{"title":"Design-Build Services","slug":"services","type":"page","excerpt":"Fractional CPO/CTO and design-build engagements covering strategy, UX, code, and deployment, drawing on 30 years of web application experience.","content":"Building web applications since 1996 provides the foundation for my work. I apply 30 years of design and engineering experience from a broad range of work, including enterprise environments to early-stage builds. I will manage the product lifecycle, UX design, cloud architecture, product strategy, and go-to-market execution to deliver applications on startup timelines.\r\n\r\nI typically work with clients as either a fractional CPO/CTO or a design-build partner, covering the process from strategy through deployment. Developing the core idea, validating market fit, and prioritizing features lead directly into my prototyping, writing the codebase, configuring servers, and deploying to the cloud.\r\n\r\n## Engagement Models\r\n\r\nI'm flexible and happy to help you in a variety of ways. These are two common engagement models that work well.\r\n\r\n### Fractional CPO/CTO\r\n\r\nOperating inside the company provides continuity and internal ownership. My responsibilities include participating in strategy, hiring, vendor management, investor engagements, and roadmap decisions, as well as writing code and shipping the product. This model fits founders who need a leader involved in architectural decisions and initial production releases.\r\n\r\nI keep my fees transparent. For example, a quarter-time fractional CPO/CTO commitment secures 40 hours per month for $3,800. \r\n\r\n### Design-Build Technical Partner\r\n\r\nDelivering a defined outcome depends on an upfront agreement regarding scope, timeline, and deliverables. My work covers taking the brief, designing the system, writing the code, deploying the infrastructure, and handing over the product. This model fits founders with product clarity, teams needing supplemental execution, or fixed milestones, such as funding deadlines.\r\n\r\nFor this type of engagement, I can estimate the specific project costs based on your vision and timelines. My estimates are based on a rate of $95 per hour. To stay in line with your expectations and budget, I estimate based on predefined project phases to avoid surprises. If you discover a change is needed, as is common, I'm happy to adjust and adapt on the fly. I do not believe a rigid change control model is necessary, since pivots tend to be collaborative solutions.\r\n\r\n## Capabilities\r\n\r\n- **Product development:** I've been designing and building web applications for 30 years, and can design and develop apps by hand-writing code, but now use AI-native tools to ship applications to production faster and across a wide range of technologies, mainly building AI-native solutions.\r\n\r\n- **Technical due diligence preparation:** Securing venture capital requires passing audits. I prepare you for this phase by structuring data security protocols, auditing the codebase, and providing the infrastructure roadmaps investment committees use to assess risk.\r\n\r\n- **Regulatory compliance:** Operating in healthcare or fintech requires specific constraints. I integrate HIPAA, SOC 2, and PCI boundaries during the initial design phase to prevent technical debt.\r\n\r\n- **Answer engine optimization (AEO) infrastructure:** AI platforms pull information from structured data. I implement machine-readable endpoints and generate structured content for answer engines to cite.\r\n\r\n- **Technical and product leadership:** Shifting work to documentation and standards occurs after the initial release. I write product requirement documents, set internal engineering standards, and establish architectural direction to prepare components for future internal teams.\r\n\r\n- **Design-build project delivery:** Delivering complete builds against a defined brief includes UX, codebase, infrastructure, deployment, and documentation. I provide the working product, source code, and operational materials, allowing your team to maintain and extend the system.\r\n\r\n## Next Steps\r\n\r\nMatching my capabilities to your current requirements is the first phase. Booking a consultation initiates a discussion about your product, architecture, launch goals, and the appropriate engagement model.","publishedAt":"2026-05-09T16:26:10.430Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-09T16:26:10.430Z","author":{"name":"Michael Janzen"},"categories":[{"name":"Consulting","slug":"consulting"}],"tags":[{"name":"fractional-cto","slug":"fractional-cto"},{"name":"technical-due-diligence","slug":"technical-due-diligence"},{"name":"product-strategy","slug":"product-strategy"},{"name":"ai-content","slug":"ai-content"},{"name":"fractional-cpo","slug":"fractional-cpo"}],"featuredImageUrl":"https://xqbrqyp8c9smsddf.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/uploads/1776716238390-the-tower-bridge.jpg","aeo":{"summary":"This page outlines design-build and fractional CPO/CTO services offered by a developer with 30 years of web application experience, covering product strategy, UX design, cloud architecture, and deployment. Two engagement models are detailed: a fractional CPO/CTO arrangement at $3,800 for 40 hours per month, and a design-build technical partner model billed at $95 per hour with project-phase estimates. The services target founders, early-stage startups, and teams needing execution support, including capabilities like technical due diligence prep, HIPAA/SOC 2/PCI compliance, and AEO infrastructure.","questions":[{"q":"What is a fractional CPO/CTO?","a":"A fractional CPO/CTO is a part-time technical or product leader who operates inside the company, participating in strategy, hiring, vendor management, investor engagements, roadmap decisions, and shipping the product, typically suited for founders who need leadership involvement in architectural decisions and initial production releases."},{"q":"How much does a fractional CTO cost?","a":"A quarter-time fractional CPO/CTO engagement in this offering costs $3,800 per month for 40 hours of committed work."},{"q":"What is a design-build technical partner engagement?","a":"A design-build technical partner engagement delivers a defined outcome based on an upfront agreement covering scope, timeline, and deliverables, including taking the brief, designing the system, writing code, deploying infrastructure, and handing over the product, billed at $95 per hour using predefined project phases."},{"q":"What is answer engine optimization (AEO) infrastructure?","a":"AEO infrastructure refers to machine-readable endpoints and structured content implemented on a website so that AI answer platforms can pull and cite information from it accurately."},{"q":"How do you prepare a startup for technical due diligence?","a":"Preparation for technical due diligence includes structuring data security protocols, auditing the codebase, and providing infrastructure roadmaps that investment committees use to assess risk before securing venture capital."},{"q":"How are regulatory compliance requirements like HIPAA and SOC 2 handled in early-stage builds?","a":"HIPAA, SOC 2, and PCI boundaries are integrated during the initial design phase of the application to prevent technical debt from retrofitting compliance later."}],"entities":[{"type":"SoftwareApplication","name":"HIPAA compliance","description":"U.S. regulatory framework for protecting health information, integrated into application design for healthcare clients.","sameAs":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Insurance_Portability_and_Accountability_Act"},{"type":"CreativeWork","name":"SOC 2","description":"Auditing standard for service organizations covering security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.","sameAs":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_and_Organization_Controls"},{"type":"CreativeWork","name":"PCI DSS","description":"Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, applied as a design constraint for fintech applications.","sameAs":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_Card_Industry_Data_Security_Standard"},{"type":"CreativeWork","name":"Answer Engine Optimization","description":"Practice of structuring data and content so AI answer engines can cite it."}],"keywords":["fractional CPO/CTO","design-build technical partner","product lifecycle management","technical due diligence","HIPAA SOC 2 PCI compliance","answer engine optimization","AI-native development","cloud architecture","UX design","go-to-market execution"]},"site":{"name":"Janzen Works","url":"https://janzenworks.com/"},"_links":{"canonical":"https://janzenworks.com//post/services","markdown":"https://janzenworks.com//post/services/llm.txt","json":"https://janzenworks.com//post/services/data.json"}}