Architecture, AI-first delivery, hiring, due diligence. Long-form essays and short dispatches on the technical decisions that quietly shape startups -- written by an operator, not a content team.
The fractional-to-full-time CTO progression and how to know when you actually need a full-time engineering leader. Real examples from startups that waited too long and ones that hired too early, from 200+ client projects.
Read the article →What to look for in technical due diligence before acquiring a startup - the red flags, deal-breakers, and the process for doing it right. From …
Why software estimates are wrong, how to plan around that fact, and what founders should actually ask their engineers. A practical guide from a fractional …
Patterns from 200+ software products shipped over 15 years - what changes, what stays the same, and what really determines whether a software project succeeds. …
How to make good technical decisions when you do not have all the information. A practical framework from a fractional CTO with 200+ startup projects …
How to run a blameless post-mortem that produces action items engineers actually implement. A practitioner's template and cultural guidance from 200+ startup projects.
The real cost of vendor lock-in and when it is actually fine. A fractional CTO's honest assessment of when lock-in is a real risk vs. …
Why most technology roadmaps fail and what to do instead. A practitioner's guide to building a realistic tech roadmap that stays connected to business reality, …
A week-by-week breakdown of what a fractional CTO actually does in the first 30 days of an engagement. Real activities, real deliverables, from 200+ client …
My actual process for evaluating startup technical architecture - what I look at first, the questions I ask, and the deliverable format. A practitioner's guide …
How a fractional CTO helps traditional companies - manufacturing, logistics, healthcare - build their first software product. The playbook for organizations that have never shipped …
What a fractional CTO does for Web3 startups - smart contract audit preparation, wallet infrastructure design, regulatory awareness, and the technical decisions that separate serious …
PropTech startup architecture decisions - MLS integrations, map and search design, property data pipelines, and the technical decisions that determine whether a real estate tech …
When to leave Shopify, how headless commerce works, and the architecture decisions that determine whether your e-commerce startup can scale. A Fractional CTO's perspective from …
What a fractional CTO does for marketplace startups - matching algorithms, payment flows, trust and safety systems, and the architectural decisions that determine whether a …
What a fractional CTO does for edtech startups - content delivery at scale, assessment engine design, accessibility requirements, and the technical decisions that determine whether …
What a fractional CTO does for fintech startups - PCI DSS architecture, banking API strategy, fraud prevention design, and how to move fast without creating …
What a fractional CTO does for healthtech startups - HIPAA architecture decisions, EHR integrations, and the build vs buy questions that make or break compliance …
Cases where simple logic beats machine learning, the real risks of premature AI adoption, and how to tell when an AI feature would hurt more …
155 articles, 27+ tags. Pick a thread and pull.
One long-form essay a week. No spam, no SEO filler. Written by an operating CTO who's still shipping.