Vetted Chief Technology Officers

Uriel Kluk

Screened ReferencesStrong rec.

Executive CTO specializing in AI, data platforms, and distributed systems

Chicago, IL20y exp

“Former CTO of Mesh Systems for 20 years, now going all-in on building a physical AI product company. He is simultaneously designing four products across eldercare, smart home monitoring, retail theft prevention, and AI-powered building access, with active industry partnerships (Advantech, Compulab) and a potential LATAM pharmacy pilot.”

Brandon Pav

Screened ReferencesStrong rec.

Executive CTO specializing in cloud architecture, DevSecOps, and scalable SaaS platforms

Indianapolis, IN13y exp

“Founder of Pavtek Consulting LLC who acts as a hands-on technology leader for startups, building MVPs and full-stack AI products, custom ERPs, integrations, and AI agent chat tools. Notably led a major turnaround at Dyknow (EdTech), cutting major cloud waste and moving the business from a $500k annual loss to double profitability within two years before a successful acquisition.”

Timothy Flechtner

Screened ReferencesStrong rec.

Executive Technology & Product Leader specializing in games, platforms, and real-time systems

23y exp

“Engineering leader with gaming and fintech/trading-firm experience who built a sponsor-funded gaming rewards platform (AmEx-style) requiring integrations across Steam/Epic/Xbox/PlayStation and Discord. Emphasizes production-grade, 12-factor delivery with Terraform/Docker/CI/CD and automated testing, plus pragmatic org scaling and remote-team culture built on aligned autonomy and trust.”

“Bootstrapped founder/fractional-CTO type building a community-first tooling platform and niche product lab, emphasizing trust and "family" culture. Operates extremely lean by self-hosting open-source LLM tooling locally and leverages a network of senior generalists willing to trade short-term compensation for learning and equity. Has worked across real estate tech, logistics, and hospitality POS and is applying a multi-modal "brain trails" concept to product opportunities.”

“Exited Founder-CEO with deep-tech experience who raised capital and built a venture around making end-to-end encryption with cloud-level performance and data sovereignty feasible. Demonstrated first-principles technical rigor (network/TCP analysis) to prove scientific feasibility, then progressed from proof of concept to prototype and eventual exit, with a strong bias toward ultra-lean, customer-paid MVPs.”

Paul Tran

Screened

Executive Technology Leader specializing in SaaS, federal consulting, and digital transformation

Tysons Corner, VA31y exp

“Former CEO of GravyWork with hands-on experience building an org-wide strategic plan and modernization roadmap for a growing company. Uses Michael Gerber’s innovation/orchestration/quantification framework and structured as-is/gap/to-be analysis to drive cost reduction, automation/outsourcing decisions, and leadership alignment through change.”

Shady Alzayat

Screened

Executive full-stack engineering leader specializing in AI, cloud, and digital platforms

San Francisco, CA23y exp

“Serial entrepreneur building appetier.com, an agentic restaurant marketing and ecommerce automation platform for restaurants. Previously raised for Atlas Mental Health and brings thoughtful fundraising perspective centered on investor alignment, GTM partnership, and vertical SaaS/SMB infrastructure expertise.”

“Entrepreneur/fintech product builder who raised a $100K pre-seed from ex-Google/Microsoft execs and built a real-time, direct-to-vendor bill pay micropayments platform. Previously helped scale Norton LifeLock to 1M users (2003) and also created Karma LA, a fraud-resistant, verified donation system (including VA veteran verification) aimed at improving trust and conversion in giving.”

“Industrial design + mechanical engineering product developer with 15 years in venture-backed startups and venture studios, including CTO-level leadership and a recent equity exit. Now building a sustainability/recycling technology venture with a prototype and patent counsel engaged, currently in the City of Austin Circular Economy Accelerator and aiming to secure a municipal waste-management pilot partner at an upcoming pitch event.”

Larry Tuck

Screened

Executive Technology Leader (CTO/VP) specializing in Healthcare IT, Security & Enterprise Integrations

Palmer, AK19y exp

“Candidate indicated they have an existing startup but have not raised capital. They expressed strong concerns about AI-enabled social engineering and ended the screening due to perceived irrelevance of the startup-focused questions to the job.”

Mo Arab

Screened

Executive Technology Leader specializing in Cloud, Managed Services & AI/LLM integration

Los Angeles, CA25y exp

“Engineering/technology leader with experience at Evocative and through a merger with Hivelocity, aligning tech roadmaps to managed services growth. Led multi-region self-hosted cloud and automation initiatives that cut delivery time from days to hours/minutes and informed cost-saving infrastructure decisions (reported $500K OPEX savings). Known for scaling teams with pod ownership, agile/intake governance, and disciplined rollout practices that protect uptime and security.”

“Seasoned startup operator with 20 years of experience working with startups and small businesses, especially in early-stage environments. Familiar with the VC/accelerator ecosystem and has participated in board meetings with investors, bringing an execution-focused, problem-solving mindset to entrepreneurial opportunities.”

“Startup and early-internet product leader with repeated experience building in new companies and executing pivots. Helped transform a web-based calendar business into a CMS + RBAC platform that became best-in-breed for US K-12 organizations within about three years, emphasizing ROI-driven prototyping and market validation to conserve resources.”

“Has worked at a startup within an incubator program and is a certified mentor with a startup mentorship non-profit focused on early-stage/pre-funded companies. Not currently seeking to found a company or take equity-only roles, but open to working at very early-stage companies (pre-launch/pre-revenue/pre-funded).”

Serge Ahranovich

Screened

Executive CTO / Platform Architect specializing in IoT, telematics, and EV charging infrastructure

Los Angeles, CA20y exp

“Founder of TimeTick (timetick.io), an AI-powered diagnostics platform for IoT combining device simulation, automated testing, and real-time monitoring—initially focused on EV charger diagnostics. Former VP of Engineering with a track record of building IoT systems from scratch and applying AI to detect protocol-failure patterns that drive downtime; currently supporting existing customers and converting pilots (with leads like Siemens and ABB) into paid subscriptions.”