Hands-on tech leadership for startups that need to build right.
I work directly with founders to shape the product, architecture, and team with clear ownership and long-term thinking.
Book an intro callWhy this studio exists
This studio exists to give early-stage founders access to senior tech leadership that's practical, hands-on, and affordable in order to build the right technical foundations from the start.
The value I bring
How I help founders move fast without losing control.
Speed with accuracy
Moving fast without creating problems later.
- Matching business goals, solution scope, and resources
- Making decisions that unblock execution
- Helping teams ship without rework
Decision confidence
"This is the right call — and here's why."
- Evaluating real trade-offs
- Knowing when to cut scope
- Understanding long-term consequences
Alignment & ownership
Clear direction, shared context, real accountability.
- Translating business goals into technical priorities
- Making risk visible and actionable
- Owning outcomes while founders stay in control
Technical foundations that scale
Built for today, ready for what comes next.
- Architectures that fit the current stage
- Clear core data models and boundaries
- Pragmatism now, optionality later
Packages
0 to 1
Fractional CTO
20 hours / month — CTO (Ahmed)
What this looks like in practice
This engagement is about direction and foundations.
We work closely to:
- Clarify what should be built now vs later
- Turn business goals into a realistic technical roadmap
- Early architecture decisions that won't box you in
- Avoid over-engineering while keeping future scale in mind
You'll get senior input on product, architecture, and technical trade-offs — without hiring a full-time CTO too early.
How we work
Monthly roadmap & architecture workshop
A structured working session focused on setting direction for the month ahead.
In this session, we:
- Align on business and product goals
- Decide what should be built now vs later
- Define a realistic technical roadmap
- Make early architecture decisions with future scale in mind
This workshop sets the technical direction and removes ambiguity for the weeks that follow.
Weekly tech & architecture reviews
A consistent cadence to keep quality and direction tight.
- Reviewing PRs, system changes, and upcoming decisions
- Validating architectural choices and technical approaches
- Catching risks early before they become expensive
This ensures early decisions stay intentional and aligned.
Weekly founder advisory
A dedicated 1:1 space with the founder.
- Discuss risks, trade-offs, and open questions
- Pressure-test ideas and decisions
- Think through next moves and priorities
This is where senior judgment and context matter most.
Best for
Pre-seed / seed startups · Non-technical or first-time founders · Teams building their first serious product
Book an intro callScale
Fractional Daily leadership & execution
40 hours / month — CTO (Ahmed)
30 hours / month — Engineering Manager
30 hours / month — Staff / Architect
What this looks like in practice
This engagement is about execution with structure and senior oversight.
You already have a team. What's missing is consistent leadership across planning, delivery, and technical decision-making. I step in with daily involvement across CTO, EM, and Staff roles to bring clarity, ownership, and momentum.
We work closely to:
- Turn business goals into clear technical plans and delivery sequences
- Strengthen architecture with deeper system and domain design
- Improve estimation, prioritization, and execution flow with the team
- Reduce friction between product, engineering, and leadership
How we work
Monthly roadmap & deep architecture workshop
A more detailed and hands-on version of Zero to One, with broader participation. This session includes:
- Refining monthly business and product goals
- Producing deeper architecture documentation
- Defining core domain models and DB schemas
- Estimation, sequencing, and trade-offs with the team
The Engineering Manager and Staff / Architect participate to ensure alignment and shared ownership.
Weekly tech reviews & founder alignment
A tight weekly cadence to maintain quality and momentum.
- Reviewing PRs, system changes, and upcoming decisions
- Validating architectural changes
- Surfacing risks early
- Ensuring technical decisions stay tied to business goals
Daily leadership support
Clear daily ownership across leadership roles.
CTO (Ahmed) — 1 hour / day
- Vision and technical direction
- Major architectural decisions
- Investment, diligence, and roadmap discussions
Engineering Manager — 1 hour / day
- Sprint planning and delivery flow
- Unblocking engineers and resolving dependencies
- Improving ownership and predictability
Staff / Architect — 1 hour / day
- Designing and reviewing complex systems
- Deep PR reviews and architectural guidance
- Improving code quality and scalability
Best for
Startups with an active engineering team · Founders feeling execution drag · Teams preparing to scale
Book an intro callPartner
Embedded leadership & long-term alignment
3-month minimum commitment4 hours/day — CTO (Ahmed)
4 hours/day — Engineering Manager
4 hours/day — Staffs / Architects
What this looks like in practice
This is a deep partnership, not a service. I act as your embedded tech leader, taking real ownership of technical direction, delivery outcomes, leadership structure, and long-term scalability.
This engagement is intentionally flexible by design. The goal isn't to fit into a fixed process — it's to align on where the company is, where it's going, and how senior leadership can add the most value.
How partnership works
Instead of prescribing a rigid structure upfront, we align on:
- where the company needs the most leverage right now
- how leadership time should be allocated
- which problems are highest-impact at this stage
- how success should look over the next 3–6 months
The shape of the engagement evolves with the business.
Best for
Startups where tech is mission-critical · Founders seeking a long-term tech partner · Companies preparing for rapid growth or fundraising
Equity-based partnerships may be considered on a case-by-case basis for long-term engagements.
Get in touch
If you're building something meaningful and need senior tech leadership, I'm happy to have a conversation.
This is not a sales call. It's a short alignment discussion to understand where you are, what you're trying to build, and whether I can genuinely add value at this stage.
Book an intro call