Jen Anderson · PhD Behavioral Neuroscience · MS Computer Science · 15+ years shipping software
A technical partner who sees what others miss
I give startups the pattern-recognition and hands-on technical leadership of a full CTO office — priced for the stage you’re at. Strategy and execution. Working software you own.
Why Jen
My research career was about one question: why do systems miss signals they should catch? My consulting career is the same question, different systems.
Three enterprises, the same patterns each time — burnout building, collaboration breaking down, people making calls on incomplete data. I knew I could do this better for startups, before they calcify into the same problems.
“I don’t just advise — I make sure it gets built and hand you the keys.”Read the full story →
What people say
“Jen took us from zero architecture to a deployed MVP in 9 weeks. We raised our seed round two months later with working software to demo.”
“She cut our incident response time by 70%. When everyone's spinning, she's already three steps into the fix.”
“Kept the platform stable through a 3x traffic spike during our launch week. That's rare in a technical leader.”
“She rebuilt our data pipeline in 4 weeks and used the metrics to make the case for our Series A infrastructure budget.”
“Shipped our core platform rewrite in 12 weeks with zero downtime. Most technical leaders are either great engineers or great people leaders — she's both.”
Each engagement is scoped, priced, and delivered on a fixed timeline — no open-ended retainers until you’re ready.
What we deliver
Fixed scope. Fixed price. Clear timeline. Pick the one that fits.
AI readiness audit
A structured assessment of your current tech stack, team capabilities, and data infrastructure to determine exactly where AI fits — and where it doesn't. You get a clear, prioritized roadmap with recommendations based on experience.
Deliverables
- ✓Current-state technology and data audit report
- ✓AI opportunity map with feasibility scores
- ✓Prioritized implementation roadmap (90-day, 6-month, 12-month) tied to specific business outcomes
- ✓Risk assessment and mitigation plan
- ✓Team capability gap analysis
- ✓Vendor and tool recommendations with cost estimates
- ✓Executive summary presentation for stakeholders
Scope
- •Review of existing tech stack, data pipelines, and infrastructure
- •Interviews with engineering and product team leads
- •Competitive landscape analysis for AI adoption in your vertical
- •Identification of quick wins vs. long-term investments
How we work together
Start with a complimentary technical discovery. I review your systems and tell you what I find.
Entry point
FreeI sign an NDA, get into your repo and documentation, and come back with your top 3 critical findings and what you can do about them today. Real analysis from someone who's been in your code and infrastructure.
Assess
Fixed scope, quoted after discoveryAfter discovery, I go deeper — a structured audit that turns those initial findings into a prioritized roadmap with remediation steps, cost estimates, and timelines. You walk away with a plan you can execute independently.
Build
Milestone-based, quoted after discoveryMy team and I build your product and ship it to production. Working software you own. Milestone-based pricing so you're never paying for time you can't see. Already have engineers? I'll run point.
Execute
Monthly retainerI embed as your CTO month-to-month. Your team gets direction, your AI agents get put to work, and you stop being the bottleneck on every technical decision. Need to hire? I'll build the team too.
Your first engagement with Jen is free. Here’s what you’ll walk away with.
- →Your top 3 technical risks, based on a real review of your code
- →Honest assessment of what to prioritize and what can wait
- →Honest feedback on whether we’re the right fit — I’ll say so if we’re not
I sign an NDA and dig into your code. If we're not a fit, the findings are still yours.