Free · No Pitch · 20 min
Fit Check (Free, 20 minutes)
Lower friction than a retainer conversation. Higher intent than a newsletter subscription. You describe the problem in plain English, I ask three questions, and I tell you what I'd do. Or who to call instead.
If there's no fit, I say so directly and point you somewhere useful. No sales sequence, no follow-up emails. One call, one answer.
Before you book.
Have rough answers to these three questions ready. Not a form, just a mental checklist. It makes the 20 minutes count.
What does your firm build, and what stage are you at?
Trading firm, crypto exchange, AI agent startup, custody provider, fintech, and roughly how many engineers. This tells me whether you're in the window where fractional works, and which audit is most likely relevant.
What's the infrastructure problem you're trying to solve?
Plain English. Symptoms are fine: "fills are slow," "our signing feels fragile," "we don't know our p99," "we need Article 14 compliance before August," "a key management audit is overdue." You don't need to have diagnosed it. That's what the call is for.
What's your timeline?
Is there a hard deadline (Aug 2 Article 14 enforcement, a fundraise, a compliance audit)? Or is this exploratory? Timeline determines which fixed-scope audit (or none) is the right starting point.
What happens in the 20 minutes.
You describe the problem
Plain English. Current stack, where it hurts, what you've tried. No prep needed. If you only have a vague sense, that works too.
I ask three questions
Technical specifics. Latency numbers you actually measure, signing architecture, policy enforcement, deploy cadence, team size. This is the diagnosis.
I tell you what I'd do
Specific recommendation, not a pitch. If there's a fit for one of the fixed-scope audits, I'll say which one and why. If there isn't, I'll name someone better suited.
Zero trading advice. Zero P&L promises. Infrastructure, architecture, operations, and SRE only. Per my Authority Play framework.
Common questions.
Is this really free?
Yes. No card, no contract, no sales sequence. The 20 min is a qualifying step. For me, not you. It's how I decide whether to take a retainer.
What if I'm not sure what my infrastructure problem is?
Perfect. That's the most common starting point. You describe symptoms ("slow fills", "signing feels brittle", "I don't know what my p99 is"), I figure out if it's an infra problem or an adjacent one.
Who is this NOT for?
Teams looking for general engineering contracting, full-stack web app work, or a CTO for a non-infra-critical product. I do infrastructure. If your problem is "we need a React dev" or "our ML model isn't converging", I'll say so and redirect.
What's the follow-up?
If there's a fit, I'll send a one-pager with scope + price within 48 hours. If not, I'll say so directly and recommend someone else. No drip sequence.
Can I skip this and go straight to a paid audit?
Yes. See the engagement page for the productized fixed-scope audits and how each one is priced and scoped. The free 20-minute fit check is optional — most clients use it because it surfaces which audit fits. If you already know, book the audit directly.
What this fit check is not.
Not for generic fractional CTO seekers. If you need a generalist executive to sit in on all-hands, manage vendor relationships, and write the engineering roadmap for a non-infra-critical product, I'm not the right fit. I work on infrastructure where failure has legal or financial consequences.
Not for full-stack web development. I don't build React apps, mobile products, or CMS integrations. If your primary need is frontend or product engineering, I'll say so and redirect you.
Not for ML model debugging. If your model isn't converging, your training pipeline is slow, or you need prompt engineering help, that's not what I do. I work on the infrastructure that surrounds AI systems (signing, attestation, policy, oversight controls), not on the models themselves.
Not a sales call. I'll tell you whether I'm a fit or not. If there's no fit, I'll say so in the first five minutes and recommend someone useful.
Need a deeper, paid diagnosis?
The free fit check surfaces the category of problem. These productized fixed-scope audits deliver written findings, severity rankings, and a sequenced remediation roadmap.
Start here · Entry door
Architecture Diagnostic Scan
$3,500 · 5 days
Broad sweep across your signing path, latency profile, custody posture, and regulatory posture. One-page severity-ranked risk register + recommendation for which deep audit (if any) fits. The honest entry door.
See scope →Flagship · Trading desks
Latency & Jitter Deep Dive
$18,000 · 3 weeks
P99 jitter measured end-to-end. NUMA, isolcpus, IRQ steering, AF_XDP / DPDK kernel-bypass, PTP-on-Solarflare. Severity-ranked findings + sequenced remediation roadmap. For crypto / quant trading at $50M–$500M AUM.
See scope →