~/your-start-up/start-up-ctoidea to working product
> your CTO for the first version
One experienced technical lead from the first sketch to the handover to your own team. You get a plan you can trust, a first version built properly and the engineers to run it, one to three days a week.
Former CTO at Magical Mushroom Company. Co-founder of a London property start-up: built its platform from the first proof of concept to a production launch.
- >You have the idea and some funding, but no technical co-founder.
- >You need a proof of concept quickly, to test the idea or to show investors.
- >You have three agency quotes and they agree on nothing, including the price.
- >Your agency has gone quiet and you can't tell whether the build is on track.
- >Investors are asking about your stack, your security and your hiring plan.
- >You need your first engineers but can't yet judge who's good.
- >You're launching a venture inside a larger company and it needs to move faster than the main business.
You don't need a full-time CTO for any of these yet. You need someone senior, one to three days a week, who has done it before.
$ cat pipeline.md
From idea to a team that runs it.
Each stage ends with something you keep, so you decide at every step whether to carry on. One technical lead stays with you throughout.
- 01 · 2 weeks
Foundations Sprint
Shape the idea, choose the architecture and stack, cost it and plan the build and the hires.
You keep: A plan, stack, costs and hiring plan that are yours whatever happens next.
- 02 · 6–8 weeks
Proof of concept
Build the riskiest part of the idea as working software and put it in front of real users.
You keep: Evidence that the idea works, or an early, cheap reason to change it.
- 03 · set in the Sprint
First version
Build your MVP with CI/CD, automated tests and access control from the first commit.
You keep: A product you can launch, sell and show to investors.
- 04 · alongside the build
First hires
Write the roles, run the technical interviews and onboard your first engineers. Any agency is kept to account alongside them.
You keep: A small team that knows the code and how it's run.
- 05 · when your team is ready
Handover
Your team takes over day-to-day decisions, with documentation, runbooks and a clear roadmap.
You keep: A product and a team that no longer need me.
--start-here
Two weeks to a plan you can trust.
Before you spend on a build, find out what to build first, what it will cost to run and who you need to hire.
What you get
- The shape of the idea: what goes in the first version, and what waits.
- Architecture and stack: the choices, with the reasons written down so anyone can check them.
- Running costs: what the product costs each month at launch and as it grows.
- Build plan: stages, timings and the riskiest assumption to test first.
- Hiring plan: which roles, when, and typical salary ranges.
- Build or agency: a clear recommendation and, if an agency fits, a brief you can send them.
How it runs
- Week 1:working sessions with you and your co-founders, plus a review of anything already built or quoted.
- Week 2:architecture, costs and plans written up, then a walkthrough you can replay for investors.
It's yours to keep whatever happens next. Take it to an agency, a new hire or back to me.
Book a 30-min call--days 1..3
As much CTO as the stage needs.
After the Sprint, you choose how many days a week you need. It moves up or down as the work changes, agreed a month ahead.
How many days a week, and when| Days a week | Suits | Usually during |
|---|
| 1 | Steering an agency or a small team, investor and board preparation, technical sign-off | Usually during: Handover, or when an agency is doing the build |
|---|
| 2 | Hands-on building, code review and weekly planning with you | Usually during: Proof of concept and first version |
|---|
| 3 | The busiest weeks: a launch, a funding round or a hiring push | Usually during: Peak build and first hires |
|---|
Every level includes
- A weekly session with you on progress, risks and spend.
- Day-to-day contact in your Slack or Teams.
- Attendance at board or investor meetings when tech is on the agenda.
- Remote by default, in person in London when it helps.
$ git init --secure
Cheap to do now, expensive to add later.
Investors, enterprise customers and your first engineers will all look under the bonnet. These are in place from the first commit, not added before a funding round.
- ✓
CI/CD and automated tests
Every change is checked before it goes live.
- ✓
Atomic deployments
A release never takes the product down halfway.
- ✓
Access control and secrets
Secrets stay out of the code and out of shared inboxes.
- ✓
GDPR by default
Tracking runs only behind consent, and personal data is kept away from ad platforms.
- ✓
Your accounts, your code
Domains, business email, Microsoft 365, repositories and cloud are set up in your company's name, documented for the people you hire.
- ✓
AI-assisted development, reviewed by a person
Faster builds, without lower standards.
$ ls ~/work
Two start-ups, two ways in.
london-property-start-upco-founder · platform to launch
Built a property platform from proof of concept to production launch.
- poc
- refine
- devops
- promo
- live
I'm a co-founder and built the application from the ground up: a proof of concept, refined into a production-ready platform with its DevOps, then launched. The launch campaign took nine days, with an agreed marketing budget: a team of AI agents, with a person approving every step, produced a brand system, a four-ad Meta campaign, a video ad, print and SEO fixes. Five of those agents now scout news, draft posts and publish only after an "approve" in Teams. Tracking runs only behind consent, with a guard that stops personal data reaching Meta.
Read the case study →magical-mushroom-companyCTO · eCommerce subsidiary
A headless commerce build with near-zero downtime, at a fraction of the usual running cost.
mmc-storefront/
- ├── bigcommerce
- ├── next.js
- ├── storyblok
- └── vercel
As CTO, I also ran the online eCommerce subsidiary that sold its off-the-shelf products. The build was headless: BigCommerce, Next.js, Storyblok and Vercel, the technologies and principles of a much larger enterprise, on lower tiers that could scale up at any point. Building for the future doesn't have to mean paying future costs now. Agency and in-house developers worked as one team, with automated testing and atomic deployments. The result was near-zero downtime at a fraction of the usual running cost.
Read the case study →$ man start-up-cto
Founder questions
How many days a week will we need?+
Usually one to three, depending on the stage: more while the build takes shape, less once your first engineers are in.
Who owns the code?+
You do, from the first commit. Repositories, cloud accounts and domains sit in your company's name.
Is equity an option?+
Yes, for the right project. I'm a co-founder of a London property start-up and built its platform for equity.
Can this work alongside our existing agency?+
Yes, it's how I usually work. At Harvey Nichols and The Cotswold Company I combined outsourced teams with in-house engineers, and at Magical Mushroom Company the agency and in-house developers worked as one team.
Do you take referral fees?+
Sometimes. If a supplier I recommend would pay me a referral fee, I tell you before you decide, and the fee never decides the recommendation.
Do I need to be technical?+
No. Plans, trade-offs and costs come in plain English, with the reasoning written down so you can explain them to investors.
Do you write code yourself?+
Yes. I build proofs of concept and first versions hands-on, and review the code your team or agency writes.
Can you set up the basics too, like domains and email?+
Yes. As well as the hands-on CTO work, I can buy and set up your domains, business email and Microsoft 365, and write the documentation your team will rely on. Two-factor sign-in is on from day one, and everything is in your company's name.
We haven't raised yet. Is it too early?+
No. The Foundations Sprint gives you a costed plan to raise against, and answers to the technical questions investors ask.
What happens after handover?+
Your team runs the product. If you want a second opinion later, a light monthly check-in is available.
> tell me what you're building
Book a 30-min callIn 30 minutes you'll have a view on what to build first, whether or not you go ahead.