If you'd like a private, independent read on what your technology team is saying, I can give you one.
I've spent 27 years building software and 21 leading teams, and I have no stake in the answer. I look at the plan and the work behind it, talk with the people doing it, and tell you plainly what holds up and what doesn't.
90-minute call, $500. Refundable in one click.
- A plan to rewrite the product
- A budget you're asked to approve
- A launch date to sign off on
- Rewrite or fix, weighed
- An estimate that adds up
- A date you can stand behind
What I usually find
Usually, everyone is working hard
The team is usually right about a lot, too. When a plan or a number doesn't sit right with you, the trouble is underneath: you and the team mean different things by “done”, or they have the right intent but not yet the experience for the decision in front of them, or trust has worn thin on both sides.
Estimates that add up
I also push back on estimates that don't add up. On one project, a quote for four developers for three weeks came down to about one developer for three to four weeks.
The plan, not the person
Usually the plan or execution is wrong, not the person.
Some of the work
A virtual-events platform, built by six teams in several countries. I sat between the founders and the development teams, turned what users needed into what the teams would build, and tied every payment to a milestone we could check. That kept an estimated 30% cost overrun from ever happening.
A New York based VoIP company had spent nine months on an AI project that was moving at a crawl: self-hosting ASR models and LLMs for transcribing and summarizing calls, to keep costs down at scale. I recruited the right specialists, and it shipped in two months. I also drove the GPU batch-processing optimizations.
At the same company, the native iOS and Android apps were brittle and unstable. I planned and led the move to one hybrid app that shared most of its code with their web app, which was already stable. The app became much more stable, customers were happier, and it cost less to maintain, with half the team it needed before.
Clients stay unnamed here. I'm happy to walk you through any of these on a call.
How I work
Just the two of us
The first call can be just the two of us. You tell me about the plan, the budget, or the date you're being asked to sign off on.
What the plan rests on
I read the plan and the numbers behind it, and look at the code and the task tracker. What you're trying to achieve, and where things really stand. The quality of the work so far, and how the ground reality compares with how it feels to you. That can go either way: sometimes the work is worse than it looks, and sometimes it's much better than it feels, simply because it isn't finished yet. The skills the job needs against the skills on the team. Whether your timeline and budget estimates are realistic. And the gap between what I hear from leadership and what I hear from the people doing the work. That gap usually tells me the most.
Bringing the team in
I'll spend time with the people doing the work. We decide together how to bring them in.
What holds up, and what doesn't
I walk you through what holds up and what doesn't, and why. If the plan holds up, you'll know why, and you can back your team on it.
How we'd start
Everything starts with one paid call. By the end of it, we'll both know whether there's more to do, and which of the other two options fits.
A first call
- 90 minutes with me, working on your actual problem.
- Real answers and clear next steps on the calls themselves.
- Up to two follow-ups, with you or the people on your team.
- If it wasn't worth it, one click refunds the full $500.
The right first step for nearly everyone.
Some teams take the solutions and run with them on their own. That's a perfectly good outcome.
A fixed-price review
A close, independent look at the plan and the work behind it, over two to three weeks.
- The plan, the code, and the people doing the work
- Whether your timeline and budget estimates are realistic
- Solutions to the problems we find, worked out together with you and your team
Your fractional CTO
A few hours a week on the decisions that matter, alongside you and your technology team. The monthly range depends on how much of my time you need.
- An independent read on big plans, budgets, and deadlines
- Closing the gap between what leadership hears and what's happening on the ground
- A planned hand-off to your own team
Bootstrapped and pre-revenue? Book a 40-minute Founder Call for $200. It doesn't include follow-up calls, and the same one-click refund applies.
Fair questions
Because it's working time on your problem, and you get real answers on the call itself. It also covers up to two follow-ups, including calls with people on your team if needed.
Only if you want them to. If we go further than the first call, I'll need time with the people doing the work, and we'll decide together how to bring them in.
It can go either way, and I'll tell you which. If the plan holds up, you'll know why, and you can back your team on it.
The plan and the numbers behind it, access to the code and the task tracker, and time with the people doing the work, when you're ready.
Only as the last option. Usually the plan or execution is wrong, not the person.
Book your first call
Pick a time that works for you. The first call can be just the two of us.
$500 for the first call
- 90 minutes with me, working on your actual problem.
- Real answers and clear next steps on the calls themselves.
- Up to two follow-ups, with you or the people on your team.
- If it wasn't worth it, one click refunds the full $500.
Need more than one person? Rawzor is my firm, a small senior team of experts that works alongside your people. Explore rawzor.com →