Technical co-founder energy without the equity haircut
Non-technical founders get stuck in the same place: you need senior technical judgment and someone who can ship, but a full co-founder means a big equity grant, a long search, and a personality fit you cannot reverse easily.
I offer technical co-founder as a service: product leadership, architecture, hands-on build, and investor-facing credibility on a flexible engagement. You keep ownership. I bring 27 years of shipping software as a solo senior operator. The product thesis is the same as technical co-founder for SaaS without giving up equity.
Who this is for
First-time founders with a real problem and early customer signal who need a technical lead to shape and build the product.
Serial operators who already know how to run a company and need fractional CTO-level help on this venture.
Funded startups that need to move fast without hiring a full engineering org on day one.
Who this is not for
Founders shopping for someone to "just code the idea" with no product judgment. If you only want tickets closed, hire a contractor against a written spec.
Companies that need a 40-hour-a-week office CTO tomorrow. That is a full-time hire. I can help you run that search later.
Anyone who wants a large "team" illusion. You get me. When we need more hands, we staff deliberately, not theatrically.
What you get
Strategy that survives contact with reality. Stack choices, build vs. buy, scope cuts that protect the deadline. I will argue with you when the roadmap is fantasy. Stack decisions without fashion: choosing the right technology stack for custom software.
Hands-on build. Not advisory theater. I write production code for the MVP and early product. See also SaaS MVP development.
Hiring help when you are ready. Job specs, technical interviews, and a path to an internal lead so you are not dependent on me forever. When the team is distributed, the operating model in working with remote development teams still applies.
Investor and diligence support. Architecture narrative, risk register, and straight answers in technical diligence without buzzword fog.
How we work
Discovery first: product, constraints, budget, what "success in 90 days" means. Then an ongoing cadence, often roughly 10–20 hours per week depending on stage. Critical decisions and investor calls get coverage; you are not waiting on a ticket queue in another timezone.
Engagements are monthly or milestone-based, scoped in writing. When you hire a full-time technical lead, I help transition cleanly.
Cost, candidly
This is senior time, not offshore staff-aug. Expect a meaningful monthly commitment relative to a junior hire, usually well below fully loaded CTO salary plus equity. Exact numbers depend on hours and whether pure leadership or leadership-plus-build. I quote after a fit conversation. If you mainly need a fixed product build, a project under custom software development may be the better shape.
Next step
Schedule a consultation. Bring the product story, the runway, and the hard deadline. I will say whether fractional technical leadership fits, or whether you should hire, pause, or narrow scope first.
