I’ve founded, funded and shipped my own companies. You get a co-founder’s judgement without handing shares to a stranger on day one.
You might be in one of the following four situations. Under each I highlight some of my experience.
Funded or not, the question is the same: who turns the idea into a product, and what do they cost, in cash or in shares. The market’s own numbers for both are further down this page.
Two decades shipping software as founder and technology leadThe platforms suit a full-time, all-in partner search, and that search takes months of getting to know someone. If the product needs to move sooner, paid work is the faster route, and it’s reversible.
Founder side three times over · Colossal Games, Immersive Medical, Productivity PlatformSeveral widely different quotes for the same product and nobody on your side who can judge them. Before signing the biggest cheque of the venture, buy an independent read of what the build should cost.
Allocated almost half a million to developers · Due diligence over a ~30-person dev partner · ~£2m in annual savings found (R/GA)A dev shop or an AI tool got you part of the way, and each new feature now costs several times what it should. If AI built it, start at the AI app rescue. If people built it, start here.
Learned Kotlin to unstick myself when AI couldn’t deliver · AI assisted delivery of Productivity SuiteFour options, with varying speeds.
A co-founder is a partner who shares in the risk and owns a share, for the life of the company. Founders’ forums are blunt about the cost when it goes wrong: managing a co-founder split can cost the business itself. So before the search, the sharper question: do you need a co-founder, or do you need the product built and someone senior to trust on the technical calls?
The three things founders shop for under one search. Different jobs, different costs, different risks.
Hands that build to a spec
A partner who shares the risk
The judgement, without the share
I also offer this as: technical co-founder as a service · tech cofounder · technical partner · equity developer arrangements (cash plus equity, never equity only).
Costs in equity and cash; what the market publishes:
UK salary and typical equity for a hired CTO, with £20k–£50k of recruitment fees on top (provider-published, 2026).
Or £4k–£8k a month at seed stage. Equity participation, where present, is typically 0.2–0.5%, and blended reduced-rate-plus-equity deals are routine (provider-published, 2026).
Fixed fee, 2–3 weeks, quoted upfront. Then a build for a fee, or cash plus equity if the venture and the fit are right. Never equity only.
Cash is always part of my deal, and equity is discussed after we’ve worked together, not before. Step one is the venture readiness audit: fixed fee, 2 to 3 weeks, a written plan you keep. I’m paid to assess and paid to build, so here is where I stand: the report stands alone, you can take it to any builder, and its fee credits in full against a build with me. If the audit and the build go well and the venture is right, I’m open to cash plus equity at the market rates above. This way, you still have the plan either way.
Anyone offering equity only: I don’t take those deals, and be careful with anyone who does. If you already have builders and need the technical seat filled part-time, that’s the fractional CTO page. If an AI-built app is the thing that’s breaking, start at the rescue.
Searching for an equity developer? Same answer: equity can be part of the deal for the right venture, never the whole deal. Every arrangement I take has cash in it.
If a friend sent you here, welcome. The answer is the one everyone gets: the audit is my starting package, at a fixed price. I’d rather give your idea 2 to 3 weeks of professional attention than an hour of free opinions.
It is always difficult to trust someone you can’t technically judge, whether they’ve sat in the founder seat, and whether they still build.
At Colossal Games, hired and led a ~15-person team; stood up publishing and platform relationships (Apple, Microsoft, Google), QA, legal and investors. Commando Jack reached #1 in 36 countries with EA Games / Chillingo, 2M+ downloads. Raised £450k+, including £50k in 2 weeks at a £1.25m valuation. The consultancy, HAUD, delivered for JP Morgan, HP, IBM, McDonald’s and EE. The current product launches in 2026.
Microsoft award winner · top 10 of 150+ studiosTrusted with McDonald’s global Happy Meal app across ~40 markets. Assessed the ~30-person external development partner, got close to the commercials, and found ~£2m in potential annual savings inside a 3-month contract.
R/GA answered with the offer of a permanent role heading the functionFounder forums warn against cheap title inflation and ask for 15-plus years of operating experience. Mine is 20, in public: my own companies, then McDonald’s, JP Morgan and NEOM, with engineers hired across projects.
Cut development cost 40% · JP Morgan engagementI founded a VR telemedicine platform and reached a provisionally agreed NHS physiotherapy pilot. When the NHS sponsor moved on and the funding ended, I closed it. A partner who has been through a shutdown prices risk differently, including his own.
Single-sponsor dependency · the lesson is now part of every auditToday I’m shipping a subscription product end to end, AI-assisted (Claude Code) under my own architecture, launching 2026. The consultancy I founded and staffed delivered for JP Morgan, HP, IBM, McDonald’s and EE. Track record, products and demo videos: the work · the validation.
The idea, where you’re stuck, and your stage. Email below. If a call is easier, ask: 20 minutes to check fit, no charge.
Fixed fee, 2–3 weeks. Feasibility, architecture, what the build costs, and the risks. The report is yours to keep and take anywhere.
If the plan says build, I build it or hire & manage the team that does: fixed scope, staged payments, delivery under my architecture and review. The audit fee credits in full.
This can be addressed after the audit, or at any time during or after the build. That way, we will know each other better and the project is clear on both sides. If cash plus equity is right for both sides, we agree it in writing, with vesting.
Four routes: people who have seen you work, a matching platform such as Y Combinator’s (free), building the first version yourself, or paying for the build and the judgement while keeping your equity.
Published UK anchors: a permanently hired CTO on £140k to £250k typically holds 1 to 3% (provider data, 2026). On full market pay, equity rewards risk and commitment rather than forgone income, so it sits low. Cut the cash and the equity rises; blended reduced-rate-plus-equity deals are routine. Any real number is negotiated per venture and written down with vesting.
Founders who have tried both report a pattern: shop code ships, then nobody in-house can maintain it, ownership gets murky, and each change costs more than it should. A shop can work when someone technical on your side writes the spec and checks the work.
A senior developer builds what has been decided; a CTO decides what gets built, by whom and how.
A co-founder shares the risk and owns part of the company for good. A fractional CTO fills the technical seat for a fee, 1 to 2 days a week, and the engagement can end flexibly. A fractional CTO can provide a trial run to show you what a co-founder might do for you.
Build it yourself with AI or no-code tools, find a technical co-founder, hire an app developer or an agency, or buy the plan first: a fixed-fee audit that tells you whether to build, what it costs and who should build it. Whichever you choose, don’t sign the biggest cheque before someone independent has looked at the idea.
Yes, when a full-time, all-in partner is what you want and you can spend months testing the fit. Y Combinator’s matching platform is free and widely used. Some founders who have been through it warn that a rushed match risks the company itself, so treat it as the long process it is. If the product can’t wait for that, paid work is faster.
Possibly, and the path is fixed: the audit first, paid and acted on. It shows you how I work and shows me the venture. If both prove out, I’m open to cash plus equity at the market rates on this page, agreed in writing with vesting. I don’t join for equity alone.
Owns the technology, architecture, the build, the team, hiring, vendors, and the technical answers in front of investors. The measure of a good one is judgement under commercial pressure. That judgement is the thing you can buy first, for a fee, before deciding whether to share the company for it.
Three sentences is enough. A 20-minute call to check fit, no charge. I’ve founded, funded and shipped companies of my own: you get a co-founder’s judgement without betting the company on a stranger. I read everything and reply if it’s a fit.