Idea session
Who has the problem, who would pay, why now, and what they use today. We write down the three riskiest assumptions and what would prove or kill them.
You leave with a one-page brief, whether or not we work together.
Fractional CTO for Australian founders
Prove the idea before you pay to build it.
I'm Matt. I help founders find out quickly whether an idea is worth building, then build it properly with AI coding agents, and stay on as a part-time CTO once it's working.
Fixed prices. Stop at any stage. You own everything.
Sound familiar?
You're about to hire developers
You have an idea and some budget, and you're not sure what to build first, or whether to build at all.
You built something with AI tools
It works on your laptop. You don't know if it's safe to put real customers and their data on it.
Nobody senior is minding the tech
The product is live, the bills are growing, and every technical decision lands on you.
Investors are asking questions
Who's your CTO? How does this scale? What happens if your developer leaves?
Four stages, with a decision after each
Before we start, we write down the numbers that would make the idea worth pursuing and the numbers that would stop it. Each stage ends with a straight answer against them, and you only pay for the stages you run.
Desk check
AI research agents work in parallel, and I direct and check everything they bring back:
- Competitors, including trying their product on a real case.
- Market size, built from the bottom up.
- Supplier quotes and licence terms for anything you'd depend on.
- Unit economics: what each customer costs to win and serve.
- A red team whose only job is to argue why it fails.
Decision: go, reshape or stop, in a memo you can share with co-founders or investors.
Demand test
Real people and real money, before a real product:
- 15–20 customer interviews.
- A landing page with a real price, and paid traffic to it.
- A hand-delivered version of the product for 5–10 paying customers.
- 3–5 partner conversations, aiming for letters of intent.
Decision: did enough people pay, sign or commit, against the numbers from stage 0?
First product
Built with AI coding agents under my direction, for the customers who said yes. Working software in your own GitHub account, with automated tests, a preview of every change, and monitoring.
Decision: are people coming back and paying without being chased?
Most ideas should stop or change shape at the first or second decision. That's money saved, not wasted: about $3,500 to know if there's a market, $13,000 to know if people will pay.
Already have a product?
Fractional CTO
Senior technical leadership for a few days a month, at a fixed monthly fee. Month to month, no lock-in.
from $6,000 a monthWhat that covers
- Security, quality and architecture reviews.
- Setting up AI-assisted development that holds up: specs, tests and review before anything ships.
- Scaling, monitoring and keeping cloud and AI costs in check.
- Hiring and leading your first developers.
- A technical partner in the room with customers and investors.
AI agents do the typing. Every change is checked.
"Built with AI" can mean anything. Here's what it means here.
- SpecWhat we're building, for whom, and how we'll know it works, written before any code.
- AgentsSeveral coding agents work in parallel, each on its own branch.
- ChecksAutomated tests, type checks and a live preview of every change.
- ReviewA separate reviewer, then me, reads each change against the spec.
- ShipIt lands as a pull request in your GitHub. Nothing goes out unreviewed.
Who I work best with
A good fit if you
- Are a founder, technical or not, with an idea or an early product.
- Want fixed prices and straight answers, including "stop".
- Are willing to talk to customers before building for them.
- Want to own your code, accounts and data from day one.
Probably not a fit if you
- Need a full-time, in-house engineering manager.
- Want a spec built exactly as written, without questions.
- Are looking to pay in equity rather than fees.
Common questions
Why not just hire a developer?
A developer will build what you ask for. The first job is finding out what's worth building, and whether anyone will pay for it. That's cheaper to learn before the build than after.
How much of my time does it take?
The idea session is 90 minutes. During a desk check, expect a short call at the start and one at the end. The demand test needs you most, because the customers want to talk to the founder.
What happens if the answer is "stop"?
You pay only for the stages you ran, keep everything we produced, and have the evidence to explain the decision to anyone else involved.
Who owns the code and the research?
You do, from day one. The code lives in your GitHub account, and the accounts, data and documents are yours.
Do I need to be technical?
No. You bring the problem, the customers and the decisions; I handle the technology and explain it in plain words.
Is my idea kept confidential?
Yes. I'm happy to sign a mutual NDA before we talk.
Start with a free idea session
Ninety minutes, with an idea or a product. You'll leave with a one-page brief: your riskiest assumptions, what would prove or kill them, and what I'd do next, whether or not we work together.
Bookings open shortly. Email and a booking link are on their way.