The turnaround CTO your portfolio company needs.
You closed the deal. Then the technical reality showed up, fragile delivery, key-person risk, security gaps, an undocumented codebase. I parachute in as interim CTO, stabilize the engineering organization, and protect the value of the thesis.
What is a turnaround CTO?
A turnaround CTO is an interim technology executive who takes over a struggling engineering organization, usually inside a private-equity portfolio company, and makes it stable, predictable and worth more. The mandate is broader than a normal interim seat: diagnose what's actually broken, stop the bleeding, rebuild the team, and tie the technology back to the investment thesis.
The pattern repeats. The deal closes, the technical reality surfaces, and someone has to own the fix with real authority. I've stabilized six troubled SaaS products this way, and I've taken engineering organizations from low to elite DORA performance inside 90 days. Pricing is published too: a fixed-fee Diagnostic from $20,000 to establish the damage, then $30,000 a month embedded until delivery is stable, with the full breakdown in the turnaround CTO pricing guide.
The work usually means modernizing a system nobody can afford to take offline. I've done that under harsher constraints than most portfolio companies face, including re-platforming a live public-transit system onto cloud-native infrastructure with zero downtime.
Also known as: rescue CTO, crisis CTO, recovery CTO, PE portfolio CTO, engineering turnaround leadership.
The diligence said "minor tech debt."
Then you opened the hood.
Most acquired companies were built to ship features, not to be owned, scaled, or sold again. That gap becomes your risk on day one.
Delivery you can't forecast
Releases are slow, manual and scary. No one can promise a date, which makes the value-creation plan a guess.
Key-person risk everywhere
The system lives in one or two people's heads. No docs, no tests. If they leave, the asset walks out the door.
Security & compliance gaps
SOC 2, HIPAA or GDPR exposure that scares enterprise buyers, and threatens the next round or the exit.
Cost & integration drag
Legacy infrastructure burning EBITDA, plus integration debt across an acquisitive roll-up that never gets paid down.
A 90-day turnaround,
built for the deal.
I've stabilized six troubled SaaS products this way, inheriting codebases with no tests, no docs and no team, and turning them around in three to six months.
Find the truth, fast.
- Technical & team due diligence
- Architecture, security & cost review
- ROI review of every active project
- Shortlist: what to rethink or cancel
- Key-person & delivery risk map
- Stop the bleeding on the worst fires
Make delivery boring.
- CI/CD, GitOps & trunk-based flow
- Tests, docs & runbooks where it counts
- Rebuild & reorganize the team
- Close the urgent security gaps
Align tech to the thesis.
- Roadmap tied to value-creation plan
- Organizational design for the AI age
- SOC 2 / HIPAA path underway
- Hire or coach the permanent leader
- Board-ready reporting & metrics
De-risked, and worth more
at the next milestone.
I read the investment thesis before I read the code. The job isn't clean architecture for its own sake, it's protecting and compounding the value of the asset.
Three ways in.
Technical Due Diligence
An honest read on the engineering, team and risk before you sign, so there are no surprises after.
Interim / Turnaround CTO
I step in hands-on to stabilize, rebuild the team, and execute the first phase of the value-creation plan.
Portfolio Advisor
Fractional technology oversight across multiple portfolio companies, with board-ready reporting.
What PE operators ask me.
How quickly can you start on a portfolio company?
Usually within one to two weeks. Pre-close diligence engagements can start in days when a deal is moving, I keep capacity for time-sensitive transactions.
Do you work pre-close or only after acquisition?
Both. Pre-close I run technical and team due diligence so there are no surprises after signing. Post-close I step in hands-on as interim or turnaround CTO to stabilize and execute the value-creation plan.
What does a 90-day turnaround actually deliver?
A diagnosed, de-risked engineering organization: predictable delivery on CI/CD and GitOps, key-person risk mapped and reduced, urgent security and compliance gaps closed, a roadmap tied to the thesis, and a permanent leader hired or coached, with board-ready reporting throughout.
Can you cover multiple portfolio companies at once?
Yes. As a Portfolio Advisor I provide fractional technology oversight across several companies in a fund, with consistent board-ready metrics and a shared playbook.
How do you charge for turnaround engagements?
My pricing is published: a fixed-fee Diagnostic from $20,000 to establish what's actually broken, then $30,000 a month embedded at three or more days a week until delivery is stable and predictable again. Ongoing portfolio-advisory arrangements are also available. All prices USD; the full breakdown is on my turnaround CTO pricing page, and we agree on outcomes and reporting cadence up front.
Related reading & paths.
What a turnaround costs
The pricing guide: the diagnostic-first model, the monthly number, and the cost of the alternative.
Low to elite DORA in 90 days
A field report from a real turnaround: what changed, in what order, and what it measured.
Technical Due Diligence
For PE: price the risk before the deal instead of discovering it after close.
Got a portfolio company
that needs a steady hand?
Let's talk through the situation. I'll tell you straight what I'm seeing and what the first 90 days would look like.