How Much Does a CTO Actually Cost in 2026?
Real numbers on full-time CTO salaries, fractional CTO rates, and what you're actually paying for. A breakdown for founders making the hire-or-outsource decision.
5 min readstartup costs
Insights
Practical thinking on technical leadership, architecture decisions, and building systems that hold up under real conditions. No fluff, no trends — just what I've learned shipping products for 17 years.
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When to Hire a Fractional CTO (And When You Don't Need One)
A practical guide for founders on when fractional CTO leadership makes sense, when it doesn't, and what to look for if you decide to hire one.
6 min readfractional cto
How to Evaluate Developers When You're Not Technical
A non-technical founder's guide to assessing developer quality, spotting red flags, and knowing whether your team is actually building well — without reading a single line of code.
8 min readhiring
Technical Due Diligence: What Investors Actually Look For
A CTO's perspective on what technical due diligence really covers, what red flags investors find, and how to prepare your startup's tech for investor scrutiny.
7 min readdue diligence
Why Your Dev Team Is Busy But Nothing Ships
When developers are working hard but the product isn't moving, the problem is almost never effort. It's architecture, priorities, or both. Here's how to diagnose and fix it.
8 min readengineering management
Rebuild or Refactor: How to Decide Without Wasting 6 Months
The rebuild-vs-refactor decision is one of the most expensive calls a startup can make. Here's a practical framework for deciding — based on what actually works, not developer opinions.
9 min readtechnical decisions
Your Technical Cofounder Left. Now What?
A survival guide for non-technical founders who just lost their technical cofounder or CTO. What to do in the first 72 hours, first month, and how to avoid the common mistakes that make everything worse.
8 min readstartup leadership
How Much Does It Cost to Build an MVP in 2026?
Realistic MVP development costs broken down by approach — agency, freelancer, in-house, and no-code. What actually affects the price, and where most founders overspend or underspend.
8 min readstartup costs
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