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Carlos Blanco
Available for new engagements

Hello, I'm Carlos!

Fractional CTO. 15+ years building software, the last few helping founders turn ideas into products that work.

I've gone from developer to staff engineer to fractional CTO, and spent time as a product owner in between. I'll tell you honestly what you need, even if it's less than you think.

How I Can Help

I work alongside you to build sustainable, evolutionary solutions that align with your vision, whether you're validating an idea, building your first MVP, or scaling an established product.
Work with me in 🇬🇧 English or 🇪🇸 Spanish.

Fractional CTO

Strategic technical leadership without the full-time commitment

  • Technical strategy & vision
  • Team building & hiring
  • Cost optimization

Technical Co-founder

Hands-on partnership from idea to product-market fit

  • Find product-market fit
  • MVP delivery & iteration
  • Build on early momentum

Technical Assessment

Fixed-scope assessment to guide your technical strategy

  • Technical debt & architecture audit
  • Performance & security baseline
  • Technical Due Diligence

Not sure which fits? Let's figure it out.

Work With Me Across Borders & Time Zones

Native 🇬🇧 English and 🇪🇸 Spanish speaker with roots in both North American and European startup ecosystems. Flexible across time zones, fluent in cross-cultural team dynamics.

Flexible across time zones Native English & Spanish Cross-cultural team building
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What I Actually Do

Whether you're building from scratch or scaling what you have, here's how I can help.

I build it

MVPs in weeks, not months. AI features that work in production, not just demos. Full-stack development across web, backend, and infrastructure, whatever needs shipping.

Next.js, Astro, Node.js, Python, AWS, GCP, Cloudflare, Postgres, Mongo, Firebase

I fix it

I've cut cloud costs by 25%, reduced deployment cycles from three weeks to one, and turned five-day processes into two. If something is costing you time or money unnecessarily, I'll find it.

CI/CD, infrastructure as code, cost audits, performance optimization

I lead it

Technical strategy, architecture decisions, team building, and investor support. I've led teams across time zones and worked with founders through Google for Startups and Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab.

Fractional CTO, technical due diligence, roadmap planning, hiring

I explain it

I've spent years translating technical decisions for product managers, investors, and non-technical founders. Every decision I make, I can explain in plain language. No jargon, no hand-waving.

Stakeholder communication, technical writing, cross-functional leadership

Investment

I work with teams at different stages. Here's what that looks like:

Technical Assessment

· Fixed scope, one-time

A deep dive into your architecture, costs, and technical roadmap. You walk away with a clear plan for the next 6-12 months, no ongoing commitment required.

Hands-on Development

· Flexible, billed in agreed blocks

I build alongside you or your team. MVPs, features, AI integration, whatever needs shipping.

Fractional CTO

· Monthly retainer, typically 3-6 months

Ongoing strategic and hands-on leadership. Architecture decisions, team building, cost reviews, investor support. Like having a CTO without the full-time salary.

Technical Co-founder

· Let's talk

For the right project, I go deeper. Equity conversations handled thoughtfully with clear milestones and standard vesting.

Not sure where you fit? That's normal, most people aren't. Book a call and we'll figure it out.

Recent Clients I've Worked With

Trusted by startups across different domains from Edtech, Fintech and sustainability sectors

CIRQUEL Linguosphere HYPD.ai ED4S VokalWorks The Venned Group

My Story

I started my career inside one of the world's largest credit bureaus, reverse-engineering legacy systems and working my way through DevOps, product management, and leading teams across different time zones. I didn't follow a typical developer trajectory. This was intentional. I wanted to understand how software really works: not just the code, but the people, the decisions, the tradeoffs.

By the time I left, I was building systems that processed millions of transactions daily for major financial institutions. The kind that can't go down. That taught me something no course can: when it matters, clarity beats cleverness every time.

After 14 years, I left and joined a startup as staff engineer, worked alongside founders through Google for Startups and Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab, and found what I'd been building toward: helping people turn ideas into real things.

I've since worked with startups through accelerator programs including Centech, Logistics 4.0 Barcelona, and Sherpa Tribe. I've helped founders land their first investor, ship their first product, and make better technical decisions at every stage.

Today I work as a fractional CTO with early-stage founders. I build MVPs, design architectures, integrate AI where it actually helps, and translate between the technical and the human. I'm hands-on. I build alongside you, not just advise. I've done this across Canada, Spain, Germany, and the UK, in English and Spanish.

Let's talk. 45 minutes. You tell me what you're building, I'll tell you how I can help. Either way, you'll walk away with clarity.

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