A letter from one business leader to another
Does any of this sound familiar?
Dear business owner,
Most people I speak to are in one of three places:
They have quotes that are tens of thousands of dollars apart,
They have a project that's been "nearly done" for months, or
They built a first version in a tool like Lovable, and now it needs to work for real customers.
They all have the same problem. They're making decisions about software, and nobody on their side can check them.
A developer explains a decision. It sounds reasonable. But is it the right call, or just the easy one? Most owners can't tell. Many tell me they lost track of their project the moment it got technical.
You're probably thinking about these things
01
Why are these quotes so far apart?
02
Is our project actually on track?
03
What happens if our developer walks?
04
Where would AI actually save us time?
None of this is your fault. You run a business. You're not a software engineer, and you shouldn't have to be.
But it does make problems hard to spot.
I recently looked at two quotes for the same project. They were $60,000 apart. Both looked reasonable. The gap came from guesses about scope that neither developer wrote down.
Projects that stay "nearly done" are similar. The last stretch holds the work nobody planned, like testing, security and connecting to your other software. Without someone checking, you find out when the deadline passes.
AI prototypes have a related problem. They can look finished. But they're often not ready for real customers, real data or proper security.
In almost every case, one thing was missing. Someone on the owner's side who understood the technical decisions.
Someone to check the quotes. Someone to say no to features that aren't worth building. Someone to hold the developers to their promises.
That's the role I take on. As a fractional CTO, I'm your technical leader for part of the month. You only pay for the time you use. If you need software built or fixed, my team of 26 engineers can do it. I lead the work.
The first step is a free audit. We talk for 30 minutes. Then I send you a written plan: what to build first, what to leave out, roughly what it should cost, and what to check in your quotes.
Sam Halcrow
Fractional CTO
Engagement options
Work with me in two ways
Done with you
I step in as your Fractional CTO
I work on your side as your technical leader. You keep your current developers or agency, and I make sure the work is heading in the right direction and the money is well spent.
✓
Technical strategy and roadmap
✓
Reviewing quotes, contracts and vendors
✓
Managing developers and agencies
✓
Available throughout the month, and you only pay for the time you use
Done for you
My engineers and I build or fix your project
Customer or staff-based software and mobile apps that scale, secured on safe infrastructure that hits your business objective with a well-proven delivery approach. Turn key.
✓
Customer and staff software
✓
Mobile apps and web apps
✓
Secure hosting, set up properly
✓
Support and improvements after launch
Clients
I've led software projects for these companies
The fixed-price trap
Agencies are paid to build, not to get you a result.
A fixed price and fixed scope can feel safe. But it is the most expensive way to build software. From the very first meeting, requirements expand, and from the very first release, iteration begins. A fixed-scope contract has room for neither, so changes get billed as extras.
What the fixed-price agency does
Quote a fixed scope before they understand what you need
Add extra to the quote to cover unknowns
Build what was agreed in month one, even if it's no longer right
Charge for every change request
Treat improvements after launch as out of scope
Move the risk to the person least able to see it coming — you
What I do instead
Work out what you actually need before giving you a quote
Plan for the scope to change
Budget for improvements after the first release
Charge for the work that's actually done
Show you progress and decisions every week
After 16 years and around 250 engagements, I've seen what fixed price does to a project, so as your CTO I make the calls before anything is built
“Sam took the time to understand our business and knew all the tech we needed. It was a pleasure to work with him and his team as they acted as an extension of our team.”
Luke Schwigtenberg
Head of R&D, Banktech
“In a short period of time, Sam demonstrated an exceptional ability to align the right technical expertise with our specific needs.”
Tim Buric
CTO, Agilyx
FREE GUIDE
NEVER AGAIN
Not sure what a fair quote looks like? Never Again is my free guide to judging custom software projects before you sign.
What's missing
You need someone making the calls a CTO makes, without the CTO-sized cost
I make those calls with you on every project. And I keep you up to date. Here’s what that looks like each month.
What I do
What having a technical leader on your side looks like
Technical strategy and roadmap
What to build first, what to leave out, and what it should cost - all written before anyone quotes you.
Quote and vendor evaluation
I read the proposals and contracts and tell you which to trust.
Decisions before code is written
Custom or off the shelf, what goes into version one and how it connects to what you already use. I'll help you make the decision early, with your interests in mind.
Running the build
Weekly check-ins, releases in stages and your staff using it early. You see progress every week.
Code, security and cost reviews
Whether what's been built is any good, whether it's secure and what it will cost to run, with a clear list of what to fix first.
Hiring and structuring your tech team
Who you need, how to vet them, and how to set up the team so it works without you chasing it.
What you get
1
And keeps working without needing a rebuild a year later.
2
Weekly updates you can follow.
3
You approve costs before they're spent, and you know what they're for.
4
You make each decision with a technical leader on your side.
Client testimonials
Hear it from our clients
ONGOING SUPPORT
Angela Bevitt-Parr
National Marketing Manager
AWS Australia
FRACTIONAL CTO
Tim Buric
Chief Technology Officer
Agilyx & MUNIvers
ONGOING SUPPORT
Kelvin Kenney
Chief Executive Officer
Bow Wow Meow
Case studies
Every software project starts somewhere different
PROJECT RECOVERY
OzSnow
CUSTOMER SOFTWARE PROJECt
We took over OzSnow’s crashing booking software across 18 sites. It ran with 100% uptime all ski season, and hosting costs dropped by about 40%
NEW BUILD
Agrana
WORKFORCE SOFTWARE PROJECT
Agrana’s sales team now prices customer orders in 15 minutes instead of half a day, using the SAP-connected software we built
ONGOING SUPPORT
AWS Australia
WORKFORCE SOFTWARE PROJECT
We rebuilt AWS Australia’s product software and keep improving it every month. Product data accuracy rose from 73% to 97.3%
PROJECT RECOVERY
OzSnow
Ski holidays, 18 booking sites · Project recovery
Outages per month, ski season
0 after
When I took over
100%
uptime, ~40% lower hosting
Took over a booking platform that crashed every peak weekend. Isolated each site, made it scale on demand, and it ran the whole season without an outage.
“Halcrow took over an environment that was fragile and opaque, and made it resilient fast. A full season of 100% uptime.”
Matt Goodall, CEO, OzSnow
0
Outages all ski season
~40%
Lower hosting cost
NEW BUILD
Agrana
Food manufacturing, SAP-connected · New build
Time to price a customer order
–95%
Software went live
15 min
down from half a day
Sales priced orders by hand from SAP exports. We agreed the goal first (same-hour quotes), then built in stages with the sales team using it from week three.
“Their competency, attention to details, and soft skills of business analysts were impressive.”
Anastasia Lobanova, SAP Analyst, Agrana
15 min
To price an order, from half a day
Week 3
Sales team using it live
ONGOING SUPPORT
AWS Australia
Window manufacturing · Rebuild + ongoing support
Product data accuracy
73% → 97.3%
When I joined: 73% correct
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Now: 97.3%, improving monthly
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Rebuilt the CMS
4.7
updates/week, from 0.3
Rebuilt a fragmented CMS into a platform the marketing team runs themselves. Content changes that took weeks now take minutes; fabricator reorders rose 34%.
“Decisions that would have taken weeks happened in a single meeting.”
Angela Bevitt-Parr, National Marketing Manager
+34%
Fabricator reorders
4.7/wk
Content updates, from 0.3
FRACTIONAL CTO
Sonnel Hospitality
Pub group, 8 venues · Data warehouse
Time to answer a question across all venues
Days → seconds
Warehouse went live
30 sec
down from 2–3 days
Built a real-time view across eight venues without replacing a single system. 100+ metrics live, 85% of reports now produced in-house, 99.6% uptime.
“Working with Halcrow is just like working with internal teams. We treat them as our own employees.”
David Bu, GM Finance, Sonnel
100+
Metrics live across 8 venues
85%
Reports now produced in-house
NEW BUILD
Acciona · WestConnex
Civil engineering, 7 km tunnel · New build
Field crew mapping output per shift
+70%
Platform went live
100%
reporting accuracy
Led the software capturing 15,000+ geological records across the tunnel. Compliance reports now take 8 minutes, and Acciona’s own IT team runs the platform.
“Halcrow’s process was a game changer.”
Thomas Roper, Senior Geotechnical Engineering Manager
15,000+
Geological records captured
8 min
To produce a compliance report
A bigger secret
We're a small but powerful team. I work with no more than a dozen clients at any time.
After the audit, what you do next is up to you. If you'd like to work together, I'll lead the project as your CTO and my engineering team will do the work. Here's what that looks like.
Before we build
We agree on what the software needs to achieve
More downloads, more repeat orders, fewer support calls, hours saved for your team. We set the goal first and measure the build against it.
Leadership
I make the technical decisions for you
Custom or off the shelf, which cloud provider, how it connects to your other software, whether AI belongs in it. I decide these before any code is written and explain why, so you're never confused.
During the build
You deal directly with me and the developers working on your software. Daily check-ins mean there are no surprises. Ever.
how we build in 2026
Software is built differently now
It's 2026. Good engineering teams now use AI agents to write, test and check code. This is called agentic engineering, and it's how we build every project.
It means faster delivery and a lower bill for you.
Agents do the routine work
AI agents write and test code through a plan I set, one ticket at a time. You see every ticket.
Engineers check every change
A senior engineer reviews every change before it's released. Nothing goes live without a person signing off.
You pay for less time
Months of work lands in days. The difference goes into your budget, not my margin.
Launch
We roll it out in stages
My team builds in stages and gets your staff or customers using it early, so it fits the way they actually work.
After launch
We keep it working
My team keeps your software running, fixes issues as they come up and adds features as your business grows.
Security
The right level of security for your business
Not every product needs bank-level security. Some do. I'll work out what yours needs, and keep it in proportion to your risks and your budget.
You get the risks explained without jargon, so you can decide. If you want the technical detail, I'm happy to go as deep as you like.
Sensible basics, always
Encrypted data, two-factor sign-in and tested releases are standard on every project.
Risks you can understand
A short list of risks, what each could cost you, and what it takes to fix. You decide what to act on.
As technical as you want
If you or your team want the detail, I'll walk you through it. If you don't, I'll stick to the non-technical overview.
Frequently asked questions
