Fractional Tech Lead
Technical leadership without bringing on a full time employee.
Technical leadership without bringing on a full time employee.
You're an early or growth-stage startup that needs real technical leadership but doesn't have the budget or timing for a full-time CTO. Maybe your MVP is buckling under real traffic, you're preparing for your next fundraise, or you're a non-technical founder who knows it's time to get serious about your technology.
You need someone who's seen these problems before and can help you avoid the expensive mistakes without the commitment of a senior hire.
You build a tech demo over a weekend and now it's in production and failing to scale. I'll help you get to a version 2 and keep the lights on while getting there.
You've gotten traction, but now your application can't keep up and you're going to lose momentum because of service outages. I'll tune your infrastructure, optimize your database, and streamline your software so you can get back to serving your customers.
Whether it's a vibe-coded application, a team of junior engineers, or a string of short term contractors, I can provide the direction to get things back on track.
I'm Erik Wiffin, and I've spent the last 15+ years helping startups and scale-ups navigate the messy reality of building software that actually works. I've been the founding engineer who turned an idea into a product, the director who scaled engineering teams from 5 to 20+, and the leader who kept the lights on during pivots, fundraises, and organizational resets.
I've seen what happens when technical debt catches up with growth, and I know how to fix it without burning everything down. Now I'm helping early-stage companies get their tech house in order—whether that's stabilizing a buckling MVP, building out a hiring process, or just being the experienced voice in the room when technical decisions need to be made.
I will review your existing codebase and infrastructure to identify security vulnerabilities, performance issues, and technical complexity that's holding you back.
I will design your interview pipeline, train your existing team to interview software engineers, and sit on an interview panel to help you find the right candidates to grow your team for the long haul.
I will identify areas where your existing team can take advantage of modern AI tooling and provide training and support in adopting new practices.
If you just need more developers, I will make hands-on-keyboard contributions to your codebase to get you where you need to go.
I have over 15 years of software industry experience, so I've seen a lot and I'm not afraid to pick up something new. But if you want me to hit the ground running yesterday, here are the tools I'm most familiar with:
CTO @ Devetry
"Erik is the rare type of engineer who can dive deep into technical problems and also communicate clearly with non-technical clients. He made my job easier on every project he touched."
Group Manager
"From day one, Erik seamlessly integrated into our team, quickly understanding our priorities and constraints. He consistently delivered high-quality work while bringing a level of care and commitment not often seen from contractors, elevating our entire team in the process."