Process - How I work with startup engineering teams
My consulting process is designed for the fast-paced, evolving needs of early-stage startups. The focus is always on delivering immediate value while building long-term organizational capabilities.
Discovery & Assessment
Every engagement begins with understanding your current state and goals. I work closely with your team to assess technical challenges, organizational needs, and strategic objectives.
This phase involves deep conversations with stakeholders, technical reviews of existing systems, and analysis of your engineering processes. I focus on identifying the highest-impact areas where my involvement can make a meaningful difference.
The outcome is a clear action plan that prioritizes the most critical needs and establishes measurable success criteria for our engagement.
Included in this phase
- Technical architecture review
- Team structure assessment
- Process evaluation
- Stakeholder interviews
- Priority roadmap development
- Success metrics definition
Hands-on Execution
Based on our discovery phase, I dive into the highest-priority work immediately. This could involve hands-on development, technical leadership, team mentoring, or strategic planning—whatever your organization needs most.
I maintain close communication throughout, providing regular updates and adapting our approach as priorities shift. The benefit of working with one client at a time is that I can pivot quickly when urgent needs arise or opportunities emerge.
Whether it's building critical features, scaling infrastructure, or mentoring junior developers, I focus on delivering tangible results while building long-term organizational capabilities.
The ability to have an experienced engineer who could immediately contribute across our entire stack was exactly what we needed during our rapid growth phase.
Knowledge Transfer
A key part of every engagement is ensuring your team can maintain and extend the work we've accomplished together. I don't believe in creating dependencies— I believe in building your team's capabilities.
This involves comprehensive documentation, code reviews with your developers, architecture decisions explanations, and process training. I make sure your team understands not just the “what” but the “why” behind technical decisions.
By the end of our engagement, your team should feel confident continuing the work independently. I remain available for questions and periodic check-ins, but the goal is always sustainable autonomy.
Knowledge transfer includes
- Documentation. Comprehensive technical documentation, architectural decision records, and process guides that your team can reference long-term.
- Code Reviews. Detailed walkthroughs of implemented solutions with your developers, explaining patterns and approaches they can apply going forward.
- Training Sessions. Focused sessions on new tools, processes, or methodologies introduced during our engagement, ensuring your team can use them effectively.
Engagement model - Flexible, focused, and results-driven
I work differently than traditional consultants. My approach is designed specifically for the unique challenges and pace of early-stage startups.
- Exclusive Focus. I work with one client at a time, ensuring you get my complete attention and fastest response times when urgent issues arise.
- Rapid Deployment. I can typically begin working within a day of agreement, perfect for addressing critical technical needs or time-sensitive projects.
- Month-to-Month Flexibility. Engagements are structured month-to-month, allowing us to adapt as your priorities change and scale up or down based on your needs.
- Startup Specialized. Deep experience with pre-seed to Series A challenges means I understand the unique constraints and opportunities of early-stage companies.
- Hands-on Leadership. Comfortable jumping into code, architecture, team management, or strategic planning—whatever your organization needs most at the moment.
- Knowledge Building. Focus on building your team's capabilities rather than creating dependencies, ensuring sustainable long-term success.