01 · Startups

You built the first version. Now work out what it takes to become a product.

You do not need to start by hiring a CTO or rebuilding everything. A bounded technical review can establish what you actually have, what matters next and which problems can safely wait.

The starting point

Keep the speed. Add judgement where it matters.

A founder can get from idea to working product astonishingly quickly. That is a feature, not a sin. The risk arrives when customers, money and expectations land on top of architecture and operational decisions nobody has deliberately reviewed.

I can understand what you have actually built, identify what matters now versus later, set a technical direction and work hands-on where the difficult parts need engineering rather than another prompt.

You may be here if

The product works, but touching authentication, data or deployment feels increasingly dangerous.
AI-generated implementation choices have accumulated faster than anyone can explain them.
Customers, investors or partners are starting to ask sensible questions about security, reliability or scale.
You need independent technical judgement before deciding whether to hire an engineer, agency, technical co-founder or fractional CTO.

How I help

Architecture, codebase, infrastructure and data review.
Security, deployment, observability and recovery priorities.
A pragmatic roadmap that separates urgent foundations from impressive-looking nonsense.
AI coding guardrails, engineering workflow and review practices.
Hands-on implementation, vendor evaluation and early technical hiring support where useful.

What good looks like

You keep the speed that got the product this far, but the important decisions become explicit, reviewable and appropriate for the next stage of the company.

A useful first engagement

Start with an MVP Technical Review.

You can start without committing to an ongoing consulting relationship. Give me the product, repository and whatever context you have; I can review it remotely and then talk through what the evidence means for the business you are trying to build.

See the MVP Technical Review

The review considers

How the product, repository, infrastructure and external services fit together.
Material security, data, dependency, deployment and operational risks.
Technical debt that genuinely affects the next stage rather than theoretical perfection.
Whether the current approach is proportionate to the product, users and expected growth.

The outcome

Fix now: issues likely to hurt the product or block the next stage.
Plan next: foundations to address as customers, usage or the team grow.
Leave alone: imperfections that are completely acceptable for now.
Product path: a practical sequence for evolving the MVP without unnecessary rebuilding.

Remote by default

A useful review does not require a day of meetings. I can do much of the evidence gathering asynchronously from the product and technical estate, then use the conversation for the decisions that actually need judgement.

Start with what you already built

Show me the MVP.

You do not need a polished architecture deck. Send the product, repository or simply tell me how you built it. We can start with a bounded technical review and work out what — if anything — makes sense after that.

Get your MVP reviewed

For accelerators and founder communities

Supporting a group of founders?

MVP reviews can also fit into office hours, accelerator cohorts and founder programmes without turning every interaction into a consulting sales pitch.

See startup programme support