The build-vs-buy math just flipped
We needed sales software. Call a client, bridge the call to a rep, record it, transcribe it, feed it into our AI ops and SOPs. Nothing exot…
John Rake
Fractional CTO
Notes & Quick Takes
Short thoughts and quick takes for business owners. Copy, post, swap between here and LinkedIn.
You Never Really Know If It's Working
Ten years in, the thing nobody warned me about is still the hardest part. Every step forward feels identical to the step before failure. Th…
John Rake
Fractional CTO
The AI that couldn't tell me what day it was
I use AI for almost everything I do day to day. Internal process, client billing, dashboard management, even drafting and publishing this n…
John Rake
Fractional CTO
My own automation blind spot
I missed a weekly client report a couple months ago. Not because I don't care — because the task depended on me remembering a Friday click.…
John Rake
Fractional CTO
When one person carries the close rate
If your top performer is dramatically better than everyone else, assume the process is still in their head. We mapped objections and pivot…
John Rake
Fractional CTO
No invoice doesn't mean no cost
Manual work hides because it's spread across the week. Copy-paste between tools, chasing intake over email, rebuilding onboarding from scra…
John Rake
Fractional CTO
You're handing off judgment, not steps
When a handoff fails, the SOP wasn't the problem. The person never learned what "done" looks like or when to escalate. Three things fix mos…
John Rake
Fractional CTO
"Delegate more" is useless advice
Passing tasks without passing criteria just trains your team to wait. I use a 90-10 rule with clients: if I'd say yes 90% of the time, they…
John Rake
Fractional CTO
The spreadsheet isn't the villain
I see owners beat themselves up for running on spreadsheets. Don't. They're a great tool until they're not. The mistake is skipping the mid…
John Rake
Fractional CTO
Sometimes wait is the right move
I had to tell a successful owner to hold off on custom software. She had real pain, but the math was ugly — rebuilding 80% to get the last…
John Rake
Fractional CTO
Build beats roadmap
Most technical help stops at the plan. A deck, a recommendation, a list of tools — then you're on your own. The owners I work with don't ne…
John Rake
Fractional CTO
You're losing $40K+ a year.
Reclaim 300+ hours for revenue.
Five-minute quiz for businesses doing $250K to $500K. See what you're losing, what you could save, and reclaim hours for revenue.
See what you're losing. Most businesses land around $40K to $50K a year in one bottleneck.
Reclaim 300+ hours lost to rework, follow-up, and stuff slipping through. The quiz totals yours.
Your biggest bottleneck named, with a plain read on what fixing it actually looks like.
Sample output
Your #1 bottleneck is Sales & Pipeline
Scale Readiness Score
58/100
Example from a typical $35K/mo service business.
About five minutes. Results right away. No email required.