How We Work

CTO as a service, but we also build.

Most fractional CTO arrangements give you strategy without execution. We do both. Architecture decisions, product strategy, team leadership, and hands-on building, from first conversation to product launch and beyond.

Selectivity

We're selective about who we work with.

We're for:

  • Non-technical founders who need a CTO-level partner, not just developers
  • Early-stage startups (pre-seed to Series A) building their first or second product
  • Founders who've been burned by agencies and want something different
  • Companies that value partnership over the cheapest option

We're not for:

  • "I need 10 developers by Monday" (we don't do staff augmentation)
  • Projects with no product strategy or discovery phase
  • Companies looking for the lowest bid
  • Short-term body shop engagements

Not sure which category you fall into? Let's talk and figure it out.

The Process

Four phases. One continuous partnership.

1

Discovery

2-6 weeks

Goal: Make sure we're building the right thing

Before we write code, we make sure we're solving the right problem. We'll challenge your assumptions, map the user journey, define what "done" looks like, and identify the riskiest parts of your product. Sometimes discovery reveals that you shouldn't build at all, or not yet. We'll tell you that.

What you get:

  • Product scope document
  • Technical architecture recommendation
  • Realistic timeline and budget
  • Go/no-go recommendation
2

Build

3-6 months for v1

Goal: Ship working software

Small team, senior people, direct access. You'll talk to the engineers building your product, not a project manager relaying messages. We ship working software every two weeks. Not demos, not mockups. Actual deployable code.

What you get:

  • Bi-weekly deployable releases
  • Direct Slack/call access to the team
  • Weekly progress updates (written)
  • Working product at the end

Most agencies shield you from engineers with layers of project managers. We do the opposite. The person writing your code is the person explaining decisions to you.

3

Launch & Learn

Ongoing

Goal: Get real users, iterate fast

We don't disappear after launch. The first version is just the beginning. Now you learn what users actually do, what breaks, what's missing. We monitor production, fix issues fast, and help you prioritize what to build next based on real data.

What you get:

  • Production monitoring and support
  • Rapid bug fixes
  • Data-informed roadmap planning
  • Scaling support as you grow
4

Graduate

When you're ready

Goal: Clean handoff, no lock-in

The best partnerships end with you outgrowing us. When you're ready to build an in-house team (Series A, product-market fit, whatever the trigger), we help you hire and transition. Clean handoff. Documented code. No lock-in.

What you get:

  • Hiring support (we'll help interview your first engineers)
  • Documentation and knowledge transfer
  • Transition period with overlap
  • Advisory relationship if you want it
Engagement Model

How the business side works.

We charge a monthly retainer, not hourly, so our incentive is to ship well and quickly rather than stretch timelines. Scope and team size determine the number.

$5–30k /month
$

Pricing

Monthly retainer. Scales with scope and team size. No hourly billing, no stretched timelines.

%

Equity

On the right projects we take equity alongside fees. When you win, we win. We'll discuss this in early conversations.

⏱

Timeline

First version in 3–6 months. Discovery adds 2–6 weeks upfront. We give realistic estimates, not numbers designed to win the deal.

👥

Team size

2–4 senior engineers working on your product. No juniors learning on your dime, no account managers in the way.

Boundaries

To be clear about what we're not.

We don't do Why
Staff augmentation We're partners, not contractors. We don't fill seats on your org chart.
Hourly billing It misaligns incentives. We charge retainers so we're rewarded for shipping, not for taking longer.
Fixed-bid projects Software is uncertain. Fixed bids create bad incentives and corner-cutting.
"Yes to everything" If your idea won't work, we'll tell you. Before you pay us.
Disappear after launch Most of our clients stay with us for years. Launch is the beginning, not the end.
FAQ

Common questions.

How is this different from hiring an agency?

Agencies take briefs, execute, and move on. We make decisions with you, challenge your assumptions, and stay for years. We act like co-founders because our incentives are aligned through equity and long-term relationships.

How is this different from hiring a CTO?

A full-time CTO costs 150-300k/year salary plus equity. You get one person who may or may not be the right fit. With us, you get a team with diverse experience at a fraction of the cost, and you can scale up or down as needed.

Do you take equity?

Sometimes, alongside fees. Never instead of them. Our default is a monthly retainer. On the right projects, we'll discuss taking a small equity stake too, because when you win, we win. But it's never a condition. If you want a clean fees-only arrangement, that's completely fine.

What if we want to hire our own team later?

That's the goal. We help you hire, document everything, and transition smoothly. Zero lock-in. Several of our clients have "graduated" to in-house teams. We're proud of that.

What technologies do you work with?

We're pragmatic, not dogmatic. We typically work with Typescript, React/Next.js, Node, PostgreSQL, AWS, but we choose based on what's right for your product, not what's trendy.

Where are you based?

Belgrade, Serbia. Fully remote, working with founders in UK, EU, US, and Singapore. Time zones haven't been a problem. We overlap with Europe mornings and US East afternoons.

Want to see if we're a fit ?

No sales pitch. Just an honest conversation about what you're building and whether we can help.

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