Ala Stolpnik, Fractional CTO
Bridging Business Vision and Engineering Execution
So what gets built is what the business actually needs. Two ways, depending on where you are: I work directly with early-stage founders as their fractional CTO, and I built Wisary for teams past that stage.
Good Code, Wrong Product
Most products don't fail because the code is bad. They fail because what got built drifted from what the business needed. AI makes building faster, which makes that gap more expensive, not less. Someone has to own the connection between the business decision and the engineering work.
Which Phase Is Your Product In?
Each phase changes your job, and what I help with. Find yours below.
- 1
Prototype
Decide if it is worth building.
How I help
- Decide what is worth building, and what to build first
- Pick the fastest way to a working prototype
- Name the assumptions the prototype has to prove
- 2
MVP
Decide exactly what gets built, and who builds it.
How I help
- Scope work so engineers and AI build what the business needs
- Set a secure architecture and AI strategy that won't need a rewrite
- Hire your first engineers, and know when you need them
- 3
Paying Customers
Ship fast without breaking what works.
How I help
- Put in the review, testing and release habits that keep speed safe
- Know when you need more engineers, and which ones
- Get through security and technical due diligence
- 4
Scaling
Keep PMs, engineers, and AI on one plan.
What Wisary does
- Surface the decisions still open before anything gets built
- Review every AI suggestion as a diff you approve
- Check each spec is build-ready before your team or your AI builds from it
- 1
Prototype
Decide if it is worth building.
How I help
- Decide what is worth building, and what to build first
- Pick the fastest way to a working prototype
- Name the assumptions the prototype has to prove
- 2
MVP
Decide exactly what gets built, and who builds it.
How I help
- Scope work so engineers and AI build what the business needs
- Set a secure architecture and AI strategy that won't need a rewrite
- Hire your first engineers, and know when you need them
- 3
Paying Customers
Ship fast without breaking what works.
How I help
- Put in the review, testing and release habits that keep speed safe
- Know when you need more engineers, and which ones
- Get through security and technical due diligence
- 4
Scaling
Keep PMs, engineers, and AI on one plan.
What Wisary does
- Surface the decisions still open before anything gets built
- Review every AI suggestion as a diff you approve
- Check each spec is build-ready before your team or your AI builds from it
Prototype to Paying Customers
How I Work With Founders
I work directly with you at the prototype, MVP, and paying-customers stage, as the technical lead you don't have yet. Not a report, and not an agency you hand things off to.
- Your trusted advisor until your team can take over
- In your meetings and your tools, with your engineers, agency, or AI
- I help you see the gaps and find the way forward, and I stay until the decisions are made
Not ready for a call? Take the free readiness check (it's called Preflight) and find out whether you're ready to build, before you build.
Scaling
Use the Wisary Platform
Once there are several PMs and engineers, and AI doing parts of both jobs, no single person can hold the connection. I built Wisary for that stage: an AI coach that keeps product managers, engineers, and AI working from the same clear plan.
I've Worked Both Sides of This Gap
For more than 15 years I built production software and the teams behind it: peer-to-peer payments for Google Wallet, core platform capabilities at Benchling from Series B to Series F, and a full-stack engineering team at Roblox.
Then I founded Wisary and lived the founder side: a prototype, an MVP, paying customers, and every decision about what to build next with limited time and money. Wisary won a 2025 Product Award from Products That Count. I speak about this gap to founders often, most recently at Boulder Startup Week and SoCo Startup Week 2026. I'm based in Boulder and work with founders across Colorado and the US.
Connect on LinkedIn“The AI tools may be getting better, but founders still need to lead.”
Not sure which path fits?
Tell me where your product is and I'll tell you what I'd focus on next. Or take the readiness check first.