Pre-seed & seed founders
You need senior technical judgement before you can justify a full-time CTO — someone to shape the architecture, brief contractors or a first hire, and make sure the early decisions don't box you in.
Fractional CTO · London
A fractional CTO in London who stays close to the code.
Senior technology leadership for founders and scale-ups who need the judgement of a CTO — architecture, technical strategy, hiring, vendor and build decisions — without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire. Based in London, and still hands-on.
Who I work with
Founders, scale-ups, and the boards backing them.
Scale-ups outgrowing their stack
Growth is straining the architecture, the team, or both. I help stabilise what's shaky, prioritise what's next, and build the foundations the next stage needs.
Investors & VCs
You're evaluating a technology offering before a raise or acquisition and want a straight, independent read — risk, strength, and what it would actually take to scale.
Boards between CTOs
There's a leadership gap and delivery can't just pause. I step in, keep the team and roadmap steady, and help hire or prepare your next permanent CTO.
Situations I'm useful in
If any of this sounds familiar, it's probably worth a conversation.
- You need a technical co-founder's judgement without giving up equity or a full-time seat.
- Your architecture was fine at 10 users and is creaking at 10,000.
- You're mid-raise and a term sheet is contingent on technical due diligence.
- A vendor, platform, or rebuild decision is bigger than anyone in-house wants to own alone.
- You want someone who will still read the pull requests, not just sit in on planning.
How an engagement works
A simple shape, whatever the size of the problem.
01
Understand
I start with the business — what you're trying to do, where the pressure is, and what “good” looks like. Technology serves that, not the other way around.
02
Decide
What to build, what to buy, what to leave alone. Clear trade-offs, written down, so the team and the board can get behind them.
03
Build & lead
I stay close to delivery — shaping architecture, setting cadence, and keeping standards honest. Hands-on when it counts.
04
Hand back
The goal is a team and a system you can run without me. I leave things clearer than I found them.
Still hands-on
I stay close enough to the work to know what will actually ship.
Fractional doesn't mean detached. I read the pull requests, shape the schema, and I'm still the person who will sit down and pair on the hard bug at 6pm before a launch.
The clearest example: how I replaced Wildkind's platform one piece at a time without a maintenance window, and how we've been rolling out AI-native workflows deliberately rather than for the sake of it.
0outages
Enrolment stopped falling over at peak after migrating off WordPress onto Next.js + AWS Lambda — invisibly, mid-season.
+17%
Uplift in extra-credit purchases from a new booking system at Wildkind.
4platforms
Shipped Standpoint to PC, Mac, Linux & Xbox One as sole core programmer.
10+ yrs
Leading and mentoring engineering teams across games, ML and web.
Availability
See my full background Based in London. Available across the UK.
I'm based in London and prioritise founders and scale-ups here, with in-person availability for board meetings, workshops and team sessions — and I work remotely with teams elsewhere in the UK.
FAQ
Questions worth answering upfront.
Fractional CTO vs. technical advisor — what's the difference?
A technical advisor is usually a lighter-touch role — reviewing decks, sitting in on calls, offering opinions when asked. A fractional CTO owns outcomes: setting the architecture, leading the team, making the build/buy/leave-alone calls, and being accountable for what actually ships. Most of what I do is the latter — embedded enough to be useful, not just consulted — though I also take on advisory-only and scoped hands-on engagements when that's the better fit for where you're at.
Do you write code, or is this purely advisory?
Hands-on, by design. I built the Firebase auth bridge behind Wildkind's platform migration myself, I was sole programmer on a game shipped across four platforms, and I've solo-built and shipped a production SaaS (KitTracker) end to end. Strategy that never touches the code is a hobby, not a CTO function.
How many days a month does an engagement involve?
Flexible — from as little as a day a month, through hours on a retainer basis, to a more involved arrangement if the business needs it. We agree the shape upfront based on what's actually going on, and it can flex as that changes.
Can you work alongside an existing CTO or engineering lead?
Yes, often. That can mean taking on a specific piece of work — an architecture review, technical due diligence, a migration — without displacing anyone, or stepping in during a leadership gap while a team hires its next permanent CTO. Either way, the goal is to leave the team stronger, not dependent on me.
What does a fractional CTO engagement with you look like day to day?
It follows the same shape as any engagement I run: understand the business first, decide what to build versus buy versus leave alone, then build and lead — staying close enough to delivery to shape architecture and keep standards honest. The goal is always a team and a system you can run without me.
Are you only available for London-based companies?
I'm based in London and prioritise founders and scale-ups here, with in-person availability for board meetings, workshops and team sessions. I also work remotely with teams elsewhere in the UK.
Let's talk
Get in touch Looking for a fractional CTO in London?
Tell me what's going on and what you're trying to get to — I'll tell you straight whether I can help.