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Fractional CTO Services:
Advising, Application Development, and Maintenance

Forensis Group
Circinaut has seen us through a complete technology and design overhaul of our web presence, including some very challenging times in the process. I sleep better at night knowing Rian's on our team.
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Hi. I'm Rian Schmidt.

My expertise is backed by years of leadership roles at large and small companies, an MBA from Stanford, an engineering degree from the University of Minnesota, and a CISSP certification.
Portland, Oregon is where I call home. It's just me, my family, two dogs, a bunch of chickens, and a jar of kombucha. Classic Portland.

My Latest Blog Article:

Catching Up: Kubernetes and Pneumonia

Circinaut's Unique Value Proposition

Rather than spending months trying to hire a full-time CTO that you may not need, rolling the dice with a faceless shop that'll hand you off to junior staff, or cobbling together a rag-tag crew of cheap freelancers from Fiverr, you can hire me to provide you with high-end, immediate, flexible technical expertise. I have decades of experience, a Stanford MBA, and a CISSP certification.
I keep my rates reasonable by working directly with my clients, without the overhead of a large consulting firm that provides little additional value but costs plenty-- often twice as much.
That means you get back to working on your business sooner with less risk, and add a serious, proven technology partner to your team.
Circinaut is a Fractional CTO Services provider that allows you to focus on your business while leaving the technology stack to me. I'm based in Portland, Oregon, but I work with clients all across the country.

Fractional CTO Rates

I strive to keep my rates easy-to-understand and transparent. While each engagement requires some negotiation around features and services, in general all of my pricing is based on a simple hourly rate.

I charge my full rate for smaller engagements or ongoing on-demand requests. I charge a discounted rate for larger projects or longer-term agreements. Retainers only require a 30-day notice for cancellation after an initial three-month commitment.

Please note that hourly work is on an as-available basis. I prioritize retainer clients over project work. I prioritize project work over hourly work. I prioritize hourly work over my personal projects. I prioritize personal projects over sleep. I really need to stop that. Sleep's important.

Hourly Rate

$250/hour
My basic hourly rate is $250/hour, irrespective of what I'm doing-- whether that's coding, advising, or researching architectural choices. While not the cheapest option, an hourly arrangement gives total flexibility until you understand what your ongoing needs will be.

Advisor Retainer

$1000/month
A basic guaranteed access plan to use me as your on-tap technology adviser. Most commonly, I review proposals, sit in on calls, act as a checkpoint for vendor relations, and just generally keep everyone informed and honest. I provide up to five hours per month with the option to go over that without charge, based on my discretion and availability.

Fractional CTO Retainer

$4000/month
The Fractional CTO plan is for companies that need more detailed, ongoing advising and maybe some hands-on help working with their developers or actually building a prototype product. This retainer covers up to 20 hours of time per month (or more if time allows as with the Advisor level).

Projects

Fixed Price
Of course, every situation is different, but for projects, we can work together to establish a fixed price, which won't be exceeded without your explicit approval. Often, my ongoing clients will choose a retainer agreement for their day-to-day needs and then project agreements when specific deliverables are identified. We can custom craft a retainer of the right size-- the amounts quoted give an idea of how I price them.

Fractional CTO / Advisng

Whether it's getting a start on how you might turn your idea into reality or acting as a check on your ongoing development process, I provide hourly or retainer-based technical consulting services-- serving on advisory boards, providing technical due diligence, and helping small companies navigate the technical landscape.
My relationships with my clients are typically long-term and based on trust and clear communication.

Sample Engagements

Contract CTO for an immigration law firm to completely redesign a travel assessment application from its unmanageable prototype to a modern, API-driven web and mobile application, work with clients, and manage staff.
Retained relationship with a legal industry marketing team to monitor results, enhance applications, and act as the technology checkpoint for 3rd party relationships.
Advisor to multiple start-ups on assessing technology options and vetting technical resources.

Application Development

Data-driven, cloud-native web application development. Machine learning and artificial intelligence. Today, there are an overwhelming number of options, platforms, and frameworks. I will help you navigate the options and architect and build a custom solution that fits your specific business needs. I can then help you deploy and maintain it, or hand it off to your team.

Sample Engagements

Develop a corporate Slack chatbot to utilize Generative AI to efficiently provide information to employees, saving hours of accumlated time answering questions and performing common tasks.
Creation (and hosting and maintenance) of a custom, AI-driven gardening plan generator for a fine gardening consultant. The system uses a custom AI model to generate a gardening plan based on a client's preferences and the consultant's expertise.

Application Maintenance

An often-underestimated challenge is maintaining and enhancing your applications. Regular maintenance and updates are critical to keeping your applications secure and running smoothly. I can help you understand your current technology stack, and then work with you to develop a plan to keep it operating at peak security and effectiveness-- through the use of cloud and containerization technologies like Docker and Kubernetes.

Sample Engagements

Long-term application management for a financial services marketing team to design, host, and manage a dynamic, CMS-based questionnaire for their clients to aid in assessing and improving their business practices. The system calculates industry benchmarks and scores while allowing for the client to adjust questions and weightings over time.
Development, hosting, and management of a large, complex, SEO-optimized Next.js Web site and the component CMS and database components.
 
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Circinaut is generally proudly based in Portland, Oregon. Sometimes, this place, though. I can't even.