paragon global investments
a place for members of our quant fund to find research and share resources
start with the actual job
PGI had more than 300 student members across its chapters, plus research, educational resources, and people information living in too many places.
I wanted one portal that made the club feel like one organization instead of a collection of docs and spreadsheets.
pick the shortest useful stack
I built the first useful version in a couple of days with Next.js, Supabase, and Vercel. It is the kind of setup people now reach for when they want to vibe code something quickly, but used carefully it is also a real application stack: typed UI, authentication, relational data, file storage, and straightforward deploys.
The goal was to get members from sign-in to people, research, and resources with as little friction as possible.
make the admin work easy too
A member portal only stays useful if someone can maintain it. Admins could add resources, manage what members saw, and keep the portal current without opening the codebase.
That separation let the website move quickly while the club stayed in control of its information.
learn from the real loop
The interesting part was how little stack was required once the product loop was clear. Next.js handled the interface and server routes. Supabase handled identity and data. Vercel handled the release path.
The stack still needed product judgment: the schema, permissions, admin controls, and the actions a member needed on the first screen.
