A self-hosted AI project sat stalled for nine months. We shipped it in two.
I help founders whose builds have gone quiet find out what's actually wrong, and get them shipping again.
A small, honest first step: a clear picture of your code, team, and vendor before you commit to anything bigger.
You're paying for a build every month, and you honestly can't tell whether it's nearly done or going nowhere. Most of my rescues start with a founder saying almost exactly that sentence. If it sounds familiar, you're in the right place.
Sound familiar?
I'm paying an agency every month but I can't tell if we're actually moving.
I don't know if the architecture will hold up, or if we're even building the right thing.
I need someone accountable for 'is this being built right?' Not another contractor.
A full-time CTO is $250K+ and months away. I need senior judgment now.
Honestly? I just want someone to tell me the truth about where this stands.
If two of those sound like you, the audit below was built for exactly this.
I've been building software for 27 years, and it's still just as fun as building sand castles on the beach. So when a founder shows me a build that's gone sideways, I'm not looking for someone to blame, just the shortest honest path back to working software. Sometimes the most useful thing I can do is simply help you see your situation clearly, even if you never hire me.
Is this right for you?
You’re probably a good fit if…
- An agency, freelancers, or a small team is building your product, and delivery has stalled or stopped making sense.
- Your team is 3+ developers, product spend is $8K+/month, or the project budget is $30K+.
- You want senior judgment in your corner a few hours a week, not another contractor to manage.
- You're ready for an honest answer, even if it's "the build is mostly fine; here's the real problem."
Probably not a fit (yet) if…
- You need someone to write the code rather than someone to make the build work. I don't rent you developers. I make sure the right ones get hired and actually deliver.
- There's no build and no budget yet. Save yourself the expensive lessons and come back when you're ready, no hard feelings.
What I take off your plate
Titles are just evidence of range. What matters is the outcome attached to each one.
Rescue / Embedded CTO
Own technical direction, unblock the build, put the right process around the team.
9 months stalled → shipped in 2
Delivery leadership
Standups, issue tracking, CI/CD, milestone-tied vendor payments. Delivery becomes predictable.
13 → 4 people at ~2× delivery
Vendor & budget governance
Renegotiate scope and keep payments tied to verified work. Your team's last line of defense.
~30% overrun avoided
Head of AI, when AI is core
Build-vs-buy and architecture calls grounded in production reality, not demos.
Vibe-coded app → App Store
Technical hiring partner
When a gap becomes permanent, I help you hire and onboard the right person, then step back to oversight.
Rescues that shipped
9 months stalled → shipped in 2
A US VoIP company's self-hosted AI project had been stuck for nine months. I recruited the right specialist team, installed standups, GitHub Issues, and CI/CD. It shipped in two.
13 → 4 people, ~2× delivery
Rebuilt a 13-person, 3-country team into a lean 4-person remote team while roughly doubling delivery. What made it possible was consolidating five native codebases into one hybrid app.
~30% overrun avoided
As the bridge between founders and their dev partner on a virtual-events platform, translated needs into implementation and kept scope honest.
Vibe-coded → App Store
Took a founder-built AI app, led a human review and cleanup of front-end and back-end, and shipped a hardened public release.
A small, honest first step: a clear picture of your code, team, and vendor before you commit to anything bigger.
Start with a Rescue Audit →How we work together
A rescue shouldn't mean 'forever'. Four phases, and the last one is me leaving.
- 1
Discovery & Assessment
Weeks 1–2
The Rescue Audit: a fixed-scope review of your code, team, vendor, contract, and roadmap. You leave with a prioritized fix plan you own, whatever you decide next.
- 2
Quick Wins & Foundation
Month 1
Install the process that makes delivery visible: standups, issue tracking, CI/CD, milestone-tied payments. Momentum you can see.
- 3
Scale & Optimize
Months 2–6
Execute the roadmap, right-size the team, harden the architecture.
- 4
Transition & Hand-off
Ongoing
Transfer knowledge to your permanent team, help hire the person who replaces me, and step back to oversight.
I make myself replaceable. That's the point.
I bill only the exact time I work, never a flat 160 hours a month.
Book a short call. We'll talk through where things are stuck, and whether the Rescue Audit is the right first step. No pitch, no pressure.
Start with a Rescue Audit →Start small. On purpose.
Outsourcing Rescue Audit
$3.5–6K fixed
A fixed-scope review of your code, team, vendor, and roadmap, ending in a prioritized fix plan. A small, honest first step. You get a clear picture before committing to anything bigger.
Book itEmbedded Fractional CTO
$8–12K/mo
If the audit shows ongoing leadership is what you need. A capped number of embedded clients, billed only for time actually worked, a fraction of a $250K+ full-time hire.
Most engagements start with the audit. Some end there too. A clear fix plan you run yourself is a perfectly good outcome.
Fair questions
Will you just write the code?
I make sure the right developers get hired and actually deliver. I don't rent them to you. You own the team; I own the outcome.
I can't afford a CTO.
You're not hiring one. The Rescue Audit is a fixed, small first step, and the retainer (if we ever get there) is a fraction of a $250K+ full-time hire.
Will I end up dependent on a consultant who never leaves?
The engagement model literally ends with me helping you hire my replacement. I make myself replaceable. That's the point.
What if the audit says my agency is fine?
Then you'll know, and you'll have a prioritized plan either way. Sometimes clarity is the first deliverable.
Why should I trust you over my agency's reassurances?
I'm not selling you a rebuild. I bill only the exact time I work, the audit is fixed-scope, and my incentive is the fix plan being right, not the project growing.
Find out where your build actually stands
Book a short call. We'll talk through where things are stuck, and whether the Rescue Audit is the right first step. No pitch, no pressure.
Email works best right now. Write a couple of lines about where things stand and you’ll get a real reply from a real person, usually within a day.