The AI Agile Manifesto
Agile was supposed to free us from bureaucracy. Many teams just rebuilt it with better branding. Now, AI-driven development is forcing the uncomfortable question: Were we ever truly agile, or just managing slow feedback loops?
CTO Coaching
Jump Start Competition: And the winner is…
The first Jump Start Competition has a winner. Three promising teams, one jury decision, and a strong start to hands-on collaboration with madewithlove. Here are the winners!
Communicate or be micromanaged - the CTO edition
CTOs often come from engineering backgrounds and, particularly when newly promoted, tend to focus on what they know best, the technology. While this is understandable given their previous success, technology is rarely the hardest part of the CTO role.
The CTO's guide to AI adoption strategy
AI adoption fails when treated as a tool rollout. This guide covers the decision framework, team dynamics, economics, and mistakes from 150+ technical audits.
When don't you need a fractional CTO
Does every startup need an interim CTO? Fractional CTOs can accelerate growth and solve complex challenges—when brought in at the right time. Learn when it’s too early, too risky, or simply not the right fit for your business.
When to hire senior developers vs. juniors - the perfect team composition
Senior developers bring expertise, long-term vision, and stability to complex SaaS projects, while juniors—when guided effectively—offer cost-efficiency and faster execution for well-defined tasks.
Six signs your team needs to scale
Learn when your startup is ready to scale: signs include increased workloads, strained leadership, skill gaps, and declining quality. Discover the role of CTO coaching and external guidance from madewithlove for successful growth and innovation.
CTO sounding board: our new leadership mentoring service for SaaS CTOs and tech leaders
We often see competent technical leaders struggling to balance responsibilities in growing software teams. To help them, we now offer coaching and mentoring for SaaS CTOs with our new CTO Sounding Board service.
Supercharge your startup with staff engineers
Staff engineers, senior technical leaders, guide and balance SaaS teams, possessing deep expertise. They excel as mentors, advocating for the team, providing feedback, and bridging business and technical goals. This guide explains if your business needs staff engineers and what they do.
How a CTO builds a team
There are many factors involved in building a thriving team. This is what a CTO must consider when hiring expert teams to build software.
The Steve Test: 12 Steps to Better Teams
Evaluate your team’s culture with a simple test. For managers, learn how you can improve your team. For individual contributors, learn what you’re missing out on when it comes to team culture.
Extreme Autonomy - the heart of Free Range Management
What’s the best way to lead knowledge workers? What is Free Range Management really about? What is extreme autonomy?
The evolution of technical roles
Many startups give the CTO title to their technical lead. We think that’s a mistake. There is an organic way to grow engineering teams
The first days as a firefighting CTO — what to focus on when you are hired to lead a team in times of change
At madewithlove, we join teams when things aren’t so stable. Maybe a key non-replaceable employee has left or a new investment is fueling growth.
No as a Service
Quiz time. Which of these actually means no: 1. We will try our best 2. Yes 3. Your proposal is intriguing 4. That sounds difficult