Guides
Straight answers on building, auditing and buying software.
No fluff, no filler — practical guides on the decisions founders and teams actually face, from someone who's built, priced and audited it all.
Is Your AI-Generated Code Production-Ready? 7 Checks
AI can ship a working demo in a weekend — but production-ready is a different bar. Seven concrete checks to tell whether your AI-built app is solid, salvageable, or a rebuild.
Read guideIs Your Software Agency Overcharging You? How to Sanity-Check a Quote
A practical guide to telling whether an agency or freelancer quote is fair — where padding hides, which terms matter, and how to push back — from someone who priced software for 14 years.
Read guideFractional CTO vs Full-Time CTO vs Technical Co-Founder
Three very different ways to get senior technical leadership into your startup — what each actually gives you, what it costs, and how to choose the right one for your stage.
Read guideWhat Is Technical Due Diligence? A Founder & Investor's Guide
What technical due diligence covers, how it works, what a good report looks like, and why founders should run it on themselves before a raise or exit — from an engineer who's delivered and audited hundreds of systems.
Read guideRewrite or Refactor? How to Decide Without Wasting a Year
A full rewrite is the most seductive and most dangerous decision in software. A practical framework for telling whether you actually need one — or whether you're about to waste a year rebuilding what you already had.
Read guideGDPR for Startups: A Practical Checklist for SaaS Founders
GDPR isn't just legal paperwork — it's how your software actually handles data. A practical, non-lawyer checklist for SaaS founders selling into Europe, from an engineer who audits data flows for a living.
Read guideRather just ask someone who's seen it?
Book a free intro call and get a straight, expert answer to whatever you're weighing up — no pitch.