You’ve probably noticed the silence. No posts since March. No weekly insights. No new stories from the fractional CTO trenches.
I didn’t disappear. I didn’t burn out. I didn’t run out of things to say.
I went deep.
The Moment You Stop Paddling
When you’re surfing, there’s this moment—right before you catch a wave—where everything goes quiet. You stop paddling. You feel the water lift beneath you. You commit.
That’s where I’ve been for the past six months.
About a year ago (October 2024), I started building a prototype for myself. Just tinkering, really. I’ve spent 30 years in software engineering—Air Force, startups, enterprise companies, scaling SaaS teams to $100M+ ARR and experiencing an IPO. I kept seeing the same pattern everywhere:
Brilliant experts drowning in their own expertise. Novices fighting for their time to learn from them.
After the Air Force, I discovered instructional design and curriculum development—how to help people learn faster. But I was drawn to software engineering. So I spent the next 30 years combining both: building how people learn into how software works.
This prototype felt different. Like all those experiences were converging.
When Prayer Met Partnership
Six months ago, I met Dr. Alan Kadish. Within days, we both knew: this was it. We started Expert Scale together.
- Two months later: We had a proof of concept for APEX REPLICANT
- Two months after that: MVP—and Alan and I became our own first experts on the platform
- One month later: Other experts saw what we were building and joined us, extending their impact
- Last month: Enterprise-ready
We didn’t just build APEX REPLICANT for others. We use it every day. I built my Digital Protégé on it. Alan built his. Then more experts asked to join the platform.
Through prayer and meditation, I was able to see the opportunity clearly: I could keep adding my impact one client at a time… or I could multiply it by equipping other experts with tools to extend their impact.
Addition vs. multiplication.
I chose multiplication.
The Cost of Building in the Moment
There was a month pushing toward launch where I worked 60-hour weeks. Two weeks where sleep was optional. My family saw less of me. The blog went silent.
Sacrifice is a huge part of developing something bigger than yourself.
But here’s what surprised me: I’d forgotten how much I love building products. As a fractional CTO/CPTO, I help several companies be the best they can be. It’s meaningful work. But building this? Building a platform for other experts to scale their impact?
The ownership. The satisfaction. The sense of purpose.
It’s different.
And throughout it all, I kept coming back to that surfing lesson: be in the moment. When you’re in the barrel, you don’t think about tomorrow’s wave. When you’re sacrificing sleep to ship features, you don’t dwell on what you’re missing. You stay present. You learn. You take it one step at a time.
Even in the hardest moments, there’s something simple and beautiful about being fully committed to what you’re building.
What This Means for You
Here’s the thing: I haven’t stopped being a fractional CTO/CPTO. I haven’t stopped Exploring, Guiding, and Coaching.
I’ve just built a better way to do it—for me and for you.
If you’re an expert (consultant, coach, advisor, technologist), you now have a platform to:
- Scale your impact beyond your available hours
- Monetize your expertise 24/7
- Reclaim your precious time while still serving your clients
- Create your own Digital Protégé that thinks like you, talks like you, and helps people when you can’t be there
If you’re a leader looking for guidance, you now have:
- Immediate access to expert guidance anytime, anywhere
- A lower barrier to entry (start with my Digital Protégé for free)
- 24/7 availability for those 2 AM decision moments
- The ability to explore expertise before committing to full engagement
Back to the Surface
I’m back. The platform is live. My Digital Protégé is serving clients while I sleep. Alan’s is too. Other experts are joining every week.
And I’m excited to start writing again—this time with stories not just from my fractional work, but from building a platform that’s changing how experts scale their impact.
The wave I’ve been building? It’s here. And it’s big enough for all of us to ride together.
Ready to scale your expertise? Explore Expert Scale and APEX REPLICANT or start a conversation with my Digital Protégé to see how it works.
Want to create your own? Let’s talk about bringing your expertise to the platform. Schedule a conversation.