The peloton problem
Senior engineers carry the front of every decision, every code review, every on-call shift. The peloton runs best when roles rotate. When the star eventually leaves, someone else needs to know what wind feels like.
The blog · since 2015
Insights for founders,
CTOs & investors.
Essays, playbooks and field notes from our CTOs, architects and leads. Written for people shipping real product.
Featured articles
What will the state of AI be like by this time next year?
Pricing strategies in the era of AI: why hourly billing no longer works
5 red flags for VCs when planning to invest in Seed or Series A companies
SaaS due diligence report: 12 learnings for founders that want to secure their next funding round
Things we do in our first weeks as Fractional CTO
Latest posts
Core Protocols: improving communication within your team
Efficient communication is important for SaaS teams. Core Protocols can unlock great potential in communication. Implementing these protocols can significantly improve a team's output and overall satisfaction by creating a shared vision and setting clear expectations.
Continuous integration and continuous deployment on mobile
Mobile app development i scomplex. Manual processes are error-prone and slow. CI/CD automates building, testing, and deploying apps, enhancing quality and speeding up releases. This guide explores CI/CD steps and tools for mobile apps.
How to explain your tech debt to your investors
Learn how to explain technical debt to investors effectively. This guide simplifies its impact on growth and strategies to manage it, helping you enhance company value and align business goals.
Cookie-based authentication with Laravel Sanctum
This is a detailed step-by-step guide for setting up Laravel Sanctum with cookie-based authentication. It explains the logic behind each step and how to set up Postman. We also tackle the most common CORs issues.
Mocking external systems in e2e tests
Struggling with a legacy codebase? We used Playwright to automate QA, reducing bugs. By mocking external APIs like Google Maps, we ensured seamless testing. Learn our implementation with Laravel and Playwright for reliable results.
Embracing brownfield projects & legacy code in SaaS
Balancing innovation with stability is key in managing SaaS legacy code. You explore phased implementations, leveraging existing assets, and continuous learning to maximize legacy code potential. Ideal for tech leads and founders.
Understanding and managing technical debt and legacy code: a guide for founders
Discover effective strategies for managing technical debt and legacy code in software development. This comprehensive guide for founders explores the causes, impacts, and solutions to maintain sustainable growth and high-quality code.
Backups. How much is enough?
Google Cloud's data loss incident highlights the need for robust backups. Regular backups and storing snapshots are crucial. Practicing data restoration every 6-12 months ensures readiness. Adapt strategies as systems evolve to manage data loss risks effectively.
Leading with fear: these leadership mistakes will break your startup
We’ll discuss some critical, non-technical challenges in leadership, including the impacts of ego and lack of self-awareness, and learn strategies to create a positive and productive work environment. Fear-driven leadership will break most startups.
Why don't you look at the codebase?
When auditing software companies, we don't only look at the codebase. The value of an audit lies in understanding the broader context of the company. By interviewing, we uncover the real issues.
The advantages of working with a specialized tech recruiter
Hiring tech talent is tough for startups. Partnering with tech recruiters helps by handling sourcing, screening, and initial interviews. They offer access to larger talent pools and reduce hiring mistakes.
Technical due diligence: The ultimate guide
Technical due diligence (TDD) helps investors and companies uncover the tech strengths and weaknesses of startups. TDD plays a crucial role in revealing risks and opportunities tied to technology, allowing for a thorough assessment that aids in making better business decisions.
Floating team members & priorities
In SaaS, shifting priorities and changing teams cause stress. Stable teams focus priorities but may lack roles, leaving floating members to juggle demands. A one-person service team can offer clarity, but careful prioritization and team restructuring are vital.
AI & agentic tooling
AI-first engineering
We use AI and agentic workflows daily. From coding agents to AI strategy, we help teams adopt what actually works.
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Due diligence done right
Technical audits, codebase assessments, and risk analysis for portfolio managers making investment decisions.
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How we help
Software engineering
Our staff engineers will get your software (back) on track and lead your engineering team. We prepare our exit from day one: our goal is to bring the software and the team to the right level for us to get out again.
Learn more about software engineeringCTO as a service
Our CTOs in residence (or fractional CTOs) inject technical leadership into your team, ensuring the technical aspect of your business gets exactly the right attention.
Learn more about CTO as a serviceAuditing
We're the market leader for technical due diligence of SaaS companies in Belgium and The Netherlands, servicing clients all over the world. Investors appreciate our smooth process, sharp opinions and top-notch reports.
Learn more about auditingCTO Coaching
Behind-the-scenes support for your CTO or technical lead to enhance their skills, drive effective change, and grow their teams confidently.
Learn more about CTO coachingRecruiting
We can help you find the best talent to join your team. Unlike other recruiters, we are CTOs and software engineers ourselves, and through getting our hands dirty, we know the skills required to make an impact.
Learn more about recruitingProduct management
Sometimes your struggles go beyond the technical. Do you need help evaluating the roadmap or sharpening the vision? What should you build in order to scale? Our product management experts know the way.
Learn more about product management