A YC Head of Engineering, without the full-time hire.
Joined a YC startup as an engineer, built 90% of its production systems, and became Head of Engineering. Get that leadership for architecture, hiring, security, and AI strategy, part-time and month to month. Or bring us in when an AI project is stuck between impressive demo and dependable product.
Leadership that's been battle-tested.
At Careforce AI (YC F24), we joined as a senior engineer, built 90% of the production systems, and became Head of Engineering, building the team from zero. That's the experience you get.
- Architecture & roadmap. Technical decisions that fit your stage, budget, and growth plan.
- Hiring & team building. Hiring criteria, technical assessments, interviews, and onboarding for senior engineers.
- Security & compliance. HIPAA-ready infrastructure, security policies, and enterprise security questionnaires, even before SOC 2.
- Enterprise deals. Technical support for contract reviews and customer due diligence.
- Investor readiness. Clear technical narrative and architecture that holds up in diligence.
- Hands-on when needed. We don't just advise. We can write the hard parts of the code ourselves.
Prototype works on a laptop, falls over in production?
We specialize in turning early prototypes into dependable systems. We find what's breaking, fix the foundations, and get you shipping again.
Audit
A fast, honest review of code, infrastructure, security, and costs, with a prioritized fix list. See the AI Production Audit →
Stabilize
Monitoring, error handling, fallbacks, and data integrity fixes so things stop breaking.
Scale
Performance work, async processing, and infrastructure that keeps up as usage grows.
This is for you if…
- You're a non-technical founder who needs a trusted technical decision-maker.
- You've raised a seed round and need to build an engineering team.
- Enterprise customers are sending security questionnaires you can't answer.
- An agency or freelancer left you with code nobody understands.
- Your AI prototype is impressive but unreliable or too expensive to run.
- You need a senior engineer to lead a project but can't hire one yet.
Fractional CTO questions
How much time do you commit?
Engagements are flexible, from a few hours a week of leadership to several days a week of hands-on building. We set it based on what you need.
Is there a long-term contract?
No. Retainers are month to month. Most clients stay because it works, not because they're locked in.
Can you help us hire a full-time CTO later?
Yes. Helping you hire your permanent technical leader, and handing over cleanly, is often the goal.
Get senior technical leadership this month.
Book a free call to talk through your team, your roadmap, and where you're stuck.