MK/CASTRO
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CTO & Co-founder · Startup Relaunch · 4-6 developers

Tsikot Marketplace

Main automotive marketplace (Laravel 4.2→10 upgrade)

Live site
  • PHP
  • Laravel
  • MySQL
  • Docker
  • Bitbucket Pipelines
  • EC2
  • PHPStan
  • Selenium
  • Google Analytics
  • Mailchimp
  • Cloudflare
  • Bootstrap
  • jQuery
Tsikot Marketplace screenshot
/01

The build

Modernized a legacy automotive marketplace by upgrading Laravel from 4.2 to 10, and bringing WordPress and vBulletin components up to date after years of stagnation. Containerized three core applications using Docker, streamlining deployment workflows and improving system maintainability. Implemented CI/CD via Bitbucket Pipelines and enforced code quality through PHPStan static analysis. Led product direction by analyzing behavioral data and conducting user interviews.

/02

Screens

Straight from the product surface.

Tsikot Marketplace screenshot 1
/03

The stack

What each tool actually did on this project.

PHP

Led major Laravel upgrade from 4.2 to 10, restructured monolith into service boundaries, and built new features

Laravel

Modernized legacy codebase with Laravel 10 upgrade, implemented service boundaries for improved maintainability

MySQL

Administered production and staging databases, managed schema migrations, and designed comprehensive backup strategy

Docker

Containerized three core applications, created consistent development environments across the team

Bitbucket Pipelines

Implemented CI/CD pipeline from scratch with automated testing and deployment automation

EC2

Managed AWS infrastructure, optimized instance sizing for traffic rebound after relaunch

PHPStan

Integrated static analysis into CI for code quality enforcement and bug prevention

Selenium

Built E2E browser tests and implemented data scraping for competitive insights

Google Analytics

Tracked user behavior and traffic data to inform product direction decisions

Mailchimp

Set up email marketing integrations for user re-engagement

Cloudflare

Configured CDN and security for the relaunched platform

Bootstrap

Maintained and updated Bootstrap-based frontend styling

jQuery

Maintained legacy jQuery interactions during modernization

/04

My part

What I owned, per position that touched this project.

tsikot.com Inc.

CTO and Co-founder

Led revival and modernization of legacy automotive marketplace

  • Revived a platform abandoned since 2017, doubling traffic post-relaunch with hundreds of new user signups and thousands of active listings
  • Modernized by upgrading Laravel from 4.2 to 10
  • Containerized using Docker, streamlining deployment workflows and improving system maintainability
  • Implemented CI/CD via Bitbucket Pipelines and enforced code quality through PHPStan static analysis integration
  • Restructured a dated monolith into clearer service boundaries, improving maintainability and scalability
  • Designed and executed a comprehensive backup strategy covering code, databases, and server images
  • Enhanced customer listing workflows by integrating competitive insights and real-time data scraping
  • Managed AWS-based infrastructure, optimizing instance sizing and system behavior to handle traffic rebound after relaunch

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All the work