A publication for founder-CTOs

Articles.

Long-form notes on technical decisions, runway, the D4S framework, and what it takes to operate as a founder-CTO. The kind of thing I wish someone had handed me when I was the DevOps lead in the room, translating engineering trade-offs into board-room arguments.

May 15, 2026 ·Pillar article 5 min read

The CTO Decision Framework That Starts From the Possibility You Don't Survive

D4S is a decision framework for founder-CTOs at Seed–Series A. Four filters — Differentiation, Dollars, Delight, Defense — and a Skip default.

cto decision frameworkd4sengineering prioritizationstartup runway

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The CTO Decision Framework That Starts From the Possibility You Don't Survive