I help founders build products that raise rounds and teams that ship.
Fractional CTO & engineering advisor for startups.
I'm hands-on, accountable, and embedded.
20+ years in engineering · 50+ engineers managed · $75M+ raised
Is this for you?
The best engagements come from strong fit. A bit of honesty here will save us both time.
This is for you if…
- ✓Pre-seed to Series B founders who need senior technical thinking
- ✓Non-technical founders building their first product or team
- ✓Startups scaling past their first customers and wrestling with architecture, hiring, or process
- ✓Companies preparing for a fundraise and needing investor-ready tech
- ✓Teams where the founding engineer is maxed out and needs a sparring partner
This is NOT for you if…
- ✕2–4 week delivery-only engagements
- ✕Teams that want someone to "just build this feature" without context or ownership
- ✕Teams not open to changing how they work
- ✕Founders looking for the cheapest option, not the right one
Most engagements are project-based, monthly retainers, or ongoing advisory relationships.
Why typical options don't work for founders
You've probably already considered the usual routes. Here's where they break down.
Agency
- -Optimizes for velocity, not your business outcomes
- -Hands off code and disappears when accountability matters
- -Expensive and misaligned on what 'done' means
Full-time CTO hire
- -$200–400K fully-loaded before you know PMF
- -3–6 month hiring process you don't have
- -Equity dilution and real culture risk if it's the wrong person
Freelance contractor
- -Executes tasks, doesn't own outcomes
- -There's no strategic layer; you're just renting a pair of hands
- -Leaves when contract ends, taking context with them
What working with me looks like instead
Embedded, not external
I join your standups, Slack, and planning sessions. I'm a part of the team - not a vendor on the side.
Accountable for outcomes
I stay long enough to live with my own decisions. I don't do hit-and-run architecture.
Hands-on when it matters
I can review architecture and advise, or I can open a PR. Most engagements involve both.
Honest over comfortable
I'll tell you when the plan is wrong, when the hire is a mistake, or when you're solving the wrong problem.
Outcomes
Specific metrics are better proof than big claims.
MEWE - GLOBAL SOCIAL NETWORK
Challenge: Build a privacy-first social network from zero into a product used across 200+ countries.
What changed: Joined as first engineer, led frontend, iOS, Android and eventually the full engineering org of ~50 across backend, mobile, web and infra.
→ Scaled MeWe to 22M+ registered users while staying independent from surveillance-driven ad revenue.
MEWE - WEB2 → WEB3
Challenge: Move a live social platform onto Frequency / Polkadot without forcing crypto complexity onto everyday users.
What changed: Architected the migration and designed a zero-friction path that preserved the core social experience.
→ Delivered the largest Web2 → Web3 user migration in history with no UX regression.
MEWE - AVALANCHE LAUNCH
Challenge: Ship embedded digital wallets at social-network scale without seed phrases or assumed crypto knowledge.
What changed: Partnered with Avalanche and built wallet provisioning directly into the signup and account experience.
→ Created 500K+ wallets in two weeks and opened embedded wallets to 22M+ users.
Ready to talk?
Book a 45-minute call. We'll talk through what you need, whether that's hands-on development, technical leadership, or strategic advice, and I'll tell you upfront if I'm not the right fit.
Book a CallUsually responds within 1 business day.
Frequently asked questions
Questions founders usually ask before reaching out.