Sunnyvale · Silicon Valley Taking 2 new engagements · Q2 2026

Your startup needs a CTO.
Not a full-time one. — Aleksandr Protsiuk · 15 years · 200+ products shipped

I help early-stage founders make the right technical decisions — architecture, stack, hiring, launch. The questions that quietly cost six to twelve months when you get them wrong.

Aleksandr Protsiuk — Fractional CTO
SF · CA
Founder & CTO, Zavod-IT
Architecture & Stack MVP to Series B AI-First Development Engineering Hiring Technical Due Diligence Django · Node · Flutter · Next.js LLM & RAG Systems Workflow Automation Architecture & Stack MVP to Series B AI-First Development Engineering Hiring Technical Due Diligence Django · Node · Flutter · Next.js LLM & RAG Systems Workflow Automation
Aleksandr Protsiuk
TC Disrupt SF
Hello A short introduction

I'm Aleksandr Protsiuk, founder of Zavod-IT. I started the company in 2011 and over 15 years delivered 200+ products for clients worldwide. Today I work as a fractional CTO for early-stage startups — backed by the same engineering infrastructure I built over the last decade, including 200+ AI coding agents.

A. Protsiuk
Founder & CTO · Zavod-IT Sunnyvale, CA · since 2011
01 — The problem Why you're here

You raised money. You have a prototype. Now the real decisions start.

Maybe a working demo on Lovable or Replit. Maybe a deck and a deadline. Either way — the next decisions you make are the ones that quietly cost you six to twelve months if you get them wrong.

  • Q.01Which stack actually scales from MVP to Series B?
  • Q.02How do you structure your data model so it doesn't break at 10× users?
  • Q.03Hire engineers, or go AI-first from day one?
  • Q.04Is the codebase you have worth keeping — or should you rebuild?
  • Q.05How do you pass technical due diligence when investors look under the hood?

You don't need a $300K/year CTO to answer these.
You need someone who has answered them 200 times before.

Book the call →
02 — How I work Four ways in

Pick the shape that fits. Scale up when it's working.

Most founders start with a Consultation or an Audit, then move into an MVP build or fractional retainer once we know what to build.

A — Consultation

Paid consultation

$200 / hour

One hour, one problem, one answer. Bring your specific technical question — stack choice, architecture decision, build vs. buy, hiring strategy, due-diligence prep — and leave with a clear direction.

  • 60-min video call, recorded
  • Written summary with recommendations
  • No strings attached — use the advice however you want
B — Audit

CTO audit

1–2 weeks · fixed

Your starting point. I review what you have — code, architecture, infrastructure, team — and deliver a roadmap you can act on (or hand to investors).

  • Architecture & stack assessment
  • Data-model & scalability review
  • Security & gap analysis
  • Prioritized 90-day roadmap
  • Written report you can share
D — Retainer

Fractional CTO

Ongoing · monthly

Technical leadership without a full-time hire. I join your team part-time and own the technical direction — including the conversations with engineers, investors, and clients.

  • Architecture decisions & code review
  • Engineering hiring & team building
  • Technical due diligence prep
  • Investor & client-facing credibility
  • Weekly syncs · async availability
03 — Why me Credentials, briefly

200 products. One operator.

15 years of commercial software.

Not side projects, not tutorials. 200+ shipped products across SaaS, FinTech, HealthTech, Crypto, Education, and E-commerce.

Since 2009

Full-stack — not just backend.

Python/Django, Node, React, Next.js, Flutter, Postgres, Redis, AWS, GCP. One operator covers the whole stack — no hand-offs, no comms overhead.

End-to-end

Silicon Valley, in person.

Based in Sunnyvale. I meet founders in person when it matters — and I can sit across the table from your investors.

Sunnyvale · CA

Stanford 2023 · VC program.

I understand how investors evaluate technology and technical teams — because I've been on the other side of that question.

Stanford GSB

API World 2024 winner.

1st place — Silicon Valley hackathon. Built and shipped under pressure. The same way I work for my clients.

San Jose · 2024

YC Startup School.

Y Combinator

AI-first by default.

I build with 200+ specialized AI agents daily. Not a gimmick — it's how one operator delivers $100K+ scope at a fraction of the cost.

See section 04
04 — The system How I deliver

You're not hiring one person.
You're hiring a system.

A framework where specialized AI agents handle different parts of the build — and I architect, review, and orchestrate everything. Every task tracked. Every decision logged. Every line reviewed.

ai-zavod · orchestration platform
Recorded · May 12
ai-zavod — the agent orchestration platform Aleksandr built. 195 agents across 25 projects, mid-conversation with a teamlead agent.
Fig. 01· The internal control plane. 195 agents across 25 projects, mid-conversation with a teamlead. Internal product · not publicly listed
Aggregated · platform stats Last activity just now
Active agents
195
Tasks completed · all time
4,247
+87 last 7 days
Active projects
6
Anonymized · in-flight
Commits reviewed · 30d
340
Recent activity

Architect

×1

Decides the technology stack, designs the data model, plans API structure. Writes the architecture documents and specs that every other agent works against.

SpecsDiagramsReviews

Backend

×42

Server-side code — Django, Node, Postgres. APIs, authentication, multi-tenancy, migrations. Multiple agents work different modules in parallel.

DjangoNodePostgres

Mobile

×31

Flutter for iOS, Android, macOS. UI implementation, state, API integration, localization across 14+ languages.

FlutteriOSAndroid

Frontend

×28

React and Next.js — dashboards, admin panels, landing pages. Responsive, accessible, fast.

Next.jsReactTailwind

DevOps

×24

AWS / GCP infrastructure, Docker, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, deployment scripts. The plumbing that lets the rest of the system work.

AWSGCPDocker

QA

×33

Writes and runs tests. Catches bugs before production. Reviews code against architecture standards.

PytestE2EReview

CMO & Content

×38

Marketing strategy, SEO content, social publishing, competitive analysis. Yes — even marketing runs on agents.

SEOSocialResearch

Aleksandr

×1

Architecting, reviewing, orchestrating. Every deliverable goes through me before it goes to you. The system has a human at the wheel.

StrategyReviewYou
04.b — How it works

From brief to shipped, in five steps.

Step 01
You describe what you need.

Brief, deck, prototype, sketch — whatever you have. We talk it through on a Zoom.

Step 02
I break it into architecture and tasks.

The architecture document, the data model, the task graph. The map the agents work against.

Step 03
Agents build in parallel.

Backend, frontend, mobile — running at the same time, not in sequence. That's where the speed comes from.

Step 04
I review every deliverable.

Against the architecture. Against the standards. Nothing reaches you without my sign-off.

Step 05
You get a production product.

Documented, tested, deployed, transferable. Not a prototype. Not a "next sprint we'll clean it up." Shipped.

Traditional agency
$100K+ · 4–6 months
A project manager, a team of contractors, a slide-deck delivery. Quality dependent on individuals you'll never meet.
This system
Fraction of the cost · 4–8 weeks
Same architecture rigor. Full documentation — because every agent logs every decision. One human at the wheel. No "bus factor" — the system is transferable.
Solo builder / vibe-coder
Cheap · fragile
Fast but un-reviewable. Works in demo, falls over at scale. No documentation, no tests, no path to a hire-able codebase.
05 — Fit Two short lists

Honest about who this is for.

Who this is for

  • +Seed → Series B founders making technical decisions without a full-time CTO.
  • +Non-technical founders with a prototype who need production infrastructure.
  • +Technical founders who want a second opinion on architecture before scaling.
  • +PE / VC portfolio companies that need a real technical assessment.

Who this is not for

  • —Companies that need a body shop or staff augmentation.
  • —Projects with no budget at all. I don't work for equity only.
  • —Founders who aren't ready to move fast.
  • —Engagements that need a yes-man instead of an opinion.
06 — Portfolio Selected from 200+

A decade and a half of real things in production.

A short sample, grouped by domain. Client names withheld where I don't have permission to share them.

07 — Voices What founders say

Real words, real founders.

"

We had a Lovable prototype that looked good in demos but broke with real users. Aleksandr audited the code, gave us a clear roadmap, and rebuilt the backend with his agent system in five weeks. We launched on time.

-- Founder, AI / SaaS startup (Seed)
"

I needed someone who could tell me honestly whether our architecture would survive Series A due diligence. He found three critical issues in the first call and gave us a 90-day fix plan. The investors had zero technical concerns at close.

-- CEO, HealthTech (Series A)
"

What surprised me most was the speed. We went from a product spec to a working MVP with backend, mobile app, and admin panel in six weeks. The same scope was quoted at four months and 3x the price by two agencies.

-- Founder, FinTech startup
08 — FAQ Straight answers

The questions every founder asks.

Q.01

How much does it cost?

CTO Audit starts at a few thousand dollars. MVP builds are fixed-price based on scope. Retainers are monthly. Book a call and I'll give you a straight answer for your specific situation — no pricing-page games.
+
Q.02

Do you actually write code yourself?

Yes. I architect, review, and build alongside the AI agents. This is not a "I'll manage offshore developers for you" arrangement. I'm hands-on — and I'm the one who reviews every commit before it reaches your repo.
+
Q.03

Can I hire you full-time?

Potentially. If we work together and the company is growing, we can discuss transitioning from fractional to full-time. Several of my engagements have evolved that way.
+
Q.04

Do you take equity?

Sometimes — as a small kicker on top of cash compensation. I don't work for equity only.
+
Q.05

What's your stack?

Backend: Python/Django, Node, Postgres, Redis. Frontend: React, Next.js. Mobile: Flutter (iOS, Android, macOS). Infrastructure: AWS, GCP, Cloudflare, Docker. AI/ML: OpenAI, Anthropic, RAG pipelines, vector DBs. Integrations: Telegram API, Stripe, Calendly, n8n, Zapier. But I'm stack-agnostic at the architecture level — I'll recommend what's right for your product, not what's most comfortable for me.
+
Q.06

How fast can you start?

Usually within one week of signing.
+
09 — Field notes

The Working CTO. Once a month, in your inbox.

A short, expert dispatch on the technical decisions that quietly shape startups — stack picks, architecture trade-offs, hiring traps, AI-first patterns, technical-due-diligence checklists. No fluff. No SEO filler. Unsubscribe in one click.

CadenceMonthly · ~8 min read
Readers2,400+ founders & operators
Next issueEnd of May 2026
Issue #18 · May 2026

One CTO. Two hundred agents. The economics of AI-first delivery.

Previously · Issue #17 Passing technical due diligence: the questions every Series A investor will ask. 8 min · April 2026
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10 — Talk

Tell me
what you're building.

Book a 30-minute intro call. No pitch, no pressure. Tell me what you're building — I'll tell you if I can help.

Direct alp@zavod-it.com Replies within 1 business day
Phone / WhatsApp +1 (415) 579-7172 Sunnyvale · PST
Based in Sunnyvale, CA
Silicon Valley
In person when it matters
Elsewhere LinkedIn · Twitter · Medium @a_protsyuk