Co-founder & CTO

John Barbour

creatively Creating Clarity

Entrepreneurial problem solver with a BS in chemical engineering and deep full-stack web development experience. I build decision-making tools and B2B SaaS — from DoW energy resiliency planning to Air Force strategic capabilities.

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Summary

What I bring

I have developed decision-making tools for DoW energy resiliency planning that supported 4 SBIR defense contracts. I developed and delivered a web application for the Department of the Air Force to improve strategic capabilities — work that received two customer memorandums, including Wing Commander support.

I conducted business operations and brought in $50,000 of non-dilutive funding for the endeavor, and won 1st place at the South Dakota Governor's Giant Vision Business Plan & Pitch Competition. At MECE TECH I design, develop, and deploy full-stack multi-service applications — with clarity, structure, and long-term maintainability in mind.

Experience

Where I've built

Feb 2025 — Present

Founder & CTO

MECE TECH LLC · B2B SaaS

  • Recruited and managed a team of developers to build full-stack web applications (Node.js).
  • Designed, developed, and deployed production Node.js / MariaDB apps, custom professional websites, and an iOS field app.

Products

Government — AURA

Procurement tool shaped by 50+ hours of customer validation interviews. Built with custom backend/frontend, then advanced to a reliable AI-assisted development workflow. Deployed on AWS with Terraform IaC for budget controls and FinOps tagging.

Small business — Castle

Office ops platform for blue-collar businesses: jobs, invoicing, payroll, scheduling. Stripe, geolocation, and Google Calendar. Rapid-prototyped with Cursor; deployed to AWS.

Small business — Squire (iOS)

Employee field app, sibling to Castle. Clock-in with location, job checklists and photos, field quotes, calendar, and PTO. Capacitor / native iOS wrapper; same company records as Castle.

Makers — The Local Mission

Newest web app: discovery catalog for Wyoming makers (Cheyenne, Laramie, Casper). Shoppers browse here and buy on each maker’s shop. Vendor signup and dashboard, JWT sessions, Node.js / MariaDB, AWS (EC2, RDS, S3, SES).

Creators — Vectorizer

Redesigned an existing web app with a modern UI and built out vector-graphics features, including an SVG vector graphics editor for content creators.

Websites

MECE TECH and luxury realtor sites for Front Range agents — custom brand, IRES/MLS Grid home search, listings, and a 30+ article SEO blog (replaced a template platform). Other significant sites and apps include Investigator (evidence analysis: ingest sources, structure claims, and reason toward a defensible conclusion); Evolver (gym memberships and Stripe billing); Innovation (SD Mines Innovation Club site); and Warlock (loads a codebase and maps JS, HTML, SQL, and Terraform for analysis and deployment).

Apr 2022 — Jan 2025

Co-founder (CTO & CEO)

CounSil LLC · B2B SaaS

  • As PM, led 100+ customer discovery and validation interviews with high-ranking military leadership and staff (lean methodology).
  • As CEO, point-back planned deliverable deadlines, drafted funding proposals, generated stakeholder reports, and drove execution urgency.
  • As CTO, recruited and managed developers to build a full-stack .NET web application.
  • As sales lead, earned support of users at AF installations through dedicated problem validation, preparation, and respect.

Aug 2020 — May 2022

Founder

Ponica LLC · B2C

  • As CTO, designed and produced complex automated indoor growing systems for fruiting vegetables.
  • As PO, led problem validation, business plan creation, and financial projections — winning $1,000 at a business plan competition.
  • As COO, developed a supply chain to deliver the bill of materials.

Apr 2021 — Aug 2021

Entrepreneurial Fellow (NSIN X-Force)

Ellsworth Air Force Base · Mission Support Group

  • Conducted thorough problem discovery with Ellsworth personnel and interviewed leading experts in energy resiliency to produce an in-depth assessment of vulnerabilities and remedies.
  • Developed decision-making tools for Ellsworth’s energy resiliency, resulting in identification and support of 4 SBIR defense contracts.

Aug 2019 — May 2023

Researcher

CalxAqua · On-site mine water remediation

  • Prepared and monitored column and batch water filtration experiments for arsenic and selenate removal.
  • Designed experiments to isolate variables and ensure actionable next steps.
  • Created graphics and tables from data and delivered reports and presentations to customers.

Recognition

Achievements

Capabilities

Skills

Languages & stack

  • HTML / CSS / JavaScript
  • Node.js
  • MariaDB / SQL
  • Bash
  • Terraform
  • iOS (Capacitor)

Other

  • Figma design
  • Excel / Visual Basic
  • Problem validation
  • AWS deployment & FinOps
  • Customer discovery (lean)

Education

Formal education

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

Baccalaureate of Science in Chemical Engineering

May 2023 · Undergraduate researcher · Full-ride scholarship for master’s offered

What I build now

Products and sites

Distinct audiences, distinct problems — one shared design philosophy.

Government

AURA

Workflow and operations tools built for government teams — structured, auditable, and designed around how public-sector work actually happens.

Explore AURA →

Small business

Castle

Operations software for small businesses — jobs, invoicing, payroll, and scheduling so office and field stay in sync.

Explore Castle →

iOS · Small business

Squire

Employee field app, sibling to Castle. Clock-in, checklists and photos, quotes, calendar, and PTO on the phone.

See Castle (field sibling) →

Makers

The Local Mission

Discovery catalog for Wyoming makers. Browse shops here; buy on the maker’s own site. Newest web app.

thelocalmission.com →

Creators

Vectorizer

Design tools for content creators — turning ideas into clean, usable assets without unnecessary complexity.

Explore Vectorizer →

Websites

Websites

MECE TECH, luxury realtor sites, Innovation, Investigator, Evolver, and Warlock.

See MECE TECH →

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