PawPlacer started from frustration more than anything else. I grew up volunteering at shelters — North Shore Animal League, ASPCA, Bideawee, and plenty of smaller ones. I spent weekends walking dogs, cleaning cages, socializing cats, and helping wherever I could. It was meaningful work, but even back then, I couldn't help but notice how clunky and outdated the software was. Everything looked like it was built in prep for Y2K and never updated. Shelter and rescue work is already hard and volunteers are already overlooked. The tools shouldn't make it worse.

Years later, after working in tech building e-commerce platforms and developing systems at Kraken's crypto exchange, I went back to volunteer again. And nothing had changed. The same bloated, joyless software. The same miserable workflows. It wasn't just one shelter, either; it was the whole sector. The reasons were obvious: small and mid-sized underfunded organizations don't make tech companies rich, and legacy software is built on infrastructure that is hard to maintain and update to modern standards.

So, I started building PawPlacer. Not because I wanted to start a company, but because I felt I had what it took to fix it. The goal was simple: make shelter software that feels like the modern tools people actually use — clean, intuitive, visual, and automated. Kanban boards instead of endless spreadsheets and list views. Keyboard shortcuts instead of buried menus. AI-assisted imports instead of manual data formatting and entry. Software that helps you instead of punishing you for trying.

PawPlacer is fully self-funded, which was never about pride — it was about freedom. I was lucky enough to start this from a place of stability, and I don't take that for granted. It means we can build based on user requests, pay top-talent developers what they're worth, and make decisions that serve organizations instead of shareholders. That cushion isn't a brag; it's a promise that we'll keep PawPlacer affordable, ethical, and focused entirely on the people doing the real work.

Early adopters — small foster networks and local rescues — helped shape absolutely everything. Every button, every feature, every design decision came from real-world frustration via emails, calls, and coffee chats. As more organizations joined, that feedback loop only got stronger. We've built entire features because one small team asked for them, and we'll keep doing that as long as we exist.

Now, we've grown into a small, international team, but the mindset hasn't changed. PawPlacer exists because people who care about animals deserve software that doesn't make their jobs harder. It's really that simple.