The Challenge
A pre-seed robotics start-up (20 employees total) had developed a working autonomous robot prototype and was touring it for demonstrations. The CEO needed to professionalize the junior engineering team (7 engineers) to productionize the prototype and position for seed funding. With no technical leadership structure and engineers working with minimal coordination, the founder was overwhelmed managing engineering day-to-day.
Our Solution
9-month remote fractional CTO engagement (1.5 days/week) providing team management and advisory leadership:
1. Engineering Team Structure & Management
Established professional team structure for 7 junior engineers across software (Navigation, Computer Vision, UI) and hardware teams. Defined clear reporting, roles, responsibilities, and professional boundaries.
2. Engineering Processes & Ways of Working
Introduced foundational engineering discipline: version control workflows, code review, testing standards, documentation practices, and operating cadence (adapted for remote engagement).
3. Advisory Leadership & CEO Coaching
Provided strategic CTO guidance remotely through weekly CEO calls, technical roadmap development for fundraising, production planning, and mentorship of engineering team.
Results
Engineers Structured
Clear roles, reporting, boundaries
Remote Engagement
1.5 days/week fractional CTO
CTO Handover
To incoming hire with structured team
Key Impact
- CEO freed to focus on fundraising and strategy vs. day-to-day engineering management
- Junior team transitioned from ad-hoc collaboration to structured professional operations
- Incoming CTO hire inherited structured team with documented processes vs. unstructured junior team
- Company positioned for fundraising with professional engineering operations and production roadmap
- Remote engagement provided management structure and advisory value despite limitations vs. on-site technical depth