappy first idea that eventually grew up into Reffo.ai.
Bitcoin tools
Calculators and explainers for paired trades around Bitcoin — making intimidating instruments finally make sense.
Countless private builds
Dozens of apps for people and companies that will never have a public URL. Quietly, some of my best work lives here.
Helping people and teams actually excel with AI.
I build AI-native products and advise AI companies for a living — agents, tooling, the works. But the part I love most is helping other people get fluent: turning "AI is overwhelming" into "AI is the best teammate I've got."
Founders & individuals
I'll set up the workflows, agents, and tooling that quietly multiply your output — and teach you to drive them, so you're empowered, not dependent.
Product & engineering teams
I help teams weave AI into the product and the process — design-led, actually shipped, and free of the hype that ages badly.
Companies & investors
I advise on AI strategy and separate what's real from what's noise — where the leverage actually is, and what's safe to ignore.
Wondering where AI actually fits — and who should own it? That's the kind of thing I get hired for.
Serious about growth. Lighthearted by nature.
I've been making mobile apps since 2009 and 3D experiences in Unity since 2012. Somewhere along the way I helped publish 35+ of them — games, marketplaces, social platforms, and a stock market that trades influencers instead of companies.
I'm a developer who's genuinely good across the stack, but I excel at the front-end and design — the part where craft becomes something you can feel. I've sat in the CEO, creative director, and marketing director chairs, and the advisor's seat beside founders and investors — which is why I can step into more than one of them for you.
I take myself and my own growth seriously — but I lead with humor, and there's little I enjoy more than making someone smile. Whatever you're building, I start from the same question: how can I help?
Off the clock, I'm an Eagle Scout — still wired to be prepared and to leave things better than I found them — and I love to cook, ideally for a full table.
Today I'm building Reffo & Pelagora— and I'm open to leading the next chapter with you, as a fractional CXO, advisor, co-founder, or consultant.
How can I help?
Need a leader, an advisor, a co-founder, or an extra pair of hands? Tell me what you're working on — I'd genuinely love to help.