Early stage startups

How a virtual CTO can help

You’ve got a business idea that you think could change the world - or at least make you very wealthy when you launch your IPO and cash in on your shares! 

Beyond the initial idea for your early stage startup, you might have:

  • Seed funding from friends and family. 

  • An A-round from an Angel investor.

  • Perhaps you’re a serial entrepreneur and you’re self-funding your new venture from the proceeds of your last company exit. 

  • You have a co-founder who is equally excited and passionate about your idea. 

  • You’re even a bit further along in the process and have organically bootstrapped your way into sustainable revenue - but you’re not sure what to do next!


It’s an exciting time, but also a nervous one. If your idea is so good, the competition is out there. You can’t delay in converting your big idea from a dream to reality. That’s why I’m here.

555 vCTO. 30+ years of experience launching and scaling early stage startups the right way

My virtual CTO services for early stage startups includes a proven process that takes you step-by-step through this critical early stage startup phase, setting you up for success when you’re ready to scale up. Why would you hire virtual CTO or what is the difference between full-time and virtual CTO? You can read answers to some of the Frequently Asked Questions.

Here are the building blocks of early stage startup success:

Business Model Canvas

Let’s go beyond your product positioning statement and understanding your customer’s journey, value proposition, sales channels and more. Use a proven methodology for your custom business model canvas.

Assess technical feasibility

How can we effectively deliver your product or service to your customers? This requires detailed planning across many facets of your business, from where you’re located to what materials you’re using, labor, transportation, technology and more. Can we build it? Let’s find out.

Evaluate possible technologies

What is the smartest, quickest, most cost-effective way to build out the technology capabilities you need to ensure you can run your business and keep customers happy? What should you build? What could you buy off the shelf, in a strategic way? Let’s take a holistic view and strategically evaluate the technologies that will help you grow your business.

Basic System Architecture

Let’s determine how all the components of your technology fit together to provide more value than the sum of their parts. It’s not just about stacking tech like lego blocks. Now you can see your system architecture from an adaptive standpoint, enabling you to scale when needed.

Proof of Concept 

What is it that your business is trying to achieve? How will you test it and set success criteria, to know if your product is viable? Taking a strategic approach, you can see if your business idea has real potential.

Minimum Viable Product

Now that you’ve established your proof of concept and that you can provide real value to a particular kind of customer, it’s time to make your idea a reality. Turn your idea into a Minimum Viable Product that customers want.

Develop a Product Positioning Statement

Before you can sell your product or service, you have to be able to communicate what it is - and you’ve got to do it quickly. I’ll help you develop (and memorize) the three simple sentences that will help your customers, investors and other stakeholders understand what you’re all about.