For founders of B2B businesses
I work with founders to decide what to build and help their developers move it forward.
I’m James Sperring, a CTO, adviser and founder. Based in Gosport, near Portsmouth in Hampshire, I work with businesses across the UK.
Remote working, with face-to-face time where the project calls for it.
CTO, adviser and founder.
We get to know each other.
We agree what’s useful for your team.
Blog & guides
Some thoughts to help you work through them with your team.
When dates keep moving, it gets hard to know what you can promise. Start by making the next conversation easier to have.
Read the article ↗You can see the cost of development. Understanding what the team needs and what the business is getting takes a better conversation.
Read the article ↗Your team wants to start again. How do you decide whether that’s a good use of the next year?
Read the article ↗Where to start
Tell me about your business and where you could use some help. We can talk about working together regularly, or looking into a particular question through a standalone review.
Work together regularly
Experienced support, a few days a month
Work with me regularly to decide what to build and help your team move it forward. I get to know your business and stay involved as things change.
A regular place to bring questions and work through decisions
Typically 2–3 days a month · Scope and fees on the service pageStandalone review
An independent CTO review over 10 working days
A review of decisions spanning product, engineering, platform and leadership. Leave with clear options, prioritised risks and a practical 90-day plan.
Clear findings and a practical 90-day plan
10 working days · Scope and fees on the service pageStandalone review
A focused review of software delivery
A narrower review for slow releases, slipping roadmaps and unclear ownership. Understand the constraints and give your team a practical plan to improve flow.
Clear findings and a practical 90-day plan
2–3 weeks · Scope and fees on the service pageSee what the review produces
See how James helped completed work move through a stalled release process during a modernisation programme. An anonymised engagement, presented through five reconstructed review outputs.
Read the example reviewRecommendation
Build confidence in automated and remote verification, then move to smaller, more frequent releases.
From roughly quarterly to weekly releases. Read the reported outcomes and the reasoning behind the reconstructed review.
Open the five sample outputsSelected work
Weekly releases
From roughly quarterly to weekly, sometimes more often
Getting completed work into use.
Stronger ownership
Platform modernisation and team capability
A stronger platform. A more self-sufficient team.
Examples from James’s hands-on technology leadership and advisory work. These reflect shared team contributions and are separate from the current fixed-scope review engagements.
Experience, with a human perspective
The people doing the work usually have a lot to tell you about what’s helping and what’s getting in their way. I start by listening.
I’ve worked as a CTO and founded businesses myself. I know how much can rest on a software decision, especially when you’re the person responsible for the business.
I work with your developers to understand the options and help you decide what makes sense for the business.
Experience and independent adviceWorking together
You work directly with me. We start by talking about the business and where you’d welcome some help.
Tell me what’s happening in your business and the decision you need to make. We’ll establish whether I can help.
I spend time with you and the team to understand the work and what’s getting in the way.
We work through what needs attention. If we’re working together regularly, we keep checking that the time is helping your team.
I work with founders of B2B businesses with a small development team or software partner. You might sell software, or rely on it to run your business. It helps to have someone who can connect what the business needs with the work your developers are doing.
If you’d like someone alongside you regularly, ongoing leadership support is a good place to start. A standalone review can help with a specific decision or delivery concern. Tell me what’s happening and we can work out what would be useful.
Tech Value & Risk Scan: From £9,500 + VAT. Delivery Constraint Audit: From £7,500 + VAT. Each review is a standalone engagement with a practical plan for your team. The final fee follows the agreed question, breadth of scope and evidence to examine, and is confirmed before work begins. For ongoing leadership support, we agree the monthly fee around the time and responsibility involved.
Yes. Their knowledge is essential. I work with your leadership, engineers and partners to understand what is happening, test assumptions and build a plan that your team can carry forward.
We agree a monthly allocation, usually two or three days, and a regular time to work together. I get to know your business and your developers, help shape the work and stay involved as things change. We also agree how to handle questions between sessions.
I’m based in Gosport, near Portsmouth in Hampshire. I work remotely across the UK, with face-to-face time where the project calls for it.
Get in touch
You’re welcome to get in touch with a question, or just to see whether working together might help.
Book an introductory call