Independent technology advice for founders about to sign a large contract or make their first engineering hire.
At a glance
Agencies quoted very different prices and timelines for the same app, and you cannot tell which one understood the job.
You need to know what to test for, what a fair salary looks like and whether you need a senior person at all.
The site or app was built in a hurry, it is slowing down, and you have to choose between fixing it and rebuilding.
Software decisions are made on instinct or on a vendor's word, and you want an experienced person who works for you.
A shortlist of tools for one job, such as a CRM, accounting or booking system, compared on cost, fit and how hard each is to leave.
We read agency proposals and contracts before you sign, then tell you what is missing, what looks overpriced and what could cause trouble later.
An outside look at an existing product: how it is built, where it will strain as usage grows and what to fix first.
A plan for moving from one platform to another, for example WordPress to Webflow or spreadsheets to a proper database, without losing data or customers.
Whether to build custom software, adapt an off-the-shelf product or keep a manual process for now, with the cost and risk of each route.
Help writing the role, setting a fair technical test, interviewing candidates and choosing between a full-time hire, a freelancer or an agency.
A senior technical lead on agreed days each month, joining planning, reviewing work from your developers or agency and owning technical decisions.
Before you raise money, a review of your technology so you can answer investor questions about the product, the team and the known risks clearly.
On the free call and a follow-up session, we pin down the decision you face, the deadline and the budget you are working within.
We read the quotes, contracts, code or current systems, and speak to the people involved, including vendors if you want us to.
Each option is set out with its cost, its risks and what you give up by choosing it, written in plain language.
You get a written recommendation and a session to question it. The decision stays with you.
For part-time CTO work, regular check-ins follow on agreed days, with written notes after each one.
We compare widely used platforms on how well they fit your business, and recommend whichever suits the job.
One focused session on a single decision, such as choosing a vendor, followed by written notes and a recommendation.
A defined piece of work, such as a code review or migration plan, with scope, price and timeline agreed before it starts.
Monthly support on agreed days, for founders who need senior technical judgement but are not ready for a full-time hire.
No. Advice is its own piece of work, and the recommendation may well be another agency, an off-the-shelf tool or doing nothing for now. If you later ask us to quote for a build, that is a new scope agreed separately, and you are free to take the advice anywhere.
Joins your planning, reviews what your developers or agency deliver, makes the technical calls you cannot make yourself and helps you hire. It suits companies where a small team or an outside agency does the building, and a full-time senior engineer would cost more than the work needs.
Yes. Send the proposal and any contract, and we will check whether the scope matches what you asked for, whether the timeline is realistic and who will own the code, accounts and data at the end. You get the findings in writing, with questions to put back to the vendor.
We help you decide what kind of person you need first, then write the role, set a technical test that matches the work and join the final interviews. For a first hire, seniority matters most: a junior developer working without guidance can cost more in rework than they save.
It depends on what the review finds. A rebuild is tempting but slow, and it usually pauses new features for months. We look at code quality, hosting, data structure and the cost of each route, then recommend one. Often the answer is a staged fix that replaces the weakest parts first.
Very little. For a vendor review, the quotes and contracts. For a code review, read access to the code repository and hosting. For hiring, a rough budget and an idea of what the engineer will work on first. Anything else we need, we ask for on the free call.
Often paired with
A thirty-minute call, no charge. If we are not the right team for it, we will tell you and point you to someone who is.