Hi, I'm Tien.
I'm a senior front end engineer with 9+ years building React and TypeScript apps. My lane is high-stakes interfaces across fintech, DeFi, and M&A: real-time data, performance, and design systems. The kind of product where a UI bug isn't cosmetic, it costs someone money.
Right now I'm the primary front end on two production DeFi platforms at Seal Labs (7K on Sui, AshSwap on MultiversX), including the 7K React Native app. Before that: LeapXpert, compliant messaging for banks that later landed a Gartner Visionary, and Ansarada, the data room behind a lot of M&A deals.
These days I ship AI-first. Claude Code and Cursor write most of my code; my job is planning, reviewing, and not believing the agent when it says it's done. I write about that workflow, honest takes on AI dev tools, and front end craft.
I work async-first from Hanoi, against teams scattered across the globe. If you're building something where the UI can't afford to break, we'll get along.
Where I've shipped
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Seal Labs
Jun 2023 - PresentSenior Front End Engineer
Primary front end on two production DeFi platforms where money moves in real time: 7K (Sui's all-in-one swap and aggregator, with limit/DCA orders, liquidity, and a React Native app) and AshSwap (a MultiversX stable-swap DEX with perps and DAO governance). A wrong number on screen here isn't a typo, it's someone's money.
- $14.4B+ cumulative aggregator volume
- 6M+ wallets served
- iOS + Android app (TestFlight, Google Play)
ReactNext.jsTypeScriptReact NativeExpoTanStack QueryJotaiTailwind CSSSui TS SDKMultiversX sdk-js -
LeapXpert
Dec 2021 - Apr 2023Senior Front End Developer
Front end for a compliant messaging platform that lets banks and regulated firms talk to clients on WhatsApp, WeChat, SMS, and Telegram without their compliance team losing sleep. Gartner later named it a Visionary in the 2025 Magic Quadrant.
- Real-time messaging via Matrix SDK
- REST + GraphQL/Apollo integration
TypeScriptReactReduxJestReact Testing LibrarySASSGraphQLApolloMatrix SDK -
Ansarada
Oct 2019 - Nov 2021Front End Engineer
Front end on a virtual data room where billion-dollar M&A deals, capital raises, and big tenders actually get done. Built the tender evaluation tool from scratch and co-owned the Q&A workflow in a microfrontend React codebase.
- 860,000+ dealmakers across 170 countries
- Contributed to ACE React design system
JavaScriptFlowReactMicrofrontendReduxRedux SagaJestCypressSASS -
Flynk
Feb 2018 - Oct 2019Front End Developer
An Australian software shop that builds products for a rotating cast of clients. I jumped between several of their codebases (InterCheck, Particular Audience, StockShare) shipping front end in React and Vue, and wrote shared platform code that cut the setup time on every new project. Made Senior in 12 months.
- Promoted to Senior Front End Developer after 12 months
ReactVueTypeScriptMobXAnt DesignStyled ComponentsWebpack -
Designveloper
Jun 2017 - Jan 2018Full Stack Developer
A dev consultancy where I worked full-stack on LuminPDF, a tool for storing and editing PDFs across web and mobile. I built its React Native app from scratch, dragged test coverage past 80%, and once restored a 22-million-record MongoDB after it went down in production. Memorable week.
- Built the LuminPDF mobile app from scratch
- Recovered a 22M-record production MongoDB
React NativeMeteorNodeGraphQLApolloReduxMongoDB -
Camos
Oct 2016 - May 2017Software Developer
A startup making machines that print polaroids on the spot at events and shops. I built the kiosk: an Electron desktop app that pulls photos straight off a phone, Instagram, or a DSLR and prints them, with the phone-to-screen handoff running live over Socket.io. No SD cards, no cables.
- Real-time phone-to-kiosk transfer over Socket.io
ElectronReactReduxNodeSocket.io
Got something where the UI can't afford to break?
I take on a small number of front end and AI-engineering projects. Design systems, complex product UIs, agentic workflows, performance-critical interfaces. Tell me what you're building.