I'm Lucas. I help engineering managers and founders ship pragmatic systems on platforms that weren't designed for them. My homelab, my consulting, and the things I build on weekends are all the same workshop.
I've spent a decade in the rooms where the platform doesn't quite fit the problem. Low-code iPaaS getting pushed into modern CI/CD, vendor-locked ERPs needing real APIs, deploy pipelines bolted onto systems that fought every step. The work I'm best at is finding the thirty-degree angle that makes the system bend without breaking, and then leaving you with documentation a junior can follow.
How I Help
Most engagements are one of three shapes. If yours sounds like one of these, we should talk.
Pipeline rescue
Your deploys take hours. Releases are events, not Tuesdays. CI/CD wasn't designed for the platform you're on, and the vendor said it can't be done. I've shipped CI on a low-code iPaaS, on a fintech monolith, and on a smart-home ERP with no API. I will probably ship it on yours.
Backlog clear-out
You have three months of orders, support tickets, or onboardings stuck behind a missing piece of software. The team can't get to it because they're keeping the lights on. I parachute in, ship the missing piece, and leave you with the playbook for the next time.
Architecture reality check
Someone is pushing for Kubernetes, microservices, or a rewrite. Someone else is pushing back. You want a second opinion from a person who has actually run both at scale and at zero. I write you a memo, defend it in front of your team, and you decide.
Fractional CTO vs Consulting Engineer
What's the difference between a fractional CTO and a consulting engineer? A fractional CTO is hired part-time as the engineering leader of a company that doesn't have one. They own strategy, hiring, and the technical roadmap. A consulting engineer is hired for a specific outcome. A fixed pipeline, a shipped feature, a debugged system. Usually on a four to twelve week engagement. You hire a fractional CTO when you need a leader. You hire a consulting engineer when you need a system shipped. They are different jobs.
I'm a consulting engineer. The table below is how I tell prospects apart.
| Fractional CTO | Consulting Engineer | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary output | Strategy + hiring + roadmap | Working code + fixed pipelines + fixed systems |
| Time horizon | 6–18 months ongoing | 4–12 weeks per engagement, repeatable |
| Org size fit | No engineering leadership in place | Eng leadership exists, lacks senior IC bandwidth |
| Calendar split | 60% meetings, 40% review | 20% meetings, 80% shipping |
| Best for | Pre-seed to early Series A founders | EMs and founders with a specific blocker |
| My fit | Sometimes, with the right scope | Default. This is what I do. |
Good Fit vs Bad Fit
My time is finite and most engagements I take are recommended by an engineering manager I worked with at a previous company. Reading the table below honestly will save us both a discovery call.
| Good fit | Bad fit |
|---|---|
| A platform you can't replace is slowing your team down | You want a junior dev to clone your idea cheaply |
| Your deploys take hours and your team is morale-leaking | You need someone to manage a team of ten |
| You inherited an iPaaS, ERP, or low-code stack with no CI/CD | You want a full-time CTO with equity, not contract |
| Your AWS bill is becoming a board-meeting topic | You need staff augmentation by the seat |
| You're between "this works" and "this scales" and not sure which to build for | You're looking for an offshore team manager |
Receipts
I write about the work, not just to write. The posts below are the body of evidence behind everything above.
- CI/CD in a low-code platform: what pipeline rescue actually looks like.
- From 4-hour deploy hell to 20-minute victory laps: the playbook from the worst pipeline I ever inherited.
- Fulfilling a 3-month backlog at a smart-home startup: backlog clear-out, with numbers.
- When not to use Kubernetes: the EM scorecard: architecture reality check, in worksheet form.
- Tenant portal: building what vendors won't: what happens when you decide the vendor is the bottleneck.
The Homelab as Proof Rig
I self-host basically everything. Docker with Traefik as the reverse proxy, Terraform for infra-as-code, Grafana + Prometheus + Loki for observability, Home Assistant running the house. Airgapper handles immutable backups with Shamir's Secret Sharing. Encryption keys are split across machines so no single device can decrypt my data alone.
Most consultants tell you what they would do. I run a small version of it every day, on my own time, with my own money. That's the difference.