Core
Fractional CTO
Part-time technical leadership for Series A-C startups. Scale the team, restore delivery, and align tech with the business.
$15K-25K/moGet leadership in place
Fractional CTO · Engineering rescue
When your engineering team stops shipping, I get it moving again.
I'm Chris Madison. I diagnose why delivery stalled, costs ballooned, or leadership went missing. Then I stay until the team is shipping again.
43%
Cloud cost reduction in 90 days
5→65
Engineers scaled across 3 continents
10
Patents in AI/ML
Social proof
What clients say
Real quotes from people I've worked with. No invented logos.
“The team really thrived under your leadership.”
Jaina Maher
Chief Operating Officer, Everyrealm
“I've never seen a CTO so actively involved in coding. At times, it felt like you were doing the work of three developers on your own. I learned a lot from how you stayed on top of the latest tech updates while remaining closely connected with every aspect of the project.”
Brad Chouhan
Senior Solution Engineer, Gammastack
Problems I solve
The calls I take
“Our engineering team isn’t shipping anymore”
Features that used to take days now take weeks. Sprint commitments slip, and morale follows.
Restore velocity → Fractional CTO“Our cloud bill is out of control”
You’re spending tens or hundreds of thousands a month on AWS with no clear view of why it keeps growing.
Cut spend → Cloud optimization“We’re drowning in technical complexity”
Every change is slower than the last. Tech debt is real, but nobody can see a first cut.
Untangle it → Team turnaround“We need a CTO but can’t afford one full-time”
Investors are asking hard technical questions. A $200K+ executive hire isn’t on the table yet.
Get a part-time CTO“Coding agents created more chaos than speed”
The team tried AI-native delivery. Agents draft colliding PRs, skip tests, and dump review work on seniors.
Install the model → Agentic Delivery“We’re raising / buying and need a real technical read”
Code, architecture, and team risk before you write the check, or before someone else does.
Get clarity → Technical diligenceDiagnosing the stall first? Read why teams stop shipping.
Who I work with
Series A-C, post-acquisition, and teams in transition
Experienced technical leadership for companies that need it now and are not ready, or cannot justify, a full-time executive.
- The team is shipping slowly and missing deadlines
- The cloud bill is growing and no one can explain it
- Layoffs, acquisitions, or leadership gaps need a steady hand
- Fundraising is coming and the technical story has to hold
- You want AI-native delivery without agents colliding in the repo
- You need an MVP without standing up a full team
Core engagements
Services that solve these problems
The work founders call about when delivery, cost, leadership, or AI-native shipping is on the line.
Core
Team Rescue & Turnaround
Stabilize operations during crisis. Ship the critical work, break rewrite deadlocks, and restore team confidence.
$25K-50KUnstick the team
Core
Cloud Cost Optimization
Cut AWS/GCP/Azure spend 30-50% in 60-90 days without sacrificing performance. Architecture decisions, not another dashboard.
$15K + 10% savingsSee the 43% case
Core
Technical Due Diligence
Technical assessment for VCs and acquirers evaluating engineering organizations, architecture, and risk.
$10K-25KGet a clear read
Core
Agentic Delivery
Install a human+agent engineering operating model so coding agents ship first-pass work inside ownership, gates, and recovery, not chaos.
$25K-50KInstall the operating model
Secondary
Focused builds and advisory when the problem is more specific.
Secondary
MVP Development
Take an idea from concept to working prototype in 4-8 weeks. Investor-ready demos, not throwaway code.
$30K-60KLearn more
Secondary
Web3 Technical Advisory
Architecture, due diligence, and technical guidance for blockchain and crypto projects.
$5K-15KLearn more
Not sure which engagement fits?
Let's diagnose itProof
Real results from real engagements
30 days
Shipping a Crypto Casino Platform
Stabilized the team, broke the rewrite deadlock, and shipped a quality product in 30 days.
Read case study43% savings
Cutting Cloud Costs Without Sacrificing Performance
Audited infrastructure and rationalized architecture to cut AWS spend by 43%.
Read case study6 weeks
Building an AI-Powered Content Discovery Platform
Led technical architecture and implementation, delivering a production-ready MVP in 6 weeks.
Read case studyWriting
From the journal
Featured series
Why Engineering Teams Stop Shipping
A five-part series on the tipping points that freeze delivery, and the first month of work that restores cadence.
5 parts
Open the series →The First 30 Days
The first four pieces looked at different reasons a small team can struggle to ship. Here is how to bring those investigations together in the first month.
Read essay →Who Reviews the Machine
A small team starts using AI coding tools, and more work waits for review. Who has time to check the additional code, and what the first two weeks of that work look like.
Read essay →Where the Week Went
Six engineers, a full week, and very little progress on the work everyone agreed was important. How small teams account for support, incidents, and the other jobs that fill the calendar.
Read essay →Busy Is Not Shipping
The team keeps releasing features, but important customer and business problems remain. How small engineering teams can reconnect their work to the results people need.
Read essay →The Complexity Tipping Point
Delivery rarely collapses overnight. Six months ago the team shipped in days. Now a small feature needs six meetings. Here is what a complexity tipping point looks like, and the first two weeks of work.
Read essay →Ready to get the team shipping again?
Book a free 30-minute consultation. No sales pitch. An honest conversation about what’s broken and whether I can help.
Schedule Free Consultation