Technical advice for startups with important decisions to make

Where I can help

• Choosing an architecture and delivery route that fits the next stage rather than an imagined future scale.
• Assessing AI opportunities, data constraints, model or platform choices, governance and the real cost of operating the product.
• Setting security and operational foundations early enough to support customers, insurers, investment and later due diligence.
• Reviewing an inherited prototype, outsourced build, supplier proposal or technical plan before more money is committed.
• Hiring early technical staff, setting responsibilities and deciding what should remain internal or be bought in.
• Preparing the technical evidence and narrative investors or an acquiring team will need to test.
• Building discoverability into the product and website through sound technical SEO, information architecture and generative-search readiness.

Advice from someone who has built a business

I founded Dead Simple Computing in 2018 and remain directly involved in technical and commercial decisions. I understand the gap between the technically ideal answer and the route a real organisation can afford, operate and explain.

That does not mean every startup needs a CTO. Sometimes the useful intervention is a short architecture review, a second opinion on a supplier, a security and cost baseline, or a decision note that prevents a wrong turn.

This distinct route is for advice or leadership scoped and led directly by me, contracted and invoiced by Dead Simple Computing Ltd, and delivered within its applicable insurance and governance controls. Managed services, formal certification, generic technology due diligence and work requiring a standing delivery team remain separate DSC company services or are referred to another suitable provider.

Ways to engage

Cash, equity or a blended arrangement

For a small number of startups, a consultancy or advisory arrangement using cash, equity, options or a combination may be considered. This is selective: I first need to understand the founders, the problem, the stage of the business, the time required and where I can make a material contribution.

An equity-based arrangement is not informal work or a substitute for a clear scope. Any equity recipient and structure, together with the role, time commitment, decision rights, intellectual property, vesting or leaver terms and conflicts, must be documented with appropriate legal and tax advice alongside the DSC services agreement. No recipient or structure is promised before that review.

Fees and any non-cash consideration reflect direct senior involvement, complexity, discretion, limited capacity and the bespoke responsibility agreed for the work.

What I need from a startup

I am most useful when there is a serious problem, founders can share the real position, a decision-maker will engage and there is a plausible route to act on the work. Advisory support complements rather than replaces a delivery team, and any investor-facing work should present the technical position accurately.