A CTO On Your Team.
Not On Your Payroll.
You need someone who has been a CTO before — not a consultant reading from a playbook. I have built engineering orgs from zero, scaled teams to 35+, and delivered 150+ projects across healthcare, fintech, and SaaS. Now I do it for multiple companies at once, so you get executive-level technical leadership at a fraction of the cost.
Trusted by teams at
Three Engagement Models
Strategic Advisory (5-10 hrs/week)
For companies that have an engineering lead but need senior oversight. I join weekly leadership syncs, review architecture decisions, provide hiring guidance, and serve as the technical voice in board and investor meetings.
Embedded CTO (15-25 hrs/week)
For companies that need a CTO who is in the trenches daily. I run standups, conduct code reviews, own the technical roadmap, manage vendor relationships, and work directly with your engineering team as their technical leader.
Project-Based (Fixed Scope)
For specific technical challenges: architecture redesign, AI strategy, cloud migration planning, or technical due diligence for M&A. Clear deliverables, fixed timeline, defined outcomes.
Who This Is For
Pre-Series A Startups
You are pre-revenue or early revenue, building your first product. You need someone who has shipped before to make the foundational technology decisions — database, framework, hosting, CI/CD — that you will live with for years.
Scale-Ups Hitting Technical Debt
Your product works but the codebase is slowing you down. Deployments take hours, bugs keep recurring, and your engineers are frustrated. I audit the architecture, prioritize what to fix first, and run the remediation sprints.
PE/VC Portfolio Companies
You need an experienced CTO to evaluate a portfolio company's technology stack, run technical due diligence before acquisition, or stabilize an engineering team post-deal. I have done this across SaaS, healthcare, and fintech.
Companies Transitioning CTOs
Your CTO is leaving (or left) and you need someone to keep the ship running — maintain team morale, ensure deadlines are met, and bridge the gap until you hire permanently. I typically engage for 3-6 months in these scenarios.
What You Get
Technology Strategy & Roadmap
A clear 6-12 month technical roadmap aligned with your business goals. Not a generic framework — a specific plan with milestones, resource requirements, and risk mitigations tailored to your product and team.
- Stack evaluation and recommendations
- Build vs. buy analysis for key components
- Quarterly OKRs for engineering
- AI integration strategy
Engineering Team Development
Hiring the right people, setting up the right processes, and creating a culture where engineers do their best work. I have built teams from 0 to 35+ and know what works at each stage.
- Job descriptions and role ladders
- Technical interview design
- Onboarding playbooks
- Performance review frameworks
Architecture & Code Quality
Production systems that scale without 3am pages. I establish architecture patterns, code review standards, testing requirements, and deployment processes that keep quality high as you grow.
- System architecture design
- CI/CD pipeline setup
- Automated testing strategy
- Security audit and compliance
Stakeholder Communication
Translating technical complexity into business language for your board, investors, and leadership team. I present at board meetings, handle technical due diligence calls, and write the reports that close deals.
- Board-ready technical updates
- Investor due diligence support
- Risk and status reporting
- Partnership technical evaluations
The Experience Behind the Service
Built and led the full engineering organization at Spericorn Technology
Across banking, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, SaaS, and AI
Co-founded in 2004, grew to a full-service development firm
Let's Discuss Your Needs
Every company's CTO needs are different. In a free 30-minute call, I will learn about your situation and recommend whether CTO-as-a-Service is the right fit, or if a different engagement model would serve you better.
FAQ
What is CTO-as-a-Service?
CTO-as-a-Service is an on-demand engagement model where an experienced CTO embeds with your company part-time — joining standups, running sprint planning, reviewing architecture, interviewing engineering candidates, and presenting to your board. Virendra Vaishnav brings 20+ years of experience including a full-time CTO role leading 35+ engineers.
How is CTO-as-a-Service different from hiring a consultant?
A consultant delivers recommendations and leaves. CTO-as-a-Service means operating as your CTO: being in your Slack and GitHub, owning the technology roadmap, sitting in investor calls, and being accountable for engineering outcomes — not just advice.
How many hours per week does a CTO-as-a-Service engagement involve?
Typical engagements run 10-20 hours per week, scaling up during critical phases like fundraising, architecture overhauls, or team build-outs, and scaling down once systems stabilize. There are no long-term contracts or lock-in.
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