Find a Virtual CTO

Your technical engineering practices can be the difference between painting yourself into a technical corner or being able to scale well when you hit on product market fit. Architecture can be fluid during the earlier days of a technical application, and the right Chief Technology Officer can help with the timing, risk and robustness of your technical strategy.

Available soon (9)

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Antony McDonald

With over 25+ years' experience in senior leadership roles (CEO, CIO, COO), I am a proven executive with a strong track record in business startups and transitions.

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Works in
Wellington, Remote
Available for
2-3 days per week
Available from
December 2023
  • vCTO
  • vCOO
  • vCPTO
  • vCPO
  • vCISO
Photo of Jamie McKean

Jamie McKean

Experienced virtual CxO. Supporting clients in NZ and the US for the past 15 years. Ability to support founders and businesses, by structuring and systemising the Marketing, Sales and Delivery aspects of your business. Able to draw on networks for anything not in my wheelhouse.

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Works in
Auckland, Remote, Hamilton
Available from
December 2023
  • vCOO
  • vCTO
  • vCMO
  • vCRO
Photo of Martin White

Martin White

With over 20 years in software development, leadership, strategy and product I can help your organisation succeed in many ways, whether in the early stages of getting a product off the ground and getting investment, or when scaling your team and customer base. I work effectively with anyone from developers to board members.

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Works in
Wellington, Remote
Available from
December 2023
  • vCTO
  • vCPO
Photo of Matthias Risse

Matthias Risse

I believe firmly in the power of simplicity - simple is hard.

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Works in
Remote, Nelson
Available for
1-2 days, Casual or Retainer
Available from
December 2023
  • vCTO
  • vCPTO
  • vCPO
Photo of Noah Cantor

Noah Cantor

Technology Leader with 20+ years experience. I see in systems - people and their interactions - and understand that getting great results comes from creating the right environment and letting people give their best. I focus on building amazing, continually improving, places to work, which leads to great results and happy customers.

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Works in
Remote, Hawke's Bay, Auckland, Wellington
Available for
1-3 days/week
Available from
December 2023
  • vCPTO
  • vCTO
Photo of Sam Minnée

Sam Minnée

Experienced technology CTO and CEO, originally as co-founder of Silverstripe. Can establish & lead engineering & design teams, and own architecture, security, and technical operations. Works effectively at the intersection of technology & business.

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Works in
Wellington, Remote
Available for
1–2 days / week
Available from
December 2023
  • vCTO
Photo of Shane Gibson

Shane Gibson

I help organisations that want to improve their data capabilities, but do not want to hire a permanent team of experts to deliver it.

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Works in
Remote, Wellington
Available from
March 2024
  • vCPO
  • vCTO
Photo of Steven Dove

Steven Dove

If you'd like a hand steering your team towards high performance let's talk.

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Works in
Auckland, Remote
Available for
2-3 days / week
Available from
December 2023
  • vCTO
Photo of Vishal Nath

Vishal Nath

Experienced and driven IT executive with a strong track record of success, with over 15 years of expertise in development and technical leadership. Demonstrates extensive proficiency in SaaS business models and tech startups.

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Works in
Auckland, Remote
Available from
December 2023
  • vCOO
  • vCTO
  • vCPO

What can a Virtual CTO do?

Very often, the first version of a product to get built by a single engineer under the direction of a founder. This can be a great way of getting something up & running cost-effectively, but the lack of experienced engineering management can lead to troubles down the line: the prototype product can struggle to support growth as more features & customers are added, and technical debt spirals.

A virtual CTO can support 1 or more engineers & designers to help ensure that the product is being built with the start-up's future in mind. Specifically, they can help in the following ways:

Technical team leadership

Provide coaching, mentoring, and line-management to engineers & designers on the team. As well as giving more role-specific support, this can take a load off the founder!

Architecture

Guide the team on choosing best technical approach to building the product appropriate for the stage the start-up is in. Is it better to iterate on a proof-of-concept or "build it right" this time? To use something off the shelf or build exactly what we need?

Information security

Increasingly, customers have high expectations on information security, not all of which will be practical for an early start-up. The virtual CTO can right-size the response to information security requests, and help find a way to manage customers' risks & concerns.

Supporting product management

In the early days, a founder will typically lead high-level product management, bringing deep knowledge of the problem space and a clear vision for the solution. The virtual CTO can support this by giving more detailed direction to the engineering & design team and framing things in ways that most effectively supports their work. They can keep technical debt, QA, and performance in mind alongside features.

Representing technology with board & investors

Conversations with key stakeholder will sometimes need a technology voice that the engineers building the product aren't able to provide. A virtual CTO can provide the necessary context to those making governance decisions, or give potential investors confidence in the company.