Senior architecture. Without the senior salary.
Your startup needs someone making architecture decisions, mentoring developers, and designing AI workflows. You do not need to spend $300K+ and 6 months finding a full-time VP of Engineering.
30 years of enterprise engineering. Products built with AI agents. Applied at startup speed.
The startup engineering trap.
You are moving fast. But without senior technical guidance, speed creates debt that compounds.
You need the experience now. Not in 6 months.
CTO-level guidance. Startup-friendly terms.
Flexible commitment. No equity. Scale up or down as your stage changes.
Architecture & tech stack
System design, technology selection, and scalability planning. Decisions informed by 30 years of seeing what breaks at scale — so you build it right the first time.
AI-native from day one
Design AI into your workflow from the start. Agent orchestration, automated testing, content pipelines — not retrofitted later but built into your development DNA.
Hire and grow your team
Job descriptions, interview design, candidate screening, and onboarding. Build a team that can run independently when you are ready to hire a full-time lead.
Technical due diligence
Prepare your codebase and architecture for investor scrutiny. Technical documentation, security review, and scalability analysis that gives investors confidence.
Roadmap & prioritization
Translate business goals into engineering priorities. Build-vs-buy analysis, sprint planning, and the discipline to say "not yet" to features that do not matter yet.
Founder translation
Bridge the gap between business vision and technical execution. I make engineering trade-offs understandable for non-technical founders and stakeholders.
I build products the same way you do.
I am not just an advisor who watches. I build my own products using AI agents — BlackOps Center, VitalWall, SilverBullet. I ship code daily with Claude Code and custom agent workflows.
When I advise your startup, I am drawing from both enterprise scale (Fortune 500 commerce platforms, 100+ developer teams) and indie builder speed (solo products shipped with AI agents). Your startup gets both lenses.
Common questions
What startup founders ask before we work together.
At what stage should a startup bring in a fractional CTO?
Typically when you have a product in market (or close to it) and a small engineering team (2-15 devs) making architecture decisions that will compound. Too early and there is nothing to architect. Too late and you are rewriting everything.
How is this different from hiring a technical cofounder?
A technical cofounder is full-time, takes equity, and shares the existential risk. A fractional CTO gives you the same caliber of technical leadership on a flexible schedule without equity dilution. If you find the right cofounder, take them. Until then, do not let architecture decisions go unmade.
Can you help us build with AI from the start?
Yes — and this is one of the biggest advantages of starting now. I help startups design AI-native workflows from day one instead of retrofitting later. AI agent orchestration, automated testing, content pipelines — built into your process, not bolted on.
What if we need more hours some weeks?
Flex up when you need it (pre-launch, fundraising, hiring sprint) and flex down when things stabilize. The engagement adapts to your stage, not the other way around.
Do you work with non-technical founders?
Frequently. I translate between engineering and business — helping non-technical founders understand trade-offs, evaluate vendors, interview engineers, and make informed technology decisions. You do not need a CS degree to be an effective CEO if you have the right technical advisor.
Will you help us hire our first engineers?
Yes. Job descriptions, technical interview design, candidate screening, and culture fit evaluation. I have hired and managed 100+ developers. I know what good looks like at every level.
What about your enterprise background — is that relevant to startups?
Enterprise experience means I know what breaks at scale. I help startups avoid architecture decisions that work at 10 users but collapse at 10,000. You get the patterns that survive growth without the bureaucracy that slows it.
How quickly can you start?
Usually within a week of the discovery call. There is no procurement process or vendor approval. We talk, we agree on scope, and I start learning your codebase.
Find out what your architecture needs before it needs fixing.
A 30-minute architecture review covering your stack decisions, scaling risks, and where AI can accelerate your next milestone.
No equity. No commitment. You will leave with specific priorities.
Book a Discovery CallFree 30-minute review. No equity. Concrete recommendations.