For non-technical founders and business owners
Your product is late. Nobody will give you a straight answer. I will.
I'm a fractional CTO for founders in exactly that spot. I find out what's really going wrong inside your build - the code, the team, the plan - and tell you the truth in plain English. Then I fix it and get your product shipping again. Senior technical leadership, at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire.
30 minutes. You'll leave knowing where your build really stands and the fastest way forward - even if that's not hiring me. No pitch. No obligation.
Chartered Engineer (CEng) · CISSP · 20+ years · Trusted by Camelot, Oden.io & 100+ startups
Sound familiar?
The deadline keeps moving. The costs keep climbing. And you're flying blind.
- Releases slip week after week - and every explanation is technical enough that you can’t push back on it.
- You’re paying an agency or a dev team, but you have no real way to judge whether the work is any good until something breaks.
- Bugs reach your customers. Trust erodes. Quietly, your best engineer starts updating their CV.
- Every month of delay burns runway you can’t get back - and investors are starting to ask harder questions.
- You’ve thought about getting a second opinion, but you wouldn’t know how to judge that either.
None of this means your idea is wrong or your team is bad. It usually means no one senior is holding the technical wheel. That's the job I do.
Now imagine the opposite.
- Releases ship when you were told they would - and when one won’t, you hear about it early, with a reason you understand.
- You ask a question about your own product and get an answer in plain English, not a wall of jargon.
- You know exactly what your money buys each month, and you can see the progress yourself.
- When an investor asks “how solid is the tech?”, you hand over evidence instead of reassurance.
- You spend your time on customers and growth - not chasing status updates.
That's not a personality change in your dev team. It's what happens when someone senior holds the technical wheel and reports to you straight. Here's how I do it.
How I help
The Ship-Again Plan
Whatever state your product is in, there's a clear next step. Every engagement follows the same three moves.
Diagnose. Find out what’s really going on.
Independent, senior-level review of your code, your delivery, and your security - the truth about where the build stands, in plain English. You catch expensive mistakes before they cost you, not after.
- Independent code & database review
- Delivery and roadmap audit
- Security posture check
Stabilise. Get it shipping again.
I weigh your real options honestly, then execute the fastest, lowest-risk plan - leading your team or levelling up the one you have, fixing delivery, and closing the risks that could take you down: data loss, outages, breaches, ransomware.
- Technical leadership
- Hiring & team level-up
- Risk & resilience fixes
Scale. Make it hold up under success.
Penetration testing and security assurance your investors and customers can rely on, the right hires, and a product that can take what’s coming - investment, a launch, a wave of new users - without falling over at the worst moment.
- Penetration testing & assurance
- Scalability & performance
- Investor-ready evidence
Some founders need all three. Most need to start with one: finding out the truth. That's what the free Diagnosis Call is for.
Is this you?
I do my best work with founders who need to trust the technology - without becoming technical themselves.
This is for you if…
- You’re a founder or business owner leaning on a dev team or agency you can’t fully evaluate.
- Your product is late, over budget, or stalling - and you need it back on track.
- You’re preparing for investment, a launch, or a growth push and can’t afford to get the tech wrong.
- You’re worried about security or scale but don’t know where you actually stand.
Probably not, if…
- You need a junior developer for a one-off task.
- You want the cheapest option rather than the right one.
- You’re happy with how your technical delivery is going today.
Results
Founders and teams I've helped ship.
“I hired Adam as a consultant for my new startup. He’s very knowledgeable and helped me save myself from many mistakes.”
“Adam was responsible for the programming of our website and back-office systems - a six-figure project for which he provided the staff and project management. If I had my time over, I would do the same again. Outstanding and highly recommended.”
“It’s been fantastic to work with you Adam - and we’re thrilled to have you on board full time.”
“Adam has a very unique blend of security, development and business skills that made him an invaluable resource to Camelot and extremely effective.”
“I worked with Adam for an extended period of time. From the outset Adam is a man of his word, with utmost integrity, trust and loyalty - often achieves the impossible with a zealous, no-excuses approach. It was a real pleasure working with him. A talented IT professional, I recommend him without reservation.”
“My firm has used Adam for several projects over the course of the last five years. His biggest strength lies in his diversity of skills/background and on his customer service.”
“Adam and the team have been fantastic every step of the way. They have managed all aspects of our development requirements. Thank you for helping us to build a great product! Highly recommended.”
“Adam provided a first class security penetration engagement for Extreme Networks Professional Services and provided our customer with the relevant information and recommendations to secure their network.”
Why trust me
In a field where anyone can call themselves an expert, I'm independently accredited.
In 2013 I qualified as a Chartered Engineer (CEng) - the same class of professional qualification as a chartered accountant - and I hold senior security certifications including CISSP, CISA, CISM, OSCE and OSCP.
In plain terms: when I tell you something is safe, risky, or worth doing, it's a judgement you can take to your board. I'm also vendor- and technology-agnostic - I'm not tied to any product or language, so my recommendation is the one that's right for you, not the one that's easiest to sell.
Twenty years in, and hands-on when it counts.
Chartered Engineer (Engineering Council)
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (ISC²)
Certified Information Systems Auditor (ISACA)
Certified Information Security Manager (ISACA)
Offensive Security Certified Expert
Offensive Security Certified Professional
Why do I offer the first call free, with no pitch? Because I've spent twenty years watching good founders lose money - and sometimes whole companies - to problems that were obvious to a senior engineer and invisible to everyone else. Thirty minutes is usually enough for me to tell you which kind of problem you have. What you do with that is up to you.
Questions founders ask
Are you going to tell me my team is rubbish and I should start again?
Almost never. Most late projects have a fixable cause: unclear priorities, missing senior oversight, or one architectural decision that’s dragging everything else. The diagnosis is about finding the real cause - nine times out of ten, the answer is to fix, not to restart.
We’ve already spent a fortune. Is it too late?
Usually not - and that sunk cost is exactly why an independent read matters now. The expensive mistake isn’t what you’ve spent; it’s spending the next six months the same way.
Won’t my dev team resent an outsider looking over their work?
Good engineers usually welcome it - it’s often the first time someone senior has listened to them. I work as an advocate for shipping, not as an auditor hunting for blame. If your team reacts badly to any independent review, that itself tells you something important.
I’m not technical. Will I actually understand what you tell me?
That’s the whole point. Everything I report comes in plain English, with the “so what” attached: what it means for your deadline, your costs, and your risk. If you can read a board report, you can read mine.
What does it cost?
The Diagnosis Call is free. Beyond that, every engagement is scoped after diagnosis - from a short one-off review to ongoing fractional leadership, at a fraction of the $180k+ cost of a full-time CTO. You’ll always know the price before you commit, and I’m vendor- and technology-agnostic, so I’m never selling you a product.
What if the 30 minutes is all I need?
Then take it - genuinely. Some founders get their answer on the call and fix things with their existing team. You’ll leave with my honest read either way. If it makes sense to go deeper, I’ll say so, and you decide. And if I can’t help you, then I’ll point you in the direction of someone who can.
Next step
Let's find out what's really going on.
Book a free 30-minute Diagnosis Call and tell me where your product is stuck. On the call I'll give you my honest read on what's happening, and within one business day you'll have a short written summary: where your build stands and the fastest way forward - whether or not we end up working together.
One thing to know: this call is a working session, not a sales demo. It's a good use of both our time if:
- You own or run the business (founder, CEO, or MD)
- There’s a real product or build involved - live or in progress
- You actually want a straight answer, even if it’s uncomfortable
If that's you:
Prefer to write first? and I'll reply within one business day.
UK-based · +44 (0)203 866 8897