Practical insights on tech leadership, fractional CPTO work, and scaling startups. From the trenches.
A full-time CTO costs £200K+ per year. Most startups between Seed and Series A don't need one. Here are four alternatives that give you senior technical leadership without the executive price tag.
Most CTOs optimise for code quality. The best ones optimise for revenue. Here is why business-first engineering beats technical perfectionism, and how it took Risika from VC-funded to profitable in 18 months.
Discover what an agentic AI tech leader role entails, including core responsibilities, essential skills, and how to transition into this emerging technology leadership position.
Picture this: You're sitting in a board meeting where a £500,000 technology initiative has just been cancelled after eight months of work. The atmosphere is tense. Everyone has someone to blame.
You're sitting across from a technology director candidate with an impeccable CV. They've worked at recognisable brands. Their LinkedIn is full of certifications. And right now, they're fluently discussing microservices architecture.
The technology director you hired six months ago seemed perfect in interviews – impressive credentials, confident answers, strong technical background. Now your engineering team is in chaos.
A CEO receives the monthly technology project update. All indicators are green. The team is 'on track.' Two months later, the project is six months behind schedule and £800,000 over budget.
You're reviewing the post-mortem of another failed technology initiative. Third one in 18 months. Each time, you assembled competent teams, allocated adequate budget, and set clear objectives.
Three months into the hire, I sat in a team meeting watching our brilliant new senior engineer visibly roll his eyes as a junior developer proposed a solution.
Your tech lead just gave notice. They seemed fine in last month's 1:1. The project they were leading is halfway done. And now you're facing a three-month hiring process.
Picture this: A CTO at a fast-growing SaaS company hired three senior engineers in six weeks to meet a critical product deadline. Six months later, two of those hires had left for competitors.
When Sarah, your best principal engineer, hands in her notice, she won't mention the technical debt. She'll cite 'seeking new challenges' or 'career growth'.
Sarah seemed perfect on paper. Senior engineer, eight years' experience, passed the technical test. Three months later, your best engineer handed in their notice.
Your engineering team has grown from 12 to 35 people in 18 months. You've hired talented developers with impressive CVs. Your budget has increased. Yet somehow, you're shipping slower.
You've noticed something's off. Your previously high-performing engineering team is struggling. Deadlines are slipping – not catastrophically, but consistently.
Picture this: A talented senior engineer who shipped features rapidly at their previous company now takes three weeks for simple changes. The CTO assumes it's a hiring mistake.
You're offering £90K for a senior engineer role. You've had 200 applications, conducted 15 phone screens, and 8 technical interviews. Three months later, the position is still open.