I work with founders and teams as a fractional CTO and principal engineer. I sold my first production software 3 decades ago; for the past 25+ years I’ve been building, modernizing, and operating complex systems across multiple markets and technology cycles.
Not another developer. Not a slide-only advisor. Senior technical ownership that can inspect code, architecture, process, and risk — and then act on it.
Incidents, fragile deploys, single-operator dependency, things that break at the worst time. You need stability to become a feature, not a hope.
The roadmap stopped moving, releases slip, and nobody can say why. You need delivery triage, a risk map, and a credible plan to ship.
You need CTO-level decisions — priorities, architecture, hiring bar, cadence — without the cost and commitment of a full-time hire yet.
An older PHP/Laravel/Symfony/Node platform still earns money but blocks the business. You need modernization in stages, not a risky big-bang rewrite.
Before fundraising, an acquisition, or a big bet, you need a decision-grade read on the codebase, architecture, risk, and real cost to fix.
A project is drifting toward a deadline it will miss. You need someone to take ownership fast, cut scope sensibly, and get it across the line.
Executive-level clarity with engineering-grade implementation detail — so the plan survives contact with reality.
Bring focus to complex initiatives and remove ambiguity across product, engineering, and operations.
Transform legacy codebases into systems that can be shipped and operated with confidence.
Stability is a product feature. I help teams operationalize it without bureaucracy.
Grouped by the problem they solve — chosen for business risk, maintainability, team capability, and time-to-market, not fashion.
For sensitive or regulated contexts: secure configuration, credential hygiene, auditability, and operational guardrails are part of the deliverable — not an afterthought.
Several ways to start — from a paid diagnostic or a fast MVP to a multi-stage modernization program. Scope and fee are set after a short discovery call.
For: Founders, investors, and leaders who need to know what is really blocking delivery.
Outcome: Risk map, top priorities, architecture & process findings, and a staged next-step plan (P0/P1/P2).
First step: 30-min triage call
Inquire about P01For: Teams with production instability, a stuck release, or legacy nobody wants to touch.
Outcome: A stabilized system, rollout/rollback plan, technical guardrails, and an ordered P0/P1 backlog.
First step: Diagnostic (P01) or triage call
Inquire about P02For: Companies that need CTO-level ownership without a full-time hire.
Outcome: Decision cadence, priorities, architecture, hiring bar, delivery oversight, and risk control.
First step: Discovery call
Inquire about P03For: Companies with technical debt and a system that still has to earn while it changes.
Outcome: Staged modernization — no rewrite fantasies — with risk control and business continuity.
First step: Diagnostic (P01) first
Inquire about P04For: Founders who need a real product in market fast — built with production discipline, not a throwaway prototype.
Outcome: A shipped MVP with clean foundations, sensible scope, and a clean handover — ready to iterate, not rebuild.
First step: 30-min triage call
Inquire about P05For: Teams shipping fast that want a senior safety net on quality, maintainability, and security — without slowing down.
Outcome: PR standards, maintainability upgrades, static-analysis gates, and a security-focused review loop.
First step: Short call to scope cadence
Inquire about P06Engagements typically start from a paid diagnostic or a monthly retainer. Final scope, timeline, and fee are confirmed after a short discovery call — the diagnostic (P01) is usually the best first step.
Anonymized, with the pattern that matters: context → risk → action → outcome. Names withheld; references available on request.
Migrated a Zend Framework service system from PHP 5 to 7 using custom tests and code review, and safely modified a multi-technology eCommerce system (Zend, Go) without breaking functionality.
Designed and built (100%) an SPA with admin/artist/user roles: artists plan and stream events and sell tickets; admins review applications and billing; users buy tickets and request custom streams.
Built the first version (100%) of a law-exam prep SaaS: admin/editor/user roles, sellable study packages, exam tests, and repetition-based learning aids — then handed it to an internal team.
Built and later improved technology to manage content, planes, routes, and private-jet flights (including empty legs), and owned the Salesforce/CRM lead-generation integration while leading the team.
Built Bash/Docker scripts so the team could spin up a full local environment with zero Docker knowledge, and initiated the ad-server migration from Symfony to Laravel with an Angular UI cleanup.
As CTO and co-owner, built a customized application framework that scaled the product to 300+ configured apps, designed an expertise-based sales/customization delivery process, and sold customizations to enterprise customers including LinkedIn and Dropbox.
Earlier work also includes mission-critical systems, deployments, and integrations for business continuity — including systems for IATA.
If you’re building something serious (or something broke in production), reach out. I respond fastest via email+SMS or phone.
Share your context and constraints (deadline, budget range, current stack, top risks). I’ll reply with a quick triage plan.
If you prefer a marketplace engagement, I’m a vetted Toptal expert — ranked #1 Most Reliable Professional Services Company in America (Newsweek & Statista, 2026).
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