The CTO Hour
Before you hire, give away equity or pay an agency, spend an hour with a CTO.
One hour with a senior engineer as your CTO, ending in a straight answer: build it, change it, or don’t. $575CAD $800£425€500, and it comes off your first week if you decide to build with us within 30 days.
Who it’s for.
You know the problem, and you have the money and the intent to put something in front of real users. What you don’t have is a software engineer you trust to tell you whether, what and how to build.
It also suits a consultancy wondering whether a service could become software clients pay for monthly, and anyone whose process has outgrown a spreadsheet or one person’s laptop.
No technical knowledge is needed. If you have a data, AI or infrastructure person on your side, bring them.
- You have an idea or a mockup.
You’ve talked it through with the people who have the problem. Now you want to know whether it’s worth building, what the smallest real version is, and what it would take.
- You’re holding a quote.
An agency or a freelancer has quoted to build your product, and you want to know whether the price, the plan and the time are sensible before you sign.
- You’ve built something with AI tools.
It works in the demo, and you want to know whether it can hold up with real users, or whether it needs rebuilding.
Got a quote to build your product?
Get a second opinion from an engineer who builds products like it. Send the quote with your booking, and the hour goes through it with you: whether the price and the timeline are realistic, what the quote leaves out, and whether it’s the right way to build what you need. You leave knowing what to ask the agency, or whether to look elsewhere.
Built it with AI tools?
Find out in an hour whether what you’ve built can hold up with real users. Share a link with your booking, and the hour looks at what will break first when people start relying on it, what can be kept, and what needs proper engineering.
What happens in the hour.
- Before the call.
When you book, you tell us in a few lines what you want to exist, who it’s for and what you already have: notes, a mockup, a prototype, or a quote. Mykola reads it beforehand.
- The call.
One hour on video with Mykola, our senior architect, working through it as your CTO. He asks what only you can answer, sketches how it would be built, and says plainly what he’d do in your place.
- The answer.
Before the hour ends you hear the verdict: build it, change it, or don’t. And why.
What you leave with.
If the answer is “don’t build it yet”, you leave with what would have to change first. That’s worth knowing before you spend the money.
- A straight verdict
Build it, change it, or don’t build it yet, with the reason.
- The riskiest assumption
The one thing that sinks the product if it’s wrong, and how to test it cheaply.
- The smallest real first version
What it does, what it leaves out for now, and roughly how many weeks it would take.
- A one-page written plan within 2 working days
So you can share it with a co-founder, an investor or anyone who wasn’t on the call.
What it isn’t.
Not a sales call. You’re paying for Mykola’s judgement, including when the answer is no.
The price, and the credit.
- The CTO Hour: $575CAD $800£425€500
Paid when you book.
- If you build with us within 30 days
What you paid for the hour comes off your first week. If you don’t build, or decide later, the hour stays paid for and the answer is still yours.
Unlike a fractional CTO sold by the hour, it’s one focused decision with no retainer, from someone who can also build what’s decided. Compared with a technical co-founder, it’s the price of one hour instead of a large share of your company, before anything exists.
If the answer is “build it”.
The next step is free scoping. You share what you have, and you get back the scope of the first version and how many weeks it takes. You approve it before paying anything. Then a first version in one to four weeks, and a new version every week after, at $5,600CAD $7,900£4,200€4,900 a week. You can stop after any week, and the code, cloud and data are yours from day one.
Questions.
What is a fractional CTO hour?
An hour of a senior engineer acting as your CTO, without hiring one or giving away equity. Most fractional CTOs sell hours as part of a longer engagement. The CTO Hour is one session, ending in a decision, with no retainer.
Can you get CTO advice on a startup idea before anything is built?
Yes. You don’t need more than an idea, notes or a mockup. The hour works out whether it’s worth building and what the smallest real version would be.
Can you give a second opinion on a software quote?
Yes. Send the quote with your booking. The hour checks the price, the timeline and the approach against what your product needs, and tells you what to ask before you sign.
What if the answer is don’t build it?
Then you’ve saved the cost of finding out the hard way. You leave with the reason and what would have to change first. You owe nothing more.
How does the credit work?
If you commit to building with us within 30 days of the call, what you paid for the hour comes off your first week. After 30 days the hour stays paid for, and free scoping is still free whenever you’re ready.
Can you move or cancel the booking?
Yes. Move it, or cancel it for a full refund, up to two days before the call. The terms are on the booking page, before you pay.
Book your hour.
Pick a time, tell us in a few lines what you want to build, and pay when you book. $575CAD $800£425€500, and it comes off your first week if you build with us within 30 days.
Not sure the hour is right for you? If you already know what you want built, start with free scoping instead.
Or write: [email protected]