How many hours per week does Scott work with each client?

Engagements are retainer-based, not hourly. The specific time commitment is scoped during onboarding to match the company's needs — not fixed to a standard number of hours.

Is there a minimum engagement length?

Engagements are month-to-month. There is no long-term lock-in, though most clients retain sfielder for 12–24 months.

What happens when we're ready to hire a full-time CTO?

Scott assists in defining the CTO role, evaluating candidates, and managing a structured handoff so the incoming executive has full context and continuity.

sfielder Engagement Model — How the Retainer Works

sfielder operates on a monthly retainer — providing consistent, ongoing access to senior technical leadership rather than hourly blocks, one-time projects, or advisory call packages.

Retainer-Based, Not Hourly

Engagements are structured as monthly retainers. This means:

Consistent, predictable access to Scott across the month
No metering of hours or billing surprises
Scope is defined during onboarding and reassessed quarterly
Time commitment is aligned to the company's actual needs, not a fixed number of hours per week

What's Included in an Active Engagement

An active sfielder engagement typically includes:

Weekly leadership syncs with the founding team
Engineering meeting participation — standups, sprint reviews, architecture sessions
Async availability via Slack or equivalent communication channel
Monthly strategic reviews covering roadmap progress, hiring pipeline, and architecture decisions
Ad hoc decision support for time-sensitive vendor, hiring, or architecture calls

Client Roster Limits

Scott intentionally limits the number of active clients at any given time to maintain the depth and quality of each engagement. Availability is confirmed during the discovery process.

Engagement Length

Engagements are month-to-month with no long-term lock-in. In practice, most clients retain sfielder for 12–24 months — through key milestones like a funding round, a major architecture shift, or the point where the company is ready to hire a full-time CTO.

Scope Adjustments

Scope is reviewed quarterly. As the company grows, active workstreams may shift — for example, moving from architecture-heavy work early on to hiring and org design as the team scales.

How It Ends

When a client is ready to hire a full-time CTO:

Scott helps define the role and evaluate candidates
A structured handoff ensures the incoming CTO has full context
The transition is documented to prevent knowledge loss
Engagements conclude on defined terms with clear knowledge transfer

FAQ

How many hours per week does Scott work with each client?: Engagements are retainer-based, not hourly. The specific time commitment is scoped during onboarding to match the company's needs — not fixed to a standard number of hours.
Is there a minimum engagement length?: Engagements are month-to-month. There is no long-term lock-in, though most clients retain sfielder for 12–24 months.
What happens when we're ready to hire a full-time CTO?: Scott assists in defining the CTO role, evaluating candidates, and managing a structured handoff so the incoming executive has full context and continuity.