Technical decisions are piling up — and nobody senior is making them.
I join your company as an embedded technical partner — a few hours a week, week after week. I own the architecture and technology calls with you, raise the engineering and hiring bar, sit in the vendor and board conversations. And when the gap becomes permanent, I help you hire the person who replaces me.
A small, honest first step: a clear picture of where you stand and what I'd do — before you commit to anything bigger.
"You have a product, a team, and a lot of movement — but you're not sure it's moving in the right direction." Most of my engagements start with a founder saying something like that. If it sounds familiar, you're exactly who I do this for.
Sound familiar?
We have a team that ships, but no one owns the big technical calls.
Investors expect a technical leader in the room and we don't have one.
Architecture and hiring decisions are happening ad hoc — I can feel the debt piling up.
A full-time CTO is $250–350K and overkill for where we are. But the gap is real.
If a couple of those sound like you, the Fit Call below is exactly where this starts.
I've been building software since I was 15 — it's still just as fun as building sand castles on the beach. I love building software; getting paid for it is a wonderful side-effect. The embedded work is my favorite kind precisely because it isn't a transaction: I get to know your product, your people, and your ambitions, and I stick around long enough to see the decisions play out. If we work together, you should genuinely enjoy the Tuesday call.
Is this right for you?
You’re probably a good fit if…
- You have a real product and a team that ships — roughly 3+ engineers, $8K+/month in product spend, or a build budget of $30K+.
- You need senior judgment a few hours a week (8–12), not another pair of hands writing code full-time.
- You want someone to own the technical calls with you — architecture, hiring bar, vendors, build-vs-buy — not just comment on them.
- You're open to a partner who plans his own exit: when a gap becomes permanent, I help you hire the full-timer and step back to oversight.
Probably not a fit (yet) if…
- You need someone to write the code full-time. My job is judgment and leadership — I don't rent you another developer.
- You're earlier than this. The Fit Call is still free advice — I'll tell you honestly what I'd do in your shoes, even if it's "don't hire me yet."
What I usually own
Each of these comes with the outcome it produced — a track record, not a menu.
Architecture & technical strategy
The calls that are expensive to get wrong — made with you, owned by me.
9 months stalled → shipped in 2
The engineering & hiring bar
Interviews, vetting, team shape — the bar rises and stays there.
13 → 4 people at ~2× delivery
Vendor, budget & build-vs-buy calls
Protecting your money, not just your codebase.
~30% overrun prevented
Board & investor-facing credibility
Someone who's been the last line of defense before, in the room when it matters.
AI that actually ships
Production AI grounded in reality, not demos.
Vibe-coded app → App Store
What embedded looks like in practice
Stalled 9 months → shipped in 2
A self-hosted AI initiative at a US VoIP company had been stuck for nine months. I recruited the right specialists and we shipped it in two — then stayed on as embedded technical leadership across 6+ concurrent product lines at 3–10 hrs/week.
13 people → 4, ~2× delivery
Rebuilt a 13-person, 3-country team on a US telehealth/VoIP product into a lean 4-person remote team while roughly doubling delivery — by consolidating five native codebases into one hybrid app.
~30% overrun prevented
As embedded CTO for a 50,000-concurrent-user 3D/WebGL platform across ~6 distributed sub-teams, translated founder intent into technical scope and milestone governance — preventing an estimated ~30% budget escalation.
Vibe-coded → App Store
Took over a consumer AI app entirely "vibe-coded" by non-technical founders, hardened front-end and back-end, and led it through beta to public App Store launch.
A small, honest first step: a clear picture of where you stand and what I'd do — before you commit to anything bigger.
Book a Fit Call →How we work together
Four phases — and the last one is me making myself unnecessary.
- 1
Discovery & Assessment
Weeks 1–2
I learn your product, codebase, team, and goals; you get a clear, prioritized technical picture. This is where the Fit Call — and, if useful, a technical leadership audit — leads.
- 2
Quick Wins & Foundation
Month 1
Visible momentum: the urgent calls get made, delivery stabilizes, the team feels the difference.
- 3
Scale & Optimize
Months 2–6
We execute the roadmap together: architecture, hiring, vendors, cost.
- 4
Transition & Hand-off
Ongoing
I transfer what I know, help hire the permanent leader when you're ready, and step back to oversight.
I make myself replaceable — that's the point. What you get is a stronger company that eventually doesn't need me — not a consultant who never leaves.
I bill only the exact time I actually work — never a flat 160 hours a month.
Book a short Fit Call. We'll talk through where you stand and what I'd do in your shoes — honest advice either way, no pressure.
Book a Fit Call →One front door. No pressure.
Fractional CTO Fit Call
Free
A small, honest first step: a clear picture of where you stand and what I'd do, before committing to anything bigger. If a deeper look helps, a fixed-scope technical leadership audit comes next.
Book itEmbedded Fractional CTO retainer
$8–12K/mo
8–12 hrs/week of embedded technical leadership (advisory tier $4–6K/mo). 3-month minimum. I deliberately keep the number of embedded clients small, so each one gets real attention.
Most engagements start with the Fit Call and a fixed-scope audit — you'll know exactly what you're buying before the retainer question ever comes up.
Fair questions
Why not just hire a full-time CTO?
When you have full-time-CTO-sized problems every week, hire one — and I'll help you do it. Until then, you get the same caliber of judgment for a fraction of the cost, and a partner whose plan is to make himself unnecessary.
How do I know you'll have time for us?
I cap the number of embedded clients, and I bill only the time I actually work. You'll never be one logo in a portfolio of forty.
Will you actually be hands-on enough?
I've been my teams' last line of defense for two decades — when something is truly stuck, I go in myself. But my job is judgment and leadership, not renting you another developer.
What if we outgrow the arrangement?
That's success. Phase 4 of every engagement is hiring the person who replaces me.
Start with a conversation
Book a short Fit Call. We'll talk through where you stand and what I'd do in your shoes — honest advice either way, 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.