The core engagement is a time-boxed vCTO residency: embedded senior technical leadership for companies that need CTO-level decision quality now, without adding a full-time executive before the role is clearly defined.
Residency engagements are built to reduce execution risk, increase delivery velocity, and leave your organization with stronger architecture habits after the engagement ends. For teams not yet at residency scale, three entry-point engagements are available — each scoped to a specific problem, with a fixed deliverable and no retainer required.
A vCTO residency from Ignition Sequence is not fractional time sold by the hour. It is a defined engagement with a defined outcome — one designed to move something from uncertain to decided and from blocked to unblocked. The technical leadership embedded in your organization is backed by the same experience that produced four issued USPTO patents, an $837 million edge cloud platform, and architecture accountability across IBM, AT&T, Lumen, and the US Navy.
The vCTO residency model works best for companies at a genuine inflection point: a platform decision that will shape the next three years, an architecture review before a major investment, or a delivery challenge where the problem is technical leadership, not engineering capacity. Additionally, the entry-point engagements — Pattern Review, Architecture Sprint, and Technical Due Diligence — are available for companies with a specific, bounded problem and a shorter timeline. These are fixed-scope, fixed-deliverable engagements with no path-to-retainer pressure.
The foundation of this practice is original invention. The patent portfolio represents solved engineering problems in composable infrastructure, AI inference delivery, and network orchestration — not theoretical work, but production systems that served Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. All issued patents are searchable on Google Patents. For context on the principal’s background, see the Frank Moss principal page.
If you are ready to discuss an engagement, start a conversation.
An active technical partner for founders and engineering leads during high-consequence roadmap periods.
Turn strategy into shippable plans with clear sequencing, ownership, and technical risk management.
Strengthen the internal technical leadership system so the company scales beyond any one advisor.
Assess product direction, architecture risk, and team constraints in weeks 1-2.
Set technical priorities, decision criteria, and near-term execution focus.
Work alongside leadership and engineers to unblock delivery and raise quality.
Hand off systems, hiring plan, and operating cadence for sustained momentum.
A fixed-scope review of your architecture or AI readiness. One engagement, one deliverable, no retainer pressure. For teams with a specific problem that needs an outside read before committing to a direction.
For teams facing a decision with a hard timeline. Defined start, defined end, concrete output. The right format when speed and precision matter more than ongoing coverage.
For investors and acquirers that need an independent technical read before a close. Evaluates architecture soundness, IP defensibility, and engineering team credibility — from someone who has built at the scale being evaluated.
Residency for teams in a sustained inflection point. Pattern Review or Architecture Sprint for teams with a specific problem and a shorter runway.