Eleven years of JavaScript
I am Gjorge Karakabakov. For 11+ years I have built web and mobile products in JavaScript: React and React Native at the front, Node.js, Nest.js and Next.js behind them. For much of it I also ran the teams doing the building. I live in Skopje, North Macedonia, and work remotely.
The work has been in fintech, HR tech, medtech, edtech and e-commerce. Today I am Senior Frontend Engineer at Deel; before that, uLesson, Yoco, Adeva, Intertec and Cosmic Development. The history page has the full sequence: every role, the team at each, and the stack it ran on. It runs longer than a CV and tells you more.
The work
Most of it is front-end product work. I take React and TypeScript applications from an empty repository to something people use, and I write the Node.js, Nest.js or Express behind them when the back end is mine too. I build cross-platform apps in React Native and Expo, sharing with the web what is worth sharing and no more. And I build company-wide component libraries, along with the Storybook documentation, the testing floor and the adoption work that keeps one from turning into a folder three teams have each forked.
The rest is team lead work. I mentor engineers, hold a quality bar through a deadline, and manage scope and the people attached to it. I have led small teams and large ones. The large ones are the same job with less room to improvise.
This site
Nothing here asks for your email address. The writing is notes on the craft: WebGL and three.js, React and React Native, design systems, engineering leadership, and the occasional game I built to find out how something works. The courses are free and need no sign-up: React for Beginners and Claude for Real Work, written lesson by lesson instead of recorded. The contact page lists the channels I read.
No newsletter, no paywall, no account, no tracking beyond a page-view count. The courses are free because the material that taught me was free. The writing is here because I find out whether I understood something by writing it down.
Working together
I take on consulting and contract work alongside the day job: a product you are starting, a team short a pair of hands, or a front-end problem that has refused to sit still for a fortnight. Write to gorgekara@gmail.com. The contact page has the other channels and what I take on.
Common questions
What does Gjorge Karakabakov do?
He builds web and mobile products in JavaScript and leads the teams that build them. Eleven years of it, in React, React Native, Next.js, Node.js and Nest.js.
Where is he based, and does he work remotely?
He lives in Skopje, North Macedonia, and works remotely. Most of the last decade has been with distributed teams across Europe, Africa and the United States.
Is he available for consulting or contract work?
Yes, alongside the day job: front-end and full-stack product work, React Native apps, design systems and technical leadership. Email gorgekara@gmail.com and say what you are building.
Do the courses on this site cost anything?
No. Every lesson is free to read. There is no sign-up, no account and no email address to hand over, and the whole curriculum sits on the open web.