Our client, an innovative cryptocurrency staking platform, faced critical challenges in bringing their product to market quickly while maintaining high-quality standards. As an early-stage startup, they needed to balance rapid development with resource constraints to secure their next round of funding.

Key objectives were to:

• Quickly build a robust infrastructure and architecture for the staking platform
• Accelerate the go-to-market timeline to gain early market traction
• Manage development efficiently with limited resources
• Ensure seamless collaboration between offshore engineers and onshore stakeholders
• Establish a strong technical foundation to attract investor interest

To address these challenges, the client required a strategic partner who could provide both skilled engineering talent and high-level technical leadership.

We partnered with the client to design and implement a solution that would fast-track their go-to-market strategy while building a solid technical foundation. Our approach involved three key components:

1. Building the Team:

A lean but highly skilled team was assembled to meet the client's specific needs:

• Fractional CTO: An experienced blockchain architect with a track record in successful crypto projects, providing 20 hours per week of strategic guidance and technical leadership.
• Senior Backend Engineer: Specializing in blockchain integration, smart contract interaction, and secure wallet management.
• Full-stack Engineer: Proficient in both frontend and backend development, with experience in building user interfaces for crypto applications.
• DevOps Engineer: Experienced in setting up and maintaining secure, scalable infrastructure for blockchain applications.

This team was carefully selected to provide comprehensive coverage of the technical needs of a crypto staking platform.

2. Running Operations:

We implemented an agile methodology with a focus on rapid development and close collaboration:

• Infrastructure Setup: Rapidly deployed a secure, scalable cloud infrastructure using AWS, with a focus on high availability and data protection.
• Architecture Design: The fractional CTO led the design of a modular, scalable architecture that could support future growth and feature additions.
• Agile Sprints: Implemented 1-week sprints to maintain a rapid development pace and allow for frequent stakeholder feedback.
• Daily Sync: Conducted daily video calls between the offshore team and onshore stakeholders (founders, PM, designers) to ensure alignment and swift decision-making.
• Collaborative Tools: Utilized GitHub for version control, Jira for project management, and Figma for design collaboration.

3. Stakeholder Collaboration:

Ensuring seamless interaction between the offshore team and key stakeholders was crucial:

• Weekly Strategy Meetings: The fractional CTO participated in weekly meetings with founders to align technical direction with business goals.
• Design-to-Development Workflow: Established a streamlined process for translating designs into functional features, with regular check-ins between engineers and designers.
• Product Roadmap Reviews: Conducted bi-weekly sessions with the product manager to prioritize features and plan sprints effectively.
• Investor Pitch Support: The fractional CTO assisted in preparing technical documentation and participated in investor meetings to bolster the startup's fundraising efforts.

The implementation of this offshore team and fractional CTO model had a significant impact on the client's go-to-market strategy and fundraising success:

• 50% Reduction in Time-to-Market: Launched the MVP in 6 months, half the time initially estimated for an in-house team.
• Successful Fundraising: The robust technical foundation and rapid progress helped secure the next funding round, exceeding the target by 20%.
• 95% On-Time Sprint Completion Rate: High productivity and effective collaboration led to consistent delivery of sprint goals.
• 30% Cost Savings: Compared to building an equivalent in-house team in a major tech hub.
• Scalable Architecture: The platform successfully handled a 300% increase in users within the first three months post-launch without significant issues.