Independent technical leadership
for founders who can't evaluate their dev team
I'm Owen Pyrah. I work with post-revenue founders navigating technical decisions they didn't sign up for.
Owen Pyrah
Good founders end up holding problems they never signed up for
A while back I messaged a founder I knew. He'd started building an app and the marketing looked brilliant. He replied: "Hey, you're a developer aren't you? Free for a call?"
On that call I learned the truth. His dev studio had gone bust. He had 100 beta users, no way to deploy, and Apple had just pulled his build. He had a login to AWS, but it meant nothing to him.
I'd never worked with his tech stack before. I bought a Mac Mini I didn't end up needing. But within hours I'd got Apple to lift the block. I built a deployment pipeline with variables discovered from AWS. We shipped a fresh build just 3 days before the old one expired. His users never knew anything had gone wrong.
That's the work I keep coming back to. Not the architecture. The moment someone realises they're not on their own anymore.
Who this is for
You're post-revenue — somewhere between first traction and a Series A. You have a development team you either built in a hurry, inherited when you acquired a product, or assembled from agencies and contractors as you grew.
The product works well enough to sell. But technical decisions are being made daily that you can't evaluate. You don't know if the architecture is sound, if your team is working efficiently, or if the path you're on is going to cause you problems in six months.
Something has usually brought it to a head: a rewrite conversation that sounds expensive and vague, a key developer you're not sure about, a fundraise with due diligence coming, or just the persistent feeling that delivery is slower than it should be.
You're not looking for another developer. You're looking for someone who can tell you honestly what's going on.
Situations I get called into
The rebuild that never happened
A B2B SaaS founder was facing a $250,000+ platform rebuild. Before committing, they asked for a second set of eyes. What we found changed the picture entirely.
Read more →How I work
What the engagement actually looks like — the shape of the work, who it fits, how it starts, and how it ends.
Read more →Testimonials
Here's what founders and technical leaders have to say about working together.
Owen has been instrumental in guiding effit through its first year.
From day one, he’s been an exceptional operator, bringing clarity, structure, and calm to what can often be a chaotic startup phase.
His ability to balance big-picture thinking with practical, get-it-done execution has made a huge difference to our business. Beyond the work itself, he’s incredibly supportive, reliable, and genuinely invested in our success.
We couldn’t have asked for a better tech lead consultant and couldn't recommend Owen anymore highly.
Tom Kellet
Co-Founder @ effit
Owen has been our tech lead during the critical early stages of taking our app from MVP to market.
His expertise and guidance were absolutely instrumental in shaping the app and ensuring a smooth development process.
Not only did he manage the young offshore development team with professionalism and clarity, but also brought strategic thinking and problem-solving skills that helped us save time and avoid costly pitfalls.
He has been great at translating complex technical concepts into actionable plans for a couple of non-tech founders.
Highly recommended!
Matt Donzow
Co-Founder @ effit
Owen effectively takes requirements from stakeholders and turns them in to a detailed specification with ease, understanding any problem quickly.
Communication was excellent - we always knew what was happening/where we were in the timeline, but we were not distracted from our own objectives by this.
Owen's coding standards are very high and, coupled with detailed docs on the feature, our developers have no qualms about maintaining it moving forward.
I would highly recommend Owen.
Sarah Ellis
Head of Technical @ Howells
Articles
Why most SaaS teams get stuck and how to avoid the rebuild trap
Development has stalled and the word “rewrite” is starting to appear in conversations. This moment is common in growing SaaS products and it’s often where momentum is either recovered or quietly lost for months.
Read more →Why overlooking your in-house developers keeps consulting projects stuck
Many teams bring in consultants to speed up delivery, but the way those consultants work with your internal developers often determines whether the project accelerates or stalls.
Read more →Hiring a software consultant vs. growing your team
A practical look at when adding staff moves you forward and when it leaves you more stuck - and how fractional consultants fit into a constraint-led approach.
Read more →