Advisory

Where Most Engagements Begin

Executive Technology Decision Review

A review of the decision itself, not an audit of your technology stack, and not a proposal for a larger program. Purpose, duration, and deliverables are agreed before any work begins.

Purpose

Put the decision on solid ground
Surface options genuinely available
Name cost, risk, and commitment of each
Leave you able to defend the call

What You Receive

Written assessment in business terms
Independent recommendation (including do nothing)
Prioritized sequence where action is warranted
Briefing for leadership or the board

Duration: two to four weeks, depending on the size of the decision and the access available. Most engagements begin here. Some end here, and that is a legitimate outcome.

How We Engage

Three ways to continue.

After the Decision Review, or when the shape of the work is already clear, engagements take one of three forms.

Model 01

Strategic judgment scoped to a defined set of priorities. Structured as a monthly retainer. A senior technology voice without embedded execution.

Best for: CEOs, boards, and operating partners who need an independent read on ongoing decisions.

Model 02

Embedded Leadership

Part-time executive technology leadership on an ongoing basis. Present in key decisions, accountable for outcomes, integrated into the organization's rhythm.

Best for: companies between full-time CTO hires, or scaling faster than leadership capacity.

Model 03

Defined Decision

Fixed scope, fixed timeline, defined outcome. Ideal when a single platform, diligence, AI, modernization, or leadership decision needs to be resolved cleanly.

Best for: capital commitments, diligence timelines, and board-ready positions with a hard date.

Client Evidence

What Embedded Leadership looks like from the founder's side.

Model 02 in practice

A founder who had spent four years iterating, and what changed once the technology decisions had an owner.

"I had been working on ReferralPro for four years, through multiple MVPs, rebuilds, and a lot of trial and error. At some point I realized I didn't need another developer. I needed an architect: someone who could understand what I was trying to build, put the right architecture underneath it, and turn the vision into something the business could actually run on.

For the first time, we're at the starting gate where I always wanted this business to be.

Chris understands the business, pushes my thinking, and thinks about how we make this built to last. He's someone I trust, and I want the relationship to continue."

Mikell Simmons Founder & CEO, ReferralPro!

What Brings People Here

The decisions this work addresses.

Technology is never the lead. The decision is. These are the situations that most often warrant independent judgment.

Board pressure on AI without a defensible answer

Build a position you can defend in the boardroom, and a plan you would fund with your own money. Judgment about where machines can decide, and where they cannot.

Technology has become the constraint on growth

Find the one or two constraints that actually bind. Fix those, rather than everything. Operating model before tooling.

A platform or capital commitment that is expensive to reverse

Buy, build, replace, or leave it alone. An independent read before the money moves, with no stake in which way it goes.

Diligence on a target's technology

What the technology can carry, what it will cost to remediate, and what the seller is not saying. Delivered in investment-committee language, on deal time.

A technology leadership problem that has not been named

See the situation clearly before you make a hire you will have to unwind. Sometimes the role you are recruiting for should not exist.

What I don't do

I don't sell technology. I have no product, no partnership, and no referral fee riding on your decision.
I don't staff projects or resell engineers, so I have no interest in the engagement being larger than it needs to be.
I don't deliver a deck and leave. A recommendation you can't execute is not a recommendation.
I don't take engagements I don't believe will pay for themselves. If that's the honest read, I'll tell you before we start.

Common Questions

Before we talk.

How are advisory engagements priced?

Engagements are structured as Decision Review (defined two-to-four week scope), ongoing Advisory (monthly retainer for strategic judgment), or Embedded Leadership (part-time executive presence accountable for outcomes). Pricing is scoped to the decision, the access required, and the duration. All scope and investment are defined before work begins.

How is this different from hiring a consulting firm?

A consulting firm has an interest in the size and duration of the engagement that follows the recommendation. I don't staff projects or resell engineers, so I have no stake in which way a decision goes. You are engaging one senior person who has been accountable for these decisions, not a team assembling a recommendation on your behalf.

Do you implement technology or staff projects?

No. The work is judgment and leadership, not implementation delivery. Recommendations are designed so your organization can execute them. Where implementation capacity is needed, I will say so and, where I can, point you toward the right path, without taking a referral fee or product interest.

Can you work alongside an existing technology team?

Yes, and it is the most common scenario. Most engagements involve working with existing engineering and technology leadership, providing independent executive judgment, decision clarity, and board-ready framing the internal team may not have the seniority or independence to provide alone. The role is complementary, not competitive, with existing staff.

How the work is structured.