I've seen this problem before. In a different industry.
Fractional CTO with 30 years across fintech, gaming, and communications. Skype, Wise, Playtech. Your tech debt, your hiring order, your cloud bill, your stuck AI pilots: none of it is new. Most of it is fixable in weeks.
Currently taking 1–2 new engagements.
Technical clarity for leaders who need real answers, not just reassurance.
System Architecture
Design systems that are easier to extend than to rewrite. The right early decisions around data models, service boundaries, and integrations prevent years of painful migration later.
Fractional CTO
Part-time technical leadership for founders who need senior judgment without a full-time hire. Own the roadmap, represent technology to investors, and stay hands-on enough with the team and codebase to keep delivery on track.
Team & Process
Build high-performing engineering teams: hiring frameworks, onboarding, rituals that scale. Process that enables, not obstructs. Engineering culture that attracts the right people.
Background
30 years building software and leading teams across fintech, gaming, and communications. Skype, Wise, Playtech. Seven industries in total.
Plus a few that did not survive. Opinions about dashboards: strong.
- Skype
- Wise
- Playtech
- Delfi
What this looks like in practice
Mobile consolidation
A B2C startup was paying to maintain four separate codebases for one product. We consolidated to one client-side codebase and cut development costs by roughly 60%.
Read case study →Fractional CTO + vendor build
An early-stage founder needed someone to manage an external vendor on his behalf. The result: a working prototype in two months, and the product is still in active development on the same stack today.
Read case study →Post-CTO rescue
A Series B SaaS company lost its CTO and started to drift. Two weeks of focused work produced a two-month execution plan for cutting server costs, a reorganised team, and a one-year roadmap. The plan delivered a 40% cost reduction without further input from me.
Read case study →Pre-seed CTO + prototype
A pre-seed founder needed a named CTO for investors and a working prototype, not just slides. Both came from the same person, and the company has been running on its own engineering team since.
Read case study →Insights
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The Gated AI Workflow
A structured 5-step framework I developed to maximise AI output reliability. Moves from hope-based prompting to a governed, iterative process that validates understanding before execution.
Read article →
Our Process
- 01
Discovery Call: 30 minutes
Tell me about your challenges. I'll respond within 24 hours and we'll figure out what kind of support makes sense.
- 02
Proposal
A short, written overview of how we'd work together: scope, rhythm, and commitment; no boilerplate; crafted for your situation.
- 03
Kickoff
Depending on your team size, the first two weeks are about listening and learning: your codebase, your business logic, your people. First observations within two weeks.
- 04
Ongoing
We find a rhythm that works. Weekly check-ins, hands-on when needed, advisory when necessary. Early engagements often need more intensity; later, a lighter touch is enough.
How We Work Together
Every engagement is different. Earlier-stage companies often need more intensity upfront: architecture decisions, hiring the first engineers, setting up the foundation. More established teams usually need a lighter touch, a few hours a week for guidance and oversight. Either way, scope and pricing are crafted around your situation: by days or hours per week, for a fixed period or ongoing. Tight budgets welcome.
FAQ
What is a Fractional CTO?
A Fractional CTO is a senior technology executive who provides strategic leadership and technical expertise on a part-time or contractual basis. You get the experience and decision-making of a seasoned CTO without the cost and commitment of a full-time hire.
Is this right for me?
Two kinds of people usually reach out. Founders where technical decisions are keeping them up at night: architecture, hiring, investor questions. And investors who want a trusted second opinion on a portfolio company's engineering: due diligence, CTO searches, or a quiet check when something feels off. If you just need a developer, probably not — a Fractional CTO makes sense when you need someone to think alongside you, not just execute.
How does cost compare to a full-time CTO?
Significantly less. You avoid the full salary, benefits, and long-term commitment of a permanent hire. When you're ready to hire a full-time CTO, I can help you find the right one.
Do you write code?
Yes, I can. And no, you shouldn't hire me for that. Thirty years of writing code means I can read your codebase in a week and tell you what's dangerous. That's where the leverage is, not in adding another PR to your queue.
What industries do you work with?
My background is in fintech, gaming, and communications: industries with real complexity, compliance requirements, and scale. But technical leadership challenges are universal.
Can you help with investor relations?
Yes. I can help build a credible technology roadmap, prepare technical due diligence materials, and speak confidently to investors about your architecture and product vision.
How is this different from Upwork or Fiverr?
Platforms give you a marketplace. You get a partner: one person who knows your codebase, your team, and your business context, and who you can reach directly when something breaks or a decision needs to be made: no middlemen; no account managers; no starting from scratch every time.
Book a 30-minute engineering teardown
If you want to make the right technical decisions before they become expensive, let's talk.