Insights
Practical guidance on fractional CTO leadership, technology strategy, cybersecurity, and IT management for growing companies.
When the investment thesis depends on AI, surface-level diligence is no longer sufficient. The questions deal teams need to ask before the LOI — and the exposures that show up after close.
A typical portfolio company carries IT vendor spend 15–40% above current market. Across a five-company portfolio, the recoverable EBITDA is $1.1M–$9M annually. The audit isn’t the hard part — having the standing to run it is.
The technology posture a portfolio company presents at exit is determined by decisions made in the first eighteen months of the hold period — not the eighteen weeks before the teaser hits the market.
Technology diligence gets meaningful attention before a deal closes. Integration rarely gets the same discipline afterward. That gap is where value creation plans quietly lose six to twelve months of traction.
Every PE deal team knows how to evaluate a balance sheet. But when it comes to technology, even experienced deal teams often miss the risks that end up costing the most — not at close, but in the 18 months that follow.
A fractional CTO is an experienced technology executive who provides part-time, senior-level technology leadership — delivering the strategic guidance of a CTO without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire.
Most companies don't feel the pain — until it's already cost them six figures. When a CTO leaves, organizations assume they can “get by” while they search for a replacement. In reality, it's one of the most expensive gaps a business can have.
There's a fundamental conflict of interest that most growing companies never think about: the company managing your technology also profits from the technology decisions you make.
The realization usually comes after a pattern of technology decisions that didn't go as planned — a failed software implementation, an unexpected security incident, or a growing IT budget with nothing to show for it.
Most MSP relationships start well and gradually drift into a pattern where the provider is comfortable and the client is complacent. Here's how to tell if yours has crossed that line.
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Whether you're evaluating your current technology strategy or considering fractional CTO leadership, we're happy to have a conversation.