John Szeder
Fractional CTO for early stage businesses
Based in United States · 30+ years experience
Summary
I specialize in building 0 to 1 products and 0 to 1 teams. I also help Series A through Series C scaleups, with 30 years of professional experience in that domain.
About
I help product and platform teams move faster, scale smarter, and deliver more value to customers. With 30 years of experience—from launching hit games to leading engineering transformations—I specialize in turning early-stage ideas into customer-ready products and building teams that scale.
I’ve led zero-to-one platforms that drove 10X revenue growth, cut costs while maintaining velocity, and mentored engineers and leaders into new roles. Through strategic consulting and fractional CTO work, I’ve supported enterprise initiatives at Clorox Corporation, Samsung, Verizon, and Activision-Blizzard—bringing clarity to complex systems, unlocking efficiency, and shipping outcomes that matter.
Whether it’s personalization, infrastructure, or bleeding-edge prototypes, I blend hands-on execution with executive vision to align product, people, and process around measurable customer impact.
Skills
M&A / Due Diligence, Platform Modernisation, Engineering Leadership, Vendor Management
Regions covered
Industry experience
Retail, SaaS, Education
At a glance
John brings hands-on experience across M&A / Due Diligence, Platform Modernisation, Engineering Leadership, Vendor Management. Available for engagements across Europe, North America. Industry experience includes Retail, SaaS, Education.
How fractional CTO engagements with John work
John works on a fractional basis — typically one to three days a week for an agreed engagement length — so you get senior technical leadership without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire. Engagements commonly include technical due diligence, board reporting, engineering team leadership, technology strategy, architecture reviews, hiring support, and stepping in as interim CTO during a transition.