Building internet systems in the Netherlands since 1998.

Robertino Blagrove is a Dutch engineer and tech lead. He's been building internet systems in the Netherlands since 1998, starting at Tele2 on the first local internet support team. From there his career ran through Centric, Achmea, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Greenchoice, and today ECT Rotterdam.

Since 2011 he's worked independently, now under JFE Blagrove. In 2019 he took the tech-lead seat at ECT Rotterdam, Europe's largest container terminal operator, where he still leads engineering on mission-critical terminal systems.

Alongside the day job, he founds and runs his own platforms. He's the founder and creator of PP2G (PartyPeeps2000), which he ran from 2001 to 2013 through Connecting The Scene BV. It grew into one of the Netherlands' largest online communities. At its 2006 peak PP2G was the 5th most-visited website in the country, with 1.2 million unique visitors and over 300,000 registered active users. The platform covered three properties: PP2G.com (community), PP2G.TV (video-sharing), and the PP2G Web Magazine. PP2G Music, a 24/7 urban-music web radio, ran alongside it.

More recently he's launched KidsOpStap.com and Play2College.com. NexKyn, a networking platform, is in active development.

The through-line: ship software that holds up in production. Whether that's a terminal system running 24/7 in the port of Rotterdam, or a free recruitment tool a student-athlete's family uses at the kitchen table.

How JFE Blagrove works

The practice is deliberately small. One operator, plenty of experience, direct ownership. Engagements are selective and tend to run for years rather than sprints. Product work is patient: ship it when it's ready, keep it free where it can be, and keep improving.