A tiny consulting and software business based in Cologne, Germany.
For the time being, I, Felix Dahlke, am the main product; sharing my experience and skills through consulting services. Over time, I aim to use this income to bootstrap a software business based on one of my side projects.
Consulting
All consulting services are provided by me personally, from fractional CTO work to full time interim leadership roles. Drop me a line if interested - I offer a free consultation.
Background
Since I took my first job as a programmer in 2005, I've been building software professionally. In 2012, I took on my first real leadership position, which culminated in me becoming CTO and managing director in 2015. After growing the company from seven to more than 230 employees and 55 MM EUR annual revenue, I joined another startup as CTO in 2020, which I ran and grew for two years. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure funding in the economic situation of 2022 and had to shut down. In January 2023, I started my own business - this one.
Given my experience in CTO roles, technical leadership is probably my main selling point. Remote organisations and teams, full or hybrid, are where I'm most experienced, having run such places since 2012, long before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Technologically, I've always been a generalist, happy to work with pretty much any code base or tech stack, legacy or modern, from web and mobile to systems programming and infrastructure. I've done significant work in JavaScript and TypeScript (from vanilla web tech to React et al.), C and C++, Java, Kotlin, Clojure, Python, Ruby, Common Lisp, C#, Swift and Rust. Even in leadership positions, I always work directly with development teams to kick off new products, get problems under control, automate what is economical to automate, and to generally ensure good practices and quality in the technical organisation. Solving problems with code motivates me so much that I use it to trick myself into getting otherwise dull work done, from writing my documents, contracts and invoices in LaTeX, to building myself a highly automated accounting system specific to my needs in Common Lisp. In my spare time, I mostly enjoy dabbling in game development and robotics.
When asked if I focus on leadership or technology, my answer is usually that I refuse to chose just one. I enjoy both, and good leadership can come from deeply understanding both the work and the workers.
Specialties
Given my background and passion, I can support you best at the intersection of technology and leadership - or people and machines.
I've built and launched new products, scaled up existing products to hundreds of millions of users, developed successful company strategies, created teams and scaled them up into entire business units or separate businesses, managed acquisitions, hired hundreds of software developers, product professionals and managers, trained entry-level and junior developers, coached dozens of people in leadership roles, managed reorganisations, change processes and layoffs.
My general approach is to work directly with the people (usually writing code) to build a deep understanding of the technology, domain and organisation quickly, then look for the smallest changes with the highest impact I can make.
Services
I can support you in a wide variety of ways - from software development to fractional CTO work all the way to full time interim CTO - depending on your needs and preferences. Here are some of the ways in which I can imagine to work with you:
Building software
If you're lacking a technical co-founder, or want to experiment with an idea without hiring additional full time employees, I'm happy to help you define your prototype or MVP, and build it personally. Once you want to scale it up, I can also help you hire and manage full time staff for it.
Interim tech lead
For a few months, I take on a leadership role in your organisation, full time or part time. I will immediately fill the vacuum, and then help you find and train a replacement. I'm happy to do this on any level, from running a small team to interim CTO.
Right hand as a service
I act as the right hand person for someone holding a leadership role in your organisation: I'll stabilise the situation by taking work off their desk immediately, and work with them to ensure they can fill their role well and spend their energy where it has the most impact going forward.
Individual coaching
I'll support one or more people in your organisation with regular coaching sessions; helping them perform well in their current role, or grow into a new one.
Overseeing outsourcing companies
If you're working with an outsourcing company, I can keep them honest for you: Verifying their output and skill matches your agreements, and ensuring they understand and work towards your goals and requirements.
Technology and organisation assessment
If you want to understand where you stand with your software, team, and processes, I'm happy to take a deep dive and do some due diligence. I will then share my assessment of the situation, suggest what to improve and what to maintain, help set your strategy, goals and roadmap, and answer any questions you may have.
Free consultation
I offer one free consultation to every potential new client. So if you want some quick advise without any costs or paperwork involved: Write to me, and I'm happy to jump on a call or exchange some emails at no charge.
Imprint
Felix Dahlke Tech
Im Mediapark 5
50670 Köln
Germany