Engagement tiers

Tiers are defined by availability and scope of influence, not by selling hours. The goal is to reduce decision drag, prevent expensive rewrites, and keep the team aligned.

Pricing note: Engagements are fixed monthly retainers—typically in the thousands per month, with higher-availability bridge work sometimes in the five-figure range. The exact retainer depends on availability, urgency, and scope—and is confirmed after a 30-minute fit call. You don’t need to pick the perfect tier up front.
Advisory

Technical North Star

Availability: light-touch guidance & review

  • Architecture and risk reviews
  • Decision principles to reduce debate
  • Hiring and role shaping (light)

Best for: you want a technical north star and a “sanity-check loop,” without adding more meetings or process.

Embedded

Strategic Operator

Availability: part-time, inside the team’s cadence

  • Define decision domains + ownership model
  • Align roadmap with technical reality
  • Mentor senior engineers, unblock debates, set standards

Best for: shipping is real, but decision load and misalignment are creating drag.

Operational (time-boxed)

Bridge CTO

Availability: higher responsiveness during a transition

  • CTO-level ownership during a transition
  • Drive alignment, hiring plan, and delivery signals
  • Time-boxed with an explicit “exit plan”

Best for: a temporary CTO gap or growth pressure where you need CTO-level ownership now.

What you get in the first 2–3 weeks

Regardless of tier, the early win is always the same: reduce confusion and make decisions feel safe again.

A clear gap diagnosis

Decision ownership vs direction vs bandwidth vs execution structure — with a plan.

Decision principles

Pre-decide trade-offs so 70% of debates disappear.

Role clarity

Who owns what, how escalations work, and what “done” means.

Book a 30-minute fit call Fit check