Illustrative example. This case study describes a typical engagement of this kind, not a specific client. Figures are representative of the work, not a guarantee of results.
Fractional CTO · Health technology
From agency code to investor-ready: a fractional CTO for a health-tech startup
Two non-technical founders had a product built by an offshore agency, growing customers, and an upcoming raise. A fractional CTO helped them take ownership of the technology, hire their own team and get through technical due diligence.
Results
At the end of the nine-month engagement.
The problem
The product, used by allied health clinics to manage patient programs, had been built by an offshore agency. The code and hosting sat in the agency's accounts, estimates kept growing, and the founders had no way to judge whether the work was good.
The product handled health information, which the Privacy Act treats as sensitive. Nobody had documented where that data lived or who could access it.
The founders were planning to raise within the year and knew investors would look closely at the technology.
What we did
A two-week assessment, then four days a month on the Partner plan.
Months 1–2: Assess and secure
A review of the code, architecture, agency contract and data handling. We moved the code into the startup's own repositories and the hosting into its own AWS accounts in the Sydney region, with single sign-on and proper access controls.
Months 3–5: Build the team
We wrote the role descriptions, ran technical interviews and hired a lead engineer and two developers, then transitioned work from the agency in stages without pausing releases.
Months 6–8: Strengthen
Automated testing and releases, monitoring, a documented approach to health information under the Australian Privacy Principles, and a technology roadmap for the board.
Month 9: Due diligence and handover
We prepared the technical data room, answered investors' technical questions, and handed day-to-day leadership to the new lead engineer.
Stack
What made the difference
Ownership came first. Until the code and infrastructure sat in the startup's own accounts, every other improvement depended on the agency's cooperation.
Moving away from the agency gradually, with overlapping handovers, kept releases going and preserved a working relationship.
Due diligence went smoothly because the documentation had been written as the work was done, not assembled in a rush before the raise.