CASE 03 / ADVISORY

“CTO candidate not found” was resolved in 18 months.

Industry	HR Tech SaaS Startup (Seed – Series A)
Request	Launched a technical organization as an external CTO
Period	September 2023 – March 2025 (18 months)
Contract form	Monthly Advisory Contract (Standard Plan)

“Funding has been decided. I can also see the direction of the product.
But even if I look for a CTO candidate for a year, I can’t find it.”
It was an SOS from a representative of a seed-stage startup.

1. challenge

A representative from a non-engineering background was developing a SaaS product with two excellent contract engineers. Funding has been decided, and the organization is in full swing for Series A. However, headhunting for CTO candidates was difficult.

2. approach

Rather than “replacing the resident CTO”, I supported it from the position of “breaking down and providing the functions of the CTO”:

• Technology Strategy: Discuss direction with management twice a month for 90 minutes
• Architectural decisions: All key technology selections are made in person
• Engineer Recruitment: JD preparation, document screening, interview attendance. 1.5 hires in 6 years
• Organizational design: Tech team role definition, evaluation system, salary range design
• Code reviews: Critical PRs go into review and convey quality standards

3. Achievements (18 months elapsed)

• Engineer Hire: 6 (2 of whom are future CTO candidates)
• Series A Procurement: Success (also assists with technical DD support)
• Formal CTO appointment: 1 of 2 hired people promoted to CTO and graduated from advisory
• Total cost: 300,000 yen per month × 18 months = 5.4 million yen (less than 1/3 compared to the annual salary of a full-time CTO of about 15 million yen)

4. Customer’s voice

“I was able to accompany you during a time when I was really worried about not having a CTO, and they laid the foundation for the technical organization until the official CTO took over the team 18 months later. Being able to graduate’ is actually the most jealous result.”

Representative Director ◯◯

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