Nick Martin-Kruck · Fractional Technical Leader
Your technical blind spots, quietly fixed.
I help founders ship and evolve real products when it counts - while retaining control and building momentum.
20+ years shipping products · Drop-in technical co-pilot · Embedded, hands on leadership
→ audit.init()
analyzing codebase...
checking architecture...
reviewing team velocity...
✓ 12 opportunities found
✓ roadmap.generated
When to reach out
Recognise any of these?
These are the moments when a technical co-pilot pays for itself. I understand your context fast, unblock your team, and make your product work - without the overhead of a full-time hire.
Working hard, not moving forward
Your team is busy, but progress isn't compounding. Priorities shift, deadlines slip, and confidence starts to wobble.
I embed with your team, identify blockers and help translate effort into momentum.
Will it hold up at launch?
Launch is coming but you're not sure the product is ready. Features and scope are drifting. Saying no feels harder than it should. Will everything hold up?
Comprehensive readiness audit + launch runbook. Ship with confidence.
You need technical judgement - now.
Hiring is slow. You can't wait 3 months to fill the role. You need someone who can step in, make confident calls, and unblock delivery while you hire properly.
Bridge the gap with a technical co-pilot while you hire right.
Unsure where AI helps?
Everyone says you need AI. You're not sure what's real vs. hype for your use case. You don't want a demo feature - you want measurable value.
Pragmatic AI assessment - discover what will create value.
Progress feels fragile
Every new feature takes 3x longer than it should. The codebase has become a liability. Technical debt is slowing you down. You need to move fast without digging a hole.
Strategic refactoring plan. Ship faster within weeks, not months.
Not sure what's worth building?
You're building features but not sure which ones move the needle. Teams work best when everyone is aligned on what's important
Instrument, measure, and iterate. Build what users actually need.
Retain control and build momentum
Three ways to work together
Clear scope, predictable outcomes. Pick what fits your situation, or let's chat about your unique sitution.
Readiness Audit
A comprehensive technical health check that gives you clarity on your product, codebase, and team processes. Perfect before raising, launching, or hiring.
- Deep-dive codebase and architecture review
- Team velocity and process assessment
- Risk identification and prioritisation
- Technical debt inventory
- Prioritised action roadmap
Embedded Sprint
I join your team as a drop-in technical lead. I understand context fast, unblock your developers, ship features, and establish better processes - without the overhead of a full-time hire.
- Full-time embedded support (async + sync)
- Hands-on coding and architecture decisions
- Developer mentorship and pairing
- Process improvements and tooling setup
- Weekly progress reports and check-ins
Launch Support
End-to-end launch preparation and support. I ensure your product is production-ready, create your launch runbook, and provide on-call support when you go live.
- Production readiness review
- Performance testing and optimization
- Monitoring and alerting setup
- Incident response procedures
- Detailed launch runbook
Selected work
Problems solved & products shipped
A sample of projects where I helped teams break through barriers and build momentum.
3D model design marketplace for jewelry businesses with quotation builder, design calculator, and client collection tools. Led technical delivery from offshore team turnaround through MVP launch and subsequent infrastructure modernisation.
Award-winning daily, weekly, and season-long fantasy football platform with premium UI/UX, real-time scoring, and gamification. Built as solo engineer alongside a co-founding team. We grew the user base with innovative features and strong community engagement. We conducted successful fundraising rounds and ultimately exited via acquisition.
Sports Trading
High-frequency trading platform for pre-match and in-play betting markets on high-liquidity exchanges. Provided strategic advisory on team composition, recruited specialist data engineering and algorithmic trading experts, and established technical foundations for market analysis and exposure strategies.
Investment Group Tech Team
Post-merger consolidation of technology teams across multiple brands for an investment group. Working directly with the CEO and CTO, I built and managed a centralised product and technology team of 20+ across Engineering, Product, and Data. Established recruitment processes, cross-functional teams, professional development plans, and internal processes to create a strong remote/hybrid engineering culture.
Platform Security Audit
B2B software company facing delayed deliveries and system reliability issues with their technology provider. Conducted comprehensive security assessment revealing negligent security practices and critical infrastructure vulnerabilities. Provided remediation recommendations and ultimately the client achieved a successful legal settlement.
Coming Soon
Playbooks for founders
Tactical guides distilled from years of building products. Practical frameworks you can apply today - no fluff, no gating.
Learn MoreManaging Technical Debt
Strategies for addressing tech debt without stalling feature development
Hiring Your First Engineer
How to evaluate, hire, and onboard when you're non-technical
Launching Under Pressure
Frameworks for prioritizing and shipping when timelines are tight
Let's talk
Ready to unblock your team?
Start with a 30-minute call. Tell me what's blocking you, and I'll share honest thoughts on whether I can help.
Or email directly: nick@tenasta.com