CTO, VP Engineering, Head of Engineering

CTO Coach & Mentor. For the CTO who owes a board answer by Friday and does not have one yet.

Board wants a number. Team wants breathing room. Your VPE is drowning. Two of your directors are interviewing at competitors. And the board deck is due Friday.

A CTO coach is a sparring partner who has sat in the seat: board narratives, org design from 30 to 300 engineers, AI governance, the delivery answer you owe by Friday. Not therapy. Direct steps, pressure-tested before you send them.

You do not need another framework. You need one person to sit across from you every two weeks and pressure-test the actual calls on your desk before you send them.

Book the intro →
9.2/10 from 300 mentees who rated the work.

Situations you are likely in, and how we tackle them

The questions I hear most from CTO, VP Engineering, Head of Engineering

These are the exact asks from mentees in the last 12 months. Bring one to the intro call and we start there.

How mentoring with me works

Free 30-min intro. Two KPIs to move in 3-6 months. Small homework after every session. The full method, step by step:

See how mentoring works →

Frequently asked

I am being offered the product side too. Is CTPO a promotion or a trap?+
Both, depending on which half of the merged role you would starve. I wrote the full breakdown: CTPO: what a Chief Technology and Product Officer does. Short version: it works when you are genuinely two-sided, and fails into one-sided decisions when the title is a bandage over a missing CPO.
What if the real problem is my CEO, not the engineering org?+
Then we work on the CEO relationship. That is where a big chunk of CTO mentoring lands. If the CEO is unfixable, we work on the exit that keeps your reputation intact and your team looked after.
What if I only have 4 to 6 sessions before a board meeting or a raise?+
Then we compress. You bring the specific deliverables (board deck, DD dataroom, retention plan), and each session ends with an artifact ready to send. Some of the highest-impact engagements I run are 4 to 6 sessions.
Will you tell me straight if my strategy is wrong, or dance around it?+
Straight. If your strategy has a hole, I will say so, and I will help you fix it. Mentoring first means direct advice when it matters. Coaching-style questions come later.
What if I need help executing, not just talking?+
Different product. Mentoring is 1:1 sparring. If your org needs hands-on delivery work, we move to fractional CTO or the productivity audit. Same person, different engagement.
What if my board finds out I have a mentor? Is that a signal I am struggling?+
Most boards read it as investment in the craft. Every serious CEO you know has an executive coach. This is the engineering version.
How often do sessions happen?+
Bi-weekly default. Weekly if you are in the first 90 days, mid-crisis, or preparing for a board meeting. Monthly is not enough for a CTO in an active seat.
CTO coach vs CTO mentor: which one is this?+
Both, in that order of trust. Mentoring first: direct advice from someone who has run engineering orgs through a Series C and an acquisition. Coaching-style questions once the context is built. If you want someone who only asks how that makes you feel, that is a different service and I will happily point you to one. The full breakdown of how I run the coaching side: CTO coaching.
What does a CTO coach cost?+
Public pricing: 430 EUR per session, less in a 6-pack. Against a CTO cash comp, one avoided mis-hire at director level or one board meeting that lands pays for years of it. Details on the pricing page.
When does a CTO need a coach?+
The pattern in my intro calls: a board or CEO conversation that stopped going well, an org that outgrew the structure it was built with, or a first-90-days seat where every mistake is public. Group programs and peer circles help with the generic parts. The specific Friday answer needs one person who has written it before.

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Why me

Marian Kamenistak

9.2/10 average across 300+ mentees. 3,000+ mentoring sessions since 2019.

  • Been in the seat. Built Mews into a $2bn+ unicorn: 8 to 80 teams, roadmap still shipping. Led engineering at Manta before that, acquired by IBM.
  • CEE-native, US-fluent. 4+ years in the Bay Area as Principal Software Architect at Databricks.
  • Still highly technical. AI freak. Bullshit me on estimate, effort, code quality or architecture and I'll ask to see the code or your AI skill set.
  • Financially independent. I don't need your money. I'm financially retired. Seeing you grow is my payoff.
  • Direct. Mentoring first. I boost you fast. No esoteric loops.
The full story →

Ready to start?

Free 30-min intro. No pricing conversation on the first call. We figure out if we can move your specific problem forward. That is it.

Book the intro →Or emailmarian@marian.coach

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