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Architecture & Stack Decisions
Choose the right infrastructure, framework, and data model before you build—so you're not rebuilding in 12 months. Honest trade-off analysis without vendor bias.
Fractional CTO
Senior Technical Leadership
When You Need It Most
You're building something real and you need someone who has shipped production systems before—not a consultant who writes reports. I offer hands-on fractional CTO engagement for founders and executives who need technical clarity, not more meetings.
Is This the Right Fit?
Fractional CTO engagement works best for specific stages and team profiles.
✓Seed to Series B founders who need technical leadership but can't justify a $300K+ CTO yet
✓Non-technical CEOs making architecture or hiring decisions without a trusted technical voice
✓Teams with delivery problems—shipping is slow, quality is inconsistent, or technical debt is mounting
✓Companies evaluating AI who need someone to separate real opportunities from hype
✓Interim coverage between full-time CTOs—keep momentum while you search
✓Engineering teams that need hands-on leadership, not org chart management
✓Pre-fundraise or pre-launch companies that need their technical story to hold up to scrutiny
✓Founders who want real involvement—code reviews, architecture, hiring—not weekly status reports
✓Distributed teams across time zones—async-friendly leadership that keeps remote engineers aligned and unblocked
✓Companies adding AI to their product who need someone who's actually shipped LLM features in production, not just read the docs
What Fractional CTO Covers
Hands-on technical leadership across the areas that matter most at your stage.
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Product Roadmap & Priorities
Translate business goals into a sequenced technical roadmap. Know what to build first, what to defer, and what to never build. Quarterly planning with your leadership team.
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Engineering Team Hiring
Define the right roles, write honest job descriptions, and interview candidates with technical depth. Stop hiring the wrong engineers at the wrong time.
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Delivery Rhythm & Process
Implement a delivery process that actually works for your team size—not cargo-culted enterprise Agile. Consistent shipping without chaos or ceremony.
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Technical Due Diligence
Evaluating an acquisition, partnership, or vendor? Get an independent technical assessment of code quality, architecture risk, and team capability before you commit.
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AI Integration Strategy
Identify where AI actually creates leverage in your product—and where it adds cost without value. Architecture, provider selection, and production reliability planning.
How I Work With You
Flexible engagement structures that fit where you are right now.
Advisory
4–8 hrs/month
Strategic guidance, architecture review, and leadership team access. Best for founders who have a functioning engineering team but need a trusted technical sounding board.
- ✓Monthly strategy session
- ✓Architecture review on demand
- ✓Async Q&A access
Part-Time CTO
10–20 hrs/week
Active technical leadership integrated into your team. Roadmap ownership, hiring involvement, delivery oversight, and regular leadership check-ins.
- ✓Weekly leadership sync
- ✓Roadmap and sprint planning
- ✓Engineering team management
- ✓Hiring interviews and decisions
Project-Based
Defined scope & timeline
Scoped engagements for specific needs: technical due diligence, architecture design, team audit, or a first engineering process setup. Clear deliverables, fixed timeline.
- ✓Defined deliverables upfront
- ✓Fixed timeline
- ✓No ongoing commitment
Why DCTSoft
Not a consultancy. Not a staffing firm. A senior engineer who builds things and leads teams.
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15+ Years of Production Systems
Full-stack development, system architecture, and AI integration across multiple industries. I've shipped the kind of software you're trying to build.
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Hands-On, Not Hands-Off
I review actual code, attend actual standups, and make actual decisions. If your team is stuck, I help them get unstuck—not write a memo about it.
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Verifiable Track Record
Enterprise leadership experience scaling teams and shipping compliant systems under production pressure. Current live products: ChemWhiz (100/100/100/100 PageSpeed, growing search traction), PickAFav (production PWA), CodeCrank (AI-accelerated SaaS delivery).
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Bias Toward Speed
AI-assisted development methodology means architectural decisions and technical planning happen in hours, not weeks. You're not paying for slow thinking.
Daniel Tofan
Founder & Principal Engineer, DCTSoft LLC
I've spent 15+ years building software from scratch—not managing teams who build software. That means when I evaluate your architecture, I'm reading it like someone who has written similar systems before.
My approach combines deep technical execution with the strategic perspective that comes from founding and running a software company. I know what it costs to rebuild something you built wrong the first time.
Before DCTSoft, I served as VP of Engineering at a healthcare startup during COVID—scaling the platform 100x, leading a 12+ person team, and shipping compliant systems to Fortune 500 clients under real production pressure.
Ready to Talk?
The first conversation is free. I'll cover where you are, what's blocking you, and whether a fractional CTO engagement makes sense for your stage.
No pitch deck. No sales process. Just a direct technical conversation.