A fractional CTO who owns the outcome, not just the advice.
I make the technical decisions and I answer for the code behind them. If you have a team, I lead it. If you don't, I am the team. Either way, one person is accountable.
Nikhil Garg · CTO, Get Cover
I still write the code.
- FounderYou
- Nikhil (CTO)Owns the decisions
- Your devs / agencyBuild to my standards
- ProductionWhat ships, and when
If you have a team, I lead it.
Technology leadership for
Satsman
The technical side, with one name on it
Most fractional CTOs advise and walk away from the consequences. Most developers execute without owning the decisions. I do both, in one of two ways, depending on what you already have.
With a team, I lead it.
I set the technical direction and the engineering standards, review the work before it ships, and answer for what the team delivers. Your developers or agency keep building. The decisions and the quality bar become mine.
Without a team, I am the team.
I make the architecture calls and write the code myself, from first commit to production. When it is time to hire, I set the bar and help you build the team that takes over.
- 01
Technical Strategy & Architecture
The stack, the data model, multi-tenancy, auth and the build-versus-buy calls. Decided early, written down, and owned.
- 02
Team Leadership & Standards
Engineering standards, code review and the hiring bar for your developers or agency. If quality slips, that is on me.
- 03
Delivery
Roadmap, sequencing and shipping. I answer for what goes live and when, not just for the advice about it.
- 04
AI-Code Risk
Prototypes from Bolt.new, Lovable, Replit or Cursor assessed for what will break under real users, and a clear call on repair versus rebuild.
How I assess AI-built code
Decisions I owned, on real products.
Production systems handling real users and real money, where I owned the technical calls and the code behind them.
- B2B SaaS$1M+in warranties processed for GetCoverView case study
- Enterprise SaaS4+ yearsleading Jacana Warranty's technologyView case study
- Legacy ModernizationDays → hoursclaim processing after 10 years of Excel chaosView case study
- Platform Rescue40,000+ usersand growing, on a vibe-coded app rebuilt for productionView case study
Monthly retainers. One accountable technical leader.
The options differ in how much I own day to day, from setting direction and checking the work to leading your team or shipping the build myself. Scope and price are agreed before any work starts. How my fractional CTO services work.
Technical Health Check · $500
The full fee is credited to your first month of a fractional CTO retainer if you sign within 30 days of receiving the report.
Advisory CTO
From $2,500/month
For founders whose developers or agency need a technical leader setting direction and checking the work.
- Technical strategy and architecture decisions
- Oversight of your developers or agency
- Code and architecture reviews before work ships
Embedded CTO
From $5,000/month
For when shipping the product is the priority and someone has to own it.
- Leads your team, or builds hands-on when there is no team
- Owns delivery: what ships, and when
- Accountable for the result, not just the advice
CTO-led delivery
Quoted per engagement
A scoped build, such as an MVP, a rescue or a migration, owned end to end.
- Architecture through launch under one owner
- Scope and price agreed before work starts
- The code and the decisions behind it are yours
What clients say
“Nikhil was a game-changer for GetCover. He understood our B2B vision and built a platform that processes over $1M in warranties.”
“As Executive Director of IT, Nikhil built our entire technology infrastructure over 4+ years. His vision transformed Jacana Warranty into an industry leader.”
“Nikhil transformed our decade-old Excel system into a modern warranty platform. His RBAC solution revolutionized how we manage warranties.”
Let's make sure we're a match.
This is for you if…
- You're a founder with a real business to build and customers who'll pay for it.
- You need technical decisions made by someone who will answer for them.
- You have developers or an agency and no one senior checking the work.
- You've tried AI tools or agencies and ended up with a demo, not a product.
- You want one accountable technical leader, not a pass-the-buck team.
This isn't for you if…
- You need a marketing site, landing page, or WordPress build — I don't do static sites.
- You're shopping on price alone.
- You want someone to execute instructions without owning the decisions or pushing back.
- You're still undecided about the idea itself and haven't talked to potential users.
- You want a dev shop with 10 engineers you'll never meet — that's not this.
Questions founders ask
Straight answers on cost, timeline, and process.
The technical side of the business, part-time: the architecture, the stack, the engineering standards, the hiring bar and delivery. With me, that ownership includes the code. If you have a team, I lead it and answer for what it ships. If you don’t, I build it myself.
There are three options. Advisory CTO starts at $2,500 a month: strategy, architecture, oversight of your developers or agency, and code reviews. Embedded CTO starts at $5,000 a month: I lead your team or build hands-on, and I own delivery. CTO-led delivery is a scoped build, such as an MVP, a rescue or a migration, quoted per engagement and owned end to end. Scope and price are agreed before any work starts.
A developer or an agency executes what you ask for. The decisions about what to build, how to architect it and when it is good enough stay with you, and if you are not technical, nobody really owns them. I own those decisions and the code that carries them out, so there is one person to hold responsible. With an agency you also talk to a project manager who relays your feedback to developers you never meet. With me, you talk to the person accountable for the work.
Yes. I set the technical direction and the engineering standards, review the work before it ships, and give you an honest read on velocity and quality. Your team keeps building. The technical decisions and the quality bar become my responsibility.
That is the job. I explain trade-offs in terms you can act on, like faster now versus flexible later, and I am the one accountable for quality, so you are not left judging code you can’t read. You will never feel locked out of your own product. My longest client relationship started with a non-technical founder, and it worked because of communication, not in spite of it.
Yes. Get Cover is a contracted CTO role and one of my five fractional seats, not a full-time job running alongside your work. The cap exists so every client gets an owner, not an advisor who checks in. Scope and price are agreed before any work starts.
No. I work on monthly retainers, priced by how much I own, and scoped builds are quoted per engagement. Scope and price are agreed before any work starts, and there is no hourly billing.
I’m based in India and work remotely on US business hours. Most of my clients are US founders, and calls are scheduled in their time zone. Where I sit doesn’t change the arrangement: the technical decisions, and the code behind them, are still mine to answer for.
With a 30-minute call. If a fractional CTO is the right answer, we agree the engagement, advisory, embedded or a CTO-led build, along with the scope and the price, before any work starts. If it isn’t the right answer, I’ll tell you.
Still have questions? Book a call — straight answers, no pitch.
Run an agency?
Give your clients CTO-level help without losing them. You earn 10% of what they pay me in their first 6 months, and I never take your build work.
Need someone to own the technical side? Let's talk.
Book a 30-minute call. I'll tell you straight whether a fractional CTO is the right answer, and which engagement fits. No pitch.
I take a maximum of five fractional clients at a time.