Part-time tech lead for startups and small teams
I own your product’s technical direction a few hours a month: architecture decisions, code reviews, release sign-off and a weekly call. It’s for non-technical founders and small dev teams who need senior judgment, not a full-time CTO. From $480 a month for 6 hours, minimum 3 months. Email me to check fit.
See a sample report, proposal and weekly update- Price
- from $480/mo
- Timeline
- Minimum 3 months
- Format
- Monthly, prepaid
- Hours
- US Eastern Time, async
Who this is for.
A good fit if
- Non-technical founders working with freelancers or an agency
- Small teams (1–4 developers) without a senior reviewer
- Products on Laravel, Vue/Nuxt, Go or Python
Common triggers
- The agency’s estimates and choices are hard to judge
- Releases break things and nobody reviews code
- An investor or customer asks about architecture or security
Not a fit if
- You need someone to manage, hire or coach your team
- You need 20+ hours a month or daily availability
- You run an online auction house or a jewelry or watch business (I already lead tech for one)
What I do, and what you get.
What I do
- Make and write down technical decisions (short decision records)
- Review pull requests and designs within the hours
- Own the release checklist and sign off releases
- Give a technical view on the roadmap, vendors and estimates
- Hold one weekly call (30 minutes) and answer questions by email
What you get
- Decision records and an architecture overview kept current
- Review comments on pull requests
- Release checklist and sign-off notes
- A short monthly summary: decisions, risks, next month’s focus
Your part
- Access to repos, tickets and the people doing the work
- A decision maker for business trade-offs
- Management of your team or agency (hiring, performance, pay)
- Prepayment by the 1st of each month
Included
- Technical direction and decisions
- Code and design reviews
- Release sign-off
- Weekly call and async support
Not included
- Team management, hiring decisions or mentoring programs
- Writing most of the code
- On-call, 24/7 or incident duty
- A CTO title, equity or board duties
Fixed prices, agreed before work starts.
6 h a month: weekly call, decisions, light reviews
10 h a month: Advisor plus regular PR reviews and release sign-off
Build your scope
- Timeline
- Minimum 3 months
- Payment
- Billed monthly in advance
- Earliest start
- Oct 5
Prices are in USD, paid by bank transfer against an invoice. Work under $1,000 is paid upfront; larger work is 50% to start and 50% before handover, or monthly milestones. How working together works
Variations
- Founder + agency
- Reviews focus on the agency’s pull requests and estimates.
- Small in-house team
- More design reviews, fewer calls.
- Pre-build
- Often starts after a Discovery Sprint or Architecture Review.
How it runs.
- 01
Send your context
You email your product, team and current pain.
- 02
Fit call
We have a fit call within a few working days.
- 03
First month
After the first prepaid month starts, I read the code and set up the decision log.
- 04
Weekly rhythm
Each week there’s a call, reviews and any releases.
- 05
Monthly summary
Each month you get a summary and we adjust the focus.
Where I have done this before.
AI Listing Pipeline for a Luxury-Watch Auction House
Tech Lead at Serenity Gallerie since Q4 2025.
Read the case study →Multimodal AI · Auction catalogingAI Cataloging System for Fine-Jewelry Auctions
Tech Lead at Serenity Gallerie since Q4 2025.
Read the case study →SaaS backend · Cloud marketplaceLicensing & Entitlement Platform
Led the design and engineering decisions, reviews and release.
Read the case study →Questions buyers ask.
How is this different from a fractional CTO?
Narrower: technical direction, reviews and releases, not people management or company strategy.
Will you mentor our developers?
No. Review comments explain the why, but I don’t run mentoring or manage people.
Can you write code too?
Small pieces within the hours; bigger work is quoted separately.
Do unused hours roll over?
No, but once, you can move one month’s unused hours into the next. When hours run out, reviews wait for next month or you add an Hours Block.
What are the terms?
A 3-month minimum, then month to month. Cancel with 30 days’ written notice after the minimum. Calls are in US Eastern business hours.
Why no bigger tier?
I cap my hours so each client gets focus.
Ask about Fractional Tech Lead.
Tell me what you have and where it hurts. I reply within one US business day with either a fixed quote or the entry step that makes a fixed quote possible.
Helpful to include
- Product and stage
- Stack
- Who writes the code (team, agency, freelancers)
- The problem you want solved
- Preferred tier
More in Maintenance & Support
Monthly Care Plan
A fixed monthly plan that keeps your app patched, backed up and checked, with a monthly restore test, a short report and hours for small changes. It’s for small SaaS teams and founders without an ops person. From $195 a month, minimum 3 months. Working hours only, no 24/7. Email me to check fit.
Prepaid Hours Block
Buy a block of 5, 10 or 20 hours and use them for small fixes, changes and questions on Laravel, Go or Python apps, without a monthly commitment. From $325 for 5 hours, valid 90 days. You’ll see a running balance after every task. Email me with what you’d use them for.