Full-Stack Developer Needed to Build Hospitality & Event Services Marketplace MVP

We are looking for an experienced full-stack developer or small development team to build a scalable MVP for a two-sided hospitality and event services marketplace. The platform will connect customers with service providers such as private chefs, DJs, bartenders, photographers, and other event professionals. The goal is to build a polished marketplace that automates as much of the customer booking, provider onboarding, payment, and administrative process as possible. We want a strong technical foundation that can expand into additional service categories, markets, and functionality over time. Core Marketplace There will be three primary user types: Customers Create and manage accounts Browse and search providers Filter providers by category, location, availability, pricing, ratings, and other relevant criteria View detailed provider profiles Submit booking requests and complete bookings Manage upcoming and previous bookings Make payments View payment and booking history Message providers Cancel eligible bookings Leave ratings and reviews after completed bookings Service Providers Create and manage accounts Manage their public profile Upload and manage photos Add services and pricing Set availability Define service areas Receive and manage booking requests View upcoming and previous bookings Message customers View payment and payout information Update relevant business information Admin Manage customers and providers Approve or reject provider applications Edit and manage provider listings Manage bookings Manage transactions and commissions Issue and manage refunds Override refund amounts when necessary Manage service categories Manage reviews when necessary Create and manage promo codes Feature selected providers Suspend or deactivate accounts View basic marketplace analytics Automated Provider Onboarding We want provider onboarding to be highly automated. Prospective providers should complete a "Become a Partner" application containing their profile information, services, pricing, photos, service area, availability, and other required information. When an application is submitted, the platform should automatically: Create a draft provider listing using the submitted information. Keep the listing hidden from customers. Notify admin that a provider is awaiting approval. Allow admin to review, approve, or reject the application. Automatically publish the provider profile once approved. The objective is for admin to review applications rather than manually create provider listings. Booking System The booking system should support the complete customer/provider workflow from initial request through completed event. This should include: Date and availability Location Guest count where applicable Service selection Pricing Special requests/event details Booking status Customer/provider communication Payment status Cancellation status Completed booking history The architecture should accommodate different service categories with different booking requirements. Marketplace Payments We expect to use Stripe Connect or another appropriate Stripe marketplace architecture. The intended payment flow is: Customer pays through the platform → platform retains its commission → provider receives their payout. The system should support: Customer payments Provider payouts Platform commissions Payment and payout status Transaction history Refunds Failed payment handling Appropriate cancellation/refund workflows We are looking for someone with previous Stripe Connect experience. Messaging and Notifications Customers and providers should be able to communicate through an in-app messaging system. Users should also receive appropriate email notifications for important activity, including: New messages Booking requests Booking confirmations Cancellations Provider application status Other important marketplace activity Reviews and Ratings After a completed booking, customers should be able to leave a star rating and written review. Ratings and reviews should appear on provider profiles and contribute to marketplace search/discovery where appropriate. Cancellation and Refund Automation Customers should be able to cancel eligible bookings directly through their accounts. The system should apply our cancellation policy and automatically determine the appropriate refund based on factors such as how far in advance the cancellation occurs. Admin should also have the ability to manually override refund amounts when necessary. AI Booking Assistant A major feature we would like to explore is an AI-powered booking assistant. Rather than requiring every customer to manually search and filter providers, customers should eventually be able to describe what they need naturally. For example: "I need a hibachi chef for 10 people in Manhattan next Saturday. My budget is around $1,500." The AI should ideally be able to: Understand the customer's request Extract information such as service, location, date, guest count, and budget Ask follow-up questions when required information is missing Search eligible providers Consider availability, location, pricing, guest count, services, ratings, and other relevant factors Recommend the strongest matches Explain why those providers are good matches Allow the customer to proceed directly into a booking request or booking flow We would also like the architecture to support future AI functionality such as: Collecting missing event information Helping customers complete booking requests Answering common customer questions Helping providers improve or complete their profiles Additional marketplace automation We are open to developer recommendations about how much AI functionality should be included in the initial MVP versus added in a subsequent phase. Technical Expectations We want the platform built with a modern, scalable technology stack. Requirements include: Responsive web application Secure authentication Customer, provider, and admin roles Role-based permissions Secure and scalable database architecture API integrations Clean and maintainable code Appropriate security and privacy practices Production deployment Source code and documentation provided at completion The platform should be structured so additional service categories and geographic markets can be added without rebuilding the core marketplace. Ideal Developer We are particularly interested in developers who have already built: Two-sided marketplaces Service marketplaces Booking platforms Stripe Connect integrations Customer/provider dashboards Admin dashboards Messaging systems Marketplace search/filtering AI or LLM integrations Experience with platforms structurally similar to Airbnb, Thumbtack, TaskRabbit, or other service marketplaces is highly relevant. Previous marketplace experience is strongly preferred. What to Include in Your Proposal Please include: Examples of relevant marketplaces or booking platforms you have personally built. Live links or demos where available. What you personally built or were responsible for on those projects. Your recommended technology stack and why. Your estimated timeline for the complete MVP. Your proposed fixed price. Your recommended milestone/payment structure. Whether you will personally complete the work or use a team/subcontractors. Your experience with Stripe Connect. Your experience integrating AI/LLMs into production applications. Which features you recommend including in the initial MVP. Which features you would postpone and why. Any recurring hosting, infrastructure, API, Stripe, AI, or other third-party costs we should expect. Please provide your own fixed-price proposal based on the project scope rather than asking for our maximum budget. We are not necessarily looking for the lowest-priced proposal. We are looking for the developer or team with the strongest combination of relevant marketplace experience, technical ability, communication, reliability, timeline, and price.