A tailored course, built for your situation
Technical Leadership for Scaling Startups
A 12-module system to align engineering rigor with hypergrowth demands, without burnout
$199 one-time
24-hour access provisioning
30-day money-back guarantee
Hand-built implementation playbook
12 modules. 12 chapters per module. 144 chapters total.
12 modules, each with 12 chapters (144 chapters total), text-based, plus downloadable templates and a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.
The faster your startup grows, the harder it is to maintain code quality, team cohesion, and personal bandwidth, all while delivering relentlessly.
The situation this course is for
You're the CTO co-founding a scaling startup. The early wins are behind you. Now, every sprint exposes new cracks: undefined ownership, mounting tech debt, misaligned incentives between product and engineering, and silent team burnout. You can't afford to slow down, but speeding up feels unsustainable. You need systems, not heroics.
Who this is for
Co-founding CTOs and technical leaders in seed-to-Series B startups facing product-market fit pressure and team scaling challenges
Who this is not for
Individual contributors not in leadership, enterprise engineers, or those not actively shipping product at pace
What you walk away with
- Ship faster without increasing technical debt
- Align engineering output with business outcomes
- Scale team structure without losing agility
- Make tradeoff decisions with confidence
- Lead through ambiguity with repeatable frameworks
The 12 modules (with all 144 chapters)
Module 1. Engineering Leadership in High-Growth Phases
Understand the shift from builder to leader. Define your role as a technical founder when velocity and quality both matter. Learn how to delegate without losing control and scale your impact across teams.
12 chapters in this module
- From coder to leader
- Defining technical ownership
- Setting engineering culture
- Hiring your first engineers
- Onboarding for speed
- Feedback loops
- Tech debt triage
- Code review standards
- Velocity vs quality
- Team rituals
- Incident ownership
- Scaling yourself
Module 2. Product-Engineering Alignment
Break down silos between product and engineering. Learn how to negotiate roadmaps, set realistic timelines, and co-own outcomes. Build shared language and mutual accountability.
12 chapters in this module
- Shared goals framework
- Roadmap negotiation
- Estimation without fiction
- Sprint alignment
- Feature tradeoffs
- Stakeholder mapping
- Outcome metrics
- Backlog prioritization
- Scope control
- Change request flow
- Release ownership
- Post-mortems
Module 3. Technical Decision Frameworks
Make faster, better architecture choices under uncertainty. Use decision matrices, cost-of-delay analysis, and fallback planning to reduce rework and increase confidence.
12 chapters in this module
- Decision criteria
- Architecture tradeoffs
- Build vs buy
- Tech stack evaluation
- Fallback planning
- Cost of delay
- Decision logging
- Stakeholder input
- Risk layering
- Speed vs stability
- Vendor lock-in
- Future-proofing
Module 4. Team Structure at Scale
Design team topology for clarity and speed. Learn when to specialize, when to generalist, and how to avoid coordination overhead as headcount grows.
12 chapters in this module
- Team size limits
- Squad design
- Cross-functional alignment
- Role clarity
- Promotion paths
- Remote collaboration
- Timezone strategy
- Knowledge sharing
- Documentation standards
- Conflict resolution
- Feedback culture
- Retention levers
Module 5. Managing Technical Debt
Track, communicate, and reduce tech debt without slowing delivery. Implement systems to prevent accumulation and build stakeholder trust in long-term quality.
12 chapters in this module
- Debt categorization
- Tracking mechanisms
- Debt dashboard
- Stakeholder reporting
- Refactor planning
- Prevention patterns
- Code health metrics
- Ownership rules
- Tech review board
- Debt retirement
- Automated alerts
- Leadership updates
Module 6. Incident Response & Resilience
Build systems that survive failure. Design on-call rotations, post-mortem culture, and blameless learning to improve resilience without burning out your team.
12 chapters in this module
- Incident severity
- On-call design
- Alert fatigue
- Post-mortem process
- Blameless culture
- Runbook standards
- Duty rotation
- Stress testing
- Failure budgeting
- Monitoring philosophy
- Escalation paths
- Recovery drills
Module 7. Founder-Engineer Dynamics
Navigate misalignment between technical and non-technical founders. Learn how to advocate for sustainability while supporting aggressive growth goals.
12 chapters in this module
- Communication styles
- Risk tolerance
- Vision alignment
- Tradeoff negotiation
- Translating tech
- Influence without authority
- Conflict de-escalation
- Shared KPIs
- Board updates
- Resource requests
- Pacing growth
- Exit planning
Module 8. Hiring & Onboarding Engineers
Scale your team without sacrificing culture or velocity. Build repeatable hiring processes and structured onboarding that accelerates ramp time.
12 chapters in this module
- Hiring criteria
- Sourcing channels
- Interview design
- Technical screen
- Cultural fit
- Offer strategy
- Ramp timeline
- Mentor pairing
- First 30 days
- Feedback cadence
- Trial projects
- Remote onboarding
Module 9. Remote-First Engineering Culture
Lead distributed teams with clarity and cohesion. Design rituals, documentation, and communication norms that prevent silos and maintain alignment.
12 chapters in this module
- Async communication
- Documentation norms
- Meeting efficiency
- Timezone overlap
- Virtual rituals
- Transparency rules
- Decision visibility
- Ownership tracking
- Collaboration tools
- Inclusion practices
- Burnout signals
- Connection moments
Module 10. Metrics That Matter
Measure what actually drives progress. Move beyond vanity metrics to engineering KPIs that reflect health, velocity, and business impact.
12 chapters in this module
- Lead time for changes
- Deployment frequency
- Change failure rate
- Mean time to recovery
- Cycle time
- Code churn
- PR turnaround
- Test coverage
- Incident load
- Team health
- Engagement signals
- Retention metrics
Module 11. Security & Compliance at Speed
Integrate security into rapid development cycles. Automate compliance checks and build safeguards that don’t slow innovation.
12 chapters in this module
- Security by design
- Automated scanning
- Compliance tracking
- Audit readiness
- Data handling
- Access controls
- Encryption standards
- Third-party risk
- Pen testing
- Policy documentation
- Incident response
- Vendor audits
Module 12. Sustaining Yourself as a Technical Leader
Avoid burnout while leading through chaos. Build personal systems for energy management, decision clarity, and long-term resilience.
12 chapters in this module
- Energy tracking
- Decision fatigue
- Delegation rules
- Calendar hygiene
- Mental models
- Support network
- Feedback intake
- Stress signals
- Work-life rhythm
- Therapy and coaching
- Vacation planning
- Exit strategy
How this maps to your situation
- Leading engineering in a scaling startup
- Balancing speed and sustainability
- Managing cross-functional misalignment
- Preventing team burnout
Before vs. after
Before
Overwhelmed by competing priorities, unclear ownership, and mounting technical debt while trying to scale fast.
After
Confidently leading engineering with clear systems, aligned teams, and sustainable velocity, without burnout.
What's included with your purchase
- 12 modules with 12 chapters each (144 chapters)
- Downloadable templates and worked examples for every module
- Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Delivery and format
- Course and learning environment access provisioned within 24 hours of purchase
- Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access
Format: Text-based modules and chapters in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every chapter, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.
Time investment: Approximately 3 hours per module, designed for integration into real-time leadership challenges.
If nothing changes
Without structured leadership systems, rapid growth leads to fractured teams, escalating tech debt, and preventable burnout, jeopardizing both product and people.
How this compares to the alternatives
Unlike generic agile or management courses, this program is built specifically for technical founders in scaling startups, combining engineering rigor with founder-level decision frameworks.
Frequently asked
Who is this course for?
Co-founding CTOs and technical leaders in startups navigating rapid growth and product-market fit pressure.
How is the course structured?
12 modules, each containing 12 chapters (144 chapters total).
Is there video content?
No. The course is entirely text-based with downloadable templates and a hand-built implementation playbook.
$199 one-time. Approximately 3 hours per module, designed for integration into real-time leadership challenges..
Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.
30-day money-back guarantee·
144 chapters·
Hand-built playbook included·
Account access within 24 hours