Strategy · Deep dive 05
Technology Advisory
Build-vs-buy, stack trade-offs, the risks a new CTO hire would flag on day one. We don't write the code here — we make sure the technical bets line up with the product bets.
What this is
An outside-the-room technical review that pressure-tests your stack, architecture, and roadmap against where the business is actually going. Independent of any vendor or platform.
Does this sound familiar?
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The stack was chosen three years and one pivot ago, and nobody has reviewed it since.
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Leadership keeps hearing 'we need to rewrite X' and doesn't know how seriously to take it.
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You're about to spend serious money on a platform decision and the loudest engineer has the loudest opinion.
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The roadmap assumes we can ship Feature Y, but no one has actually costed what Y requires of the infrastructure.
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A potential acquirer / investor is about to do technical due diligence and you're not sure what they'll find.
The customer payoff
The upside
What you feel once it’s running.
An independent read on your stack — honest, no vendor agenda, no internal politics.
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A prioritised list of the technical risks that actually threaten the roadmap, not just the ones that look scary.
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Build-vs-buy recommendations written in business terms, not engineer-speak.
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A scaling ramp: what the stack needs to survive 2x, 5x, 10x the current load.
Phases
⏱ 2–3 weeksHow Technology Advisory actually runs.
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01
Listen
Interviews with engineering leads, CTO (if any), product, and a couple of 'frustrated' senior developers. Code read separately; this is about the human picture.
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02
Read the code
We read the critical paths — not every file, the ones that matter. Architecture, data model, the three riskiest services.
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03
Map the risks
Each finding gets scored on severity + ease-of-fix. The output is a ranked list, not a list of 140 items.
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04
Walkthrough
90-minute session with leadership + engineering head. We walk the findings, the trade-offs, and the top 5 recommendations together.
The hand-off
The package
What lands in your hands — every artefact, nothing hidden.
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Written technical review (~20 pages) — stack, architecture, risk register
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Top 5 strategic recommendations with cost/impact estimates
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Build-vs-buy table for the current decisions on the roadmap
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Scaling analysis — what breaks at 2x / 5x / 10x
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Optional: executive summary version (one page) for board/investor use
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Follow-up call 30 days later to check traction on the top recs
Questions we get
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Q·01 Do we need to share our code?
We'll ask for read access to the repos that matter and an NDA. We don't need every service — critical paths only.
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Q·02 Are you going to tell us to rewrite everything?
Almost never. Most rewrites lose. We'll usually identify 2–3 surgical fixes + one 'watch this' item over rewriting.
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Q·03 Can you do this for a due-diligence process?
Yes — this deep dive is exactly the pre-read we'd want before a buyer's technical DD lands. Tighter timeline possible (1 week) if urgency."
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Q·04 We're happy with our stack — do we still benefit?
Often yes. The engagement's most common output isn't 'change X' — it's 'you're right to keep Y, and here's the one thing that could still bite you'.
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Q·05 Do you recommend specific vendors?
When build-vs-buy tilts toward buy, yes — with our reasoning and the alternatives we considered. We don't take kickbacks, for the record.
Ready to start
Get an outside read.
Two to three weeks, no rewrite required, no agenda beyond honest technical judgement. Let's see what we find.
Start the reviewThe wider map
Every service page at a glance.
Each link below opens a dedicated page on that specific piece of one of our four service pillars. Jump sideways — different service, same way of working.
Digital Product Strategy
Service overview →- 01 Discovery & Market Fit
- 02 Vision & Positioning
- 03 Roadmap & Prioritisation
- 04 Experience Strategy
- 05 Technology Advisory — you’re here
- 06 CTO as a Service
- 07 COO as a Service