Local Expertise, Global Standards

Scaling an NYC Startup? Veteran Engineering Oversight for Fast-Paced Growth

Your startup just raised, and you're competing for talent at full-CTO comp. Or your co-founder left mid-MVP. Or your seed is closing and the lead VC wants a technical reference call this week. Or you need immediate engineering continuity in place.

We provide the technical direction needed to navigate the New York City ecosystem and scale without the full-time overhead.

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Trusted by

SaaS Platforms
AI & Machine Learning
Fintech Infrastructure

As Featured In

A track record of technical excellence, industry recognition, and leadership across the startup ecosystem.

Receiving the Start Up Nation Award from Shimon Peres

Start Up Nation Award - Shimon Peres

Speaking at Citi Mobile Challenge Jerusalem

Keynote at Citi Mobile Challenge

Radio Interview on Reshet Bet

Live on Reshet Bet Radio

Bank Hapoalim Event

Bank Hapoalim Innovation Event

Winning an industry award

Industry Recognition

Presenting technical architecture

Technical Leadership

Dominating Silicon Alley's High-Velocity Ecosystem

New York City is the global hub for B2B SaaS, media tech, and fintech. NYC founders face relentless speed expectations from funds like Insight Partners, Union Square Ventures, and Bessemer. The talent market is fierce, with top engineers demanding $300k+ salaries. We provide hands-on architectural governance, hiring pipeline management, and SOC2 readiness to keep your R&D moving at venture speed.

Common Challenges in New York City:

  • High Comp Pressure: A full-time CTO in New York requires $280k–$380k salary plus 2-5% equity, draining critical early-stage runway.
  • Enterprise Scrutiny: NYC enterprise and financial customers demand institutional-grade security, uptime SLAs, and SOC2 compliance before closing pilots.
  • Execution Velocity: Managing hybrid squads across timezones while maintaining high commit velocity requires veteran engineering management.
Shahar Albag - Fractional CTO in New York City

Shahar Albag

Fractional CTO & Technical Advisor

Bringing 20 years of engineering leadership and 15+ SaaS business successes directly to your boardroom. We don't just advise; we execute.

Last updated: September 2026

When New York City Founders Bring Me In

Build the engineering team from zero

You raised, and now you need a team.

You closed your seed or Series A. Your investors want to see hiring velocity within 60 days. The senior candidates you're talking to are juggling three offers from and a stealth local spinout.

What I do:

Define the first 5-8 roles in priority order, write JDs in language local senior engineers actually respond to, and own the technical vetting pipeline from screening to final offer.

Request New York City audit

Cut tech costs and optimize infrastructure

Your cloud bill is eating your runway.

Your AWS or GCP costs are scaling faster than your revenue. You're bleeding capital on over-provisioned clusters and inefficient database queries while your runway shrinks.

What I do:

Execute a two-week deep architectural audit. I restructure your infrastructure, implement aggressive cost controls, and typically reduce monthly cloud spend by 30-50% without impacting production uptime.

Request New York City audit

Replace a departed CTO

Your technical co-founder just exited.

You built an MVP and gained early traction, but your tech lead left the company. You have active customers, an anxious dev team, and no one to manage the codebase or upcoming sprint cycles.

What I do:

Step in immediately to stabilize the existing engineering team. I audit the codebase, secure all critical access credentials, and manage daily operations until we recruit your permanent replacement.

Request New York City audit

Prepare for Technical Due Diligence

You are facing a Series B technical audit.

Investors from are preparing to tear apart your infrastructure. A failed technical due diligence report will kill your term sheet or severely impact your valuation.

What I do:

Preemptively audit your system exactly how a VC would. I patch security vulnerabilities, secure data compliance (including Israel PPL and GDPR equivalence), and defend your architecture in the boardroom.

Request New York City audit

Stabilize a failing production system

Your platform falls over under load.

Customer growth is accelerating, but your system is failing. Critical bugs are slipping into production, downtime is increasing, and your engineers are stuck firefighting instead of shipping new features.

What I do:

Implement rigorous CI/CD pipelines, automated testing rubrics, and incident response protocols. I stabilize the core architecture so your team can return to shipping reliable product updates.

Request New York City audit

Migrate a legacy technology stack

You've outgrown your initial tech stack.

The monolithic architecture that got you to MVP is now blocking feature development. Technical debt is overwhelming, and every new deployment feels like a massive risk to the business.

What I do:

Design a 90-day phased migration plan. I architect the transition to modern microservices or serverless infrastructure without disrupting your current active users.

Request New York City audit

How I work with New York City startups

1

Discovery Call

2

48-Hour Technical Audit

3

30-Day Execution Plan

4

Direct Team Integration

5

Ongoing Cadence

Comparison Matrix

RoleCostCommitmentWhen to use
Fractional CTO (GotYourTech)Custom RetainerFlexible RetainerSeed to Series B scale
Full-Time CTOHigh Annual Salary + EquityMulti-yearSeries C+, enterprise
Tech Co-FounderHigh Equity (20%+)Life of companyPre-seed / Ideation

Fractional CTO Pricing

Transparent, predictable flat-fee retainers. No hourly billing surprises.

Lite

For Pre-Seed & MVP alignment

Custom Retainer/mo
  • Weekly advisory sessions
  • High-level architecture review
  • Asynchronous Slack support
Book a 30-min call
Most Popular

Full Integration

For Seed & Series A Scaling

Custom Retainer/mo
  • Direct R&D team management
  • Hiring pipeline ownership
  • Board & Investor representation
Apply for fit assessment

Tech as a Service

Turnkey R&D Execution

Custom Execution/mo
  • Dedicated engineering squad
  • End-to-end product delivery
  • Full CTO oversight included
Scope a delivery sprint

Frequently Asked Questions

Why hire a fractional CTO in NYC instead of a full-time executive?

A full-time CTO is a massive fixed payroll commitment and equity dilution before you achieve scale. A Fractional CTO gives you the same boardroom credibility and architectural rigor on a flexible retainer.

Can you help us pass enterprise security audits and SOC2 in New York?

Yes. We implement zero-trust access, automated CI/CD security scanning, and SOC2 Type II compliance frameworks so you can close enterprise contracts quickly.

How do you manage our distributed dev team from NYC?

We establish structured agile rituals, async RFC documentation, and continuous integration pipelines so developers ship daily regardless of location.

Ready to accelerate your tech in New York City?

Get a free technical audit, or book a 30-minute intro call directly with Shahar.

Startup Intake

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Book a 30-Minute Intro Call

Pick a time directly on Shahar's calendar. No questionnaire required.

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