How to get started with CTO as a service
Hi all!
I've traditionally looked for work by saying "hey I'm a startup CTO, do you need one" and, over a long enough time horizon that's worked out ok, but isn't very easy to find the right sort of projects. Usually what ends up happening is someone who needs a CTO hires me, and then I need to work fulltime for them, and then they want to hire me fulltime. So, while that's a nice problem to have, it's not quite what I want.
Right now I'd love to spin up some kind of part time consulting situation but my positioning just isn't right.
I've been thinking if I somehow positioned more on the "productised services" angle, that might help. But I have no idea how to get started, and/or how I might find the kind of people that could use my help.
Anyone have any tips? I guess if I had to pick a few "expertise" areas it would be one of these: Video streaming/Video security, Managing remote teams, mentoring junior devs, fixing/saving/evaluating problematic legacy code.
I feel like I'm throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing if it sticks.. but if this triggers any ideas, lemme know.
I guess my biggest questions are around acquisition.. how do I find the people who could do with my help?
A friend of mine does this. He said he researched a term called “fractional CTO” and that got him started. Not sure if it’s helpful to you, but thought I’d share!
oooo "fractional"... ok will take a look, thanks! Does your friend enjoy it? What niche has he/she gone for? 🤔
Establishing pipelines, code quality, and testing suites as startups are starting to scale their engineering team.
This sounds cool. I'd love to connect with them. moe @ tadabase . io
Gah! I wrote something then accidentally clicked a link so lost it.
I had this idea a while ago too and have been keeping it in my back pocket for when Lakebed is successful enough to be proof of my CTO abilities. My thought is to target SME's (small & medium biz) because they desperately need a CTO/CISO but often don't have a budget for a full-time person. The idea came to me when an architect friend whose practice is growing needed help reviewing IT support contracts and figuring out how to measure success of an IT service provider.
So, here's my Idea2.0. We create a "global CTO/CISO consulting company". The value being 2 brains are better than 1. If a consultant comes across a problem they're unfamiliar with or want a second opinion there is, for example, an internal Slack channel to post to. In any city its easy enough to find remote consultants to serve customers "on the ground" if they feel they need it.
Hope that helps,
I like it! :-) Very cool idea... how's your friend's business going? How does he find new work? I think that's the first challenge right? 🤔
Many businesses have a problem understanding their product (although it would seem that this is what they should be doing well). Of course, it's good to keep a full-time CTO on your staff so that an intelligent person is always on hand and can help. But now the "cto as a service" model of its kind is gaining popularity, outsourcing its expertise (probably this is one of the most successful examples of monetizing one's knowledge). In fact, you received a consultation, designated milestones and continue to work.
The time and effort need to put in for a CTO or Founder for any startup is almost same..
If you have a capability to be a CTO then why don't you run your startup. Why do you put all your efforts , skills into someone else organization.
Please reply. I am willing to know from you.
hey @sachingk I guess my answer to this would be that I'm not sure I agree that the effort is there same? 🤔 But I'd love to be proven wrong.
My ideal situation would be a SaaS.. for sure. BUT, my assumption is Interim CTO is much easier when you compare time-to-revenue, no?
For example, setting up a SaaS means building it, testing it, then finding people, then maybe over a long time starting to get revenue.
As a CTO as a service, I need to do the same amount of work for acquisition, but then once I find a person I can charge quite high rates.
It's not the "end goal", but it feels like a more reliable less risky way to make money...
The idea being then to give myself the fund/flexibility to work on my own SaaS ideas... 🤔