I've found a few of my close friends have been struggling with their outsourced or contractor-based development teams but couldn't afford or don't want an in-house development lead to put some order in place. I've been able to come in as the in-house effective leader to rationalize costs, make sure implementation is sensible with the business goals and ensure they get what they are paying for. My goal is to make sure that the product being delivered is sustainable and free from security and privacy flaws.
Other things I’ve been able to help with:
Security audits - when you’re working in a regulated industry, going through due diligence or constantly getting asked by clients the details of your security posture, it can get tiresome to fill out multiple security questionnaires for each. Helping you get a handle on your posture and getting the right strategy in place to comply or to show your progress towards a security or privacy goal will make the difference in helping you land a contract or an investment.
Government grants - There are tons of great consultants and companies out there that will help you with your SR&ED and IRAP claims and various other provincial and municipal grants. But even then, it can feel like a burden to work with them and filling out timesheets can feel like a waste of time for your team. I’ve been through this and helped make the relationship efficient and cost-effective for everyone.
Project management - I’ve often found that non-technical leaders, and even some technical leaders, feel they have no clue what their contractual or outsourced developers are doing. Having a helping hand dedicated to auditing and challenging them can save tens of thousands in outsourced costs.
A technical thought partner - A lot of founders and entrepreneurs tell me they feel like they are missing a CTO to be a technical partner for their business strategy or a VP of engineering to understand and track what your team is working on. Unfortunately, those roles are risky to hire and often expensive in salary and equity, especially if you don’t need them full time.
Incident Lead - One of my favourite superpowers is being able to manage incidents effectively. If you feel like no one is in charge when the backend falls apart on a Friday afternoon, this is where I come in. From helping the team find short-term and long-term fixes, contacting the right team members and communicating what’s wrong with stakeholders and customers, all of these come from experience over the years of the daily life of a startup.
Low-code prototyping and solutions - With all the low-code SaaS services out there, its essential to resist the temptation to over-invest in building something before you are sure it will drive value, have product market fit, and actually look good. Finding someone with the right mix of technical expertise but who won’t have the natural tendency to say: I can build it myself faster and better. In startups, the whole point is to test first before you actually build it.
The beauty of fractional CTO is that you get all of the above without giving up equity or paying premium salaries. I’ve been able actually materially to save costs of my existing clients.
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