Robert Sapp
Co-Founder & CEO, Maxx Effect
I build fast Next.js websites, AI automation workflows, and data infrastructure for small businesses across Muskegon and West Michigan. Before Maxx Effect, I built the AI-powered case management system a 180-employee immigration law firm uses to handle 7,000+ active cases. That work is how I know the same patterns scale down to a Norton Shores dental practice or a lakeshore contractor.
Production work at scale
Specific projects, specific numbers. What I have actually shipped, not what I claim to know.
Built and maintained a production AI-powered CRM for a 180-employee immigration law firm handling thousands of simultaneous case files.
Distributed team using the system daily: attorneys, paralegals, intake specialists, and managing partners.
pgvector-backed semantic search across the firm's entire case document history. Natural-language queries answered in under 2 seconds.
Claude-powered document intake pipeline dropped average USCIS form processing time from 18 minutes to under 90 seconds.
Why Muskegon, why Maxx Effect
I have been a full-stack developer for over a decade. Most of that time was spent shipping complex software for larger teams, including the immigration law firm CRM that taught me how to build AI systems that real people actually use every day, not just demos. When 180 people depend on a tool to do their jobs, you learn quickly that reliability and speed are not features. They are the whole product.
That project reshaped how I build. Page loads dropped from nine seconds to a little over one, which sounds like a vanity metric until you multiply it across a firm running the app 8 hours a day. A document intake pipeline pushed USCIS form processing from 18 minutes to under 90 seconds. Two hundred thousand case documents became searchable in plain English through pgvector embeddings. None of it was possible with a page builder or an off-the-shelf plugin, and that is the lesson I carried into Maxx Effect.
West Michigan small businesses, from lakeshore restaurants to the trades, are being handed AI tools built for enterprise clients and billed at enterprise rates. They are also being sold $500 template sites from out-of-state freelancers that collapse within a year. There is almost nothing in between that is both modern and affordable.
Maxx Effect exists to fill that gap. Custom Next.js websites built on the same stack behind the law firm CRM. AI automation scoped down to a single workflow that pays for itself in three months. Published pricing so owners know what they are buying. You keep your code, your content, and your domain. There is no proprietary system holding your site hostage, and no monthly fee required just to keep it online.
I live in Muskegon. I work with lakeshore clients in person and Grand Rapids clients mostly remote. My goal is for Muskegon small businesses to look at the technology gap between them and their Grand Rapids or Chicago competitors and find that gap closed.
Deployed, tested, and monitored
Every site and workflow deploys to Vercel with automated checks: a preview build on every change, Lighthouse and Core Web Vitals gates, and health monitoring after launch. You get a real URL to review at the end of each two-week sprint, not a status email.
What I work with day-to-day
Web Development
- Next.js 16 (App Router + Server Components)
- TypeScript (strict)
- React 19 + Server Actions
- CSS Modules + design systems
- Three.js / React Three Fiber
- Framer Motion
AI & Automation
- Claude Agent SDK
- GPT-5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 production integrations
- AI knowledge-base pipelines
- AI system tuning + evaluation
- Human-in-the-loop workflow design
- CRM integration (HubSpot, Pipedrive, custom)
Data & Infrastructure
- PostgreSQL + Supabase (Row-Level Security)
- pgvector for embeddings + semantic search
- Vercel deployment + edge functions
- Stripe subscriptions + webhooks
- OAuth + SSO integrations
- Core Web Vitals optimization (95+ Lighthouse)
SEO & Growth
- Local SEO for West Michigan markets
- Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
- Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
- Complete structured data implementation
- AI-search discovery optimization
- Core Web Vitals + INP optimization
Selected work
Working with Rob
What does Rob actually build?
Custom Next.js websites, AI automation workflows, and the data infrastructure behind them. In practice that means fast marketing sites for local businesses, chatbots and document-intake pipelines that cut manual work, and Postgres/Supabase backends with semantic search. Every build ships on the same stack: Next.js 16, TypeScript, Supabase, and Vercel.
Does Rob write the code himself?
Yes. On a Maxx Effect project the person who scopes the work is the person who writes it. For larger builds the team pairs in, but there is no layer of account managers between you and the developer, which is the main reason projects move in weeks rather than quarters.
What is the immigration law firm CRM Rob keeps referencing?
A production case-management system built for a 180-employee immigration firm running thousands of active files. It brought page loads from nine seconds to a little over one, dropped USCIS form processing from 18 minutes to under 90 seconds, and made 200,000-plus case documents searchable in plain English. It is the proof that what holds up for a 180-person firm can be sized down for a small business.
Which areas around Muskegon does Rob serve?
Muskegon, Norton Shores, and Grand Haven clients are usually served in person. Holland and Grand Rapids projects run mostly remote, with on-site meetings when a build needs them. The whole point is closing the technology gap between West Michigan businesses and their larger-market competitors.
How do I start a project with Rob?
Run your site through the free audit for an instant read on speed, SEO, and AI-search readiness, or book a 30-minute call to talk through the work. You get a straight assessment and a published price, not a sales pitch.
Want to work together?
I take on a small number of projects at a time so every client gets real attention. Tell me about your website, your AI workflow, or what is eating your team's hours, and I will send back an honest assessment.
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