CTO Software for SaaS MVPs — Built by a Solo Dev in North County San Diego
I'm PJ, in Encinitas. If you're a CTO trying to get a SaaS MVP out the door without burning six months and $200K on a dev shop, I build custom software one text at a time.
Quick Answer for SaaS CTOs:
- I ship MVPs in weeks, not quarters — solo, no account managers
- You own the code, the stack, and the architecture decisions
- Flat pricing or hourly, no retainers, no SOW theater
- Based in Encinitas / Solana Beach — text me, we talk like engineers
Questions CTOs actually ask me
How fast can you ship a working MVP?
Depends on scope, but typical SaaS MVP with auth, billing, and a core workflow: 4–8 weeks. I don't pad estimates.
What stack do you use?
Whatever fits the problem. Usually Node/Postgres/React or Python/FastAPI. I won't force a stack to justify billable hours.
Can you work with my existing team?
Yes. I slot in as a senior IC, ship features, and hand off clean code with docs. No ego, no territory.
Do you do equity deals?
Rarely. Cash is cleaner for both of us early on. I'll consider hybrid if the thesis is strong.
What about AWS, infra, CI/CD?
Included. I set up the pipeline, infra as code, monitoring, and write the runbook so your team owns it after.
Why solo instead of an agency?
No handoffs, no PMs translating, no junior devs learning on your dime. You talk to the person writing the code.
Useful advice, no pitch
Kill scope before you build
Your MVP has 3 features, not 12. Write down what a user can't do — that list is longer and more important.
Buy auth, don't build it
Clerk, Auth0, Supabase. Pick one. Auth is a swamp and every hour there is an hour not shipping value.
Stripe first, billing logic later
Checkout + webhook → DB flag. That's v1. Metered billing, proration, taxes — all of it can wait.
Deploy on day one
If it's not in prod by week one, you're building in a dream. Fly.io, Render, Vercel — pick one and commit.
Observability over tests
At MVP stage, Sentry + structured logs beats 80% coverage. You need to see what users break, not what you imagined.
Write the README now
If the next dev can't run it locally in 10 minutes, the codebase is already decaying. Do it before you forget.
PJ, SideGuy Solutions
20+ years shipping code. Based in Encinitas, serving North County San Diego and remote SaaS teams anywhere. I keep things small on purpose — you get me, not a team of suits.
Connect on LinkedIn →Got a SaaS MVP you need shipped?
Text me the stack, the scope, or just "hey" — I'll tell you in one text if I can help.
📱 Text 858-461-8054