Summit Labs

As a Fractional CTO I help transform teams that are struggling to deliver results. I start with simplifying the processes and the platform to get results. 

I help companies to scale by:
1. Adding users
2. Adding features
3. Adding developers

As a seasoned technical product builder and startup advisor, I have been at the forefront of helping early-stage companies bring their ideas to life by building cutting-edge software products. With extensive experience in software development and a deep understanding of the startup ecosystem, I specialize in advising startups on the right technical decisions to make, helping them navigate through the complex process of product development, and providing strategic guidance on how to build successful and scalable products. 

Whether it's working with founders to identify the best technology stack for their product or leading development teams to build high-quality software, I am committed to helping startups achieve their goals by providing the technical expertise they need to succeed.

Fractional CTO | Principal Technical Advisor

Katilyst

Katilyst is leading the charge with products and services focused on shifting company culture toward security best practices through engaging security champion programs.

Investor and Advisor

ByDesign

As a technical advisor for ByDesign, I provide critical guidance and support to help the company navigate the complexities of the technology landscape and achieve their ambitious goals.

Through a collaborative and hands-on approach, I am able to help guide the development of  customized solutions that align with the ByDesign's specific needs and goals. Thanks in part to my guidance and support, the company continues to achieve significant success, rapidly scaling their platform and expanding their offerings.

Primary Venture Partners

As an Expert, I provide strategic advice and guidance to Primary and their portfolio network. Experts enjoy access to early-stage businesses, emerging trends and technology, and an expanded network of exceptional leaders, and resources through a top-tier seed-stage firm.

Primary is New York City’s premier early stage venture firm working alongside founders to build unicorns like Alloy, Chief, Electric, K Health, Slice, and many more.

Advisor / Expert

Techstars

As a technical mentor to early stage startups, I have had the privilege of working with some of the most innovative and exciting companies in the technology space.

My role has been to provide guidance, support, and advice to these startups as they navigate the challenges of building a successful business, with a particular focus on their technical strategy and execution.

Through a collaborative and hands-on approach, I have worked closely with the founders and their teams to help them develop the technical skills and knowledge they need to build robust and scalable technology solutions.

This has included providing mentorship and coaching on a range of technical topics, from software engineering best practices and architectural design to cloud computing, data science, and emerging technologies.

One of the things that sets me apart as a technical mentor is my ability to tailor my approach to the specific needs and goals of each startup. I take the time to understand their unique challenges and opportunities, and work closely with them to develop customized solutions that meet their needs.

Through my experience as a technical mentor, I have gained a deep appreciation for the unique challenges and opportunities that early stage startups face in the technology space. And I am committed to using my skills and expertise to help these companies succeed and thrive in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving landscape.

Mentor

goLance

At goLance we're leading the industry with technical innovation bringing together the right talent with the right clients.

As the Chief Technology Officer for a dynamic marketplace platform, I am instrumental in steering the technology direction and software development to bring together clients and freelancers. My role encompasses leading a talented tech team, enhancing our platform to meet and exceed user expectations, and driving innovation to ensure our technology stays ahead of the curve.

With a keen eye on the evolving tech landscape, I navigate through technological advancements to incorporate cutting-edge solutions that elevate our service. My approach is hands-on in solving technical challenges, ensuring our platform remains robust and reliable. I excel in demystifying complex technical concepts, ensuring seamless communication across teams and with our stakeholders, thereby fostering a collaborative environment that propels our platform forward.

My mission is to create a marketplace that not only meets the current demands of our users but also anticipates future needs, making it a go-to platform for clients and freelancers alike. Through strategic planning, technological innovation, and a commitment to excellence, I am dedicated to enhancing our platform's impact and success in the marketplace.

Chief Technology Officer

Calendly

At Calendly we're making scheduling easy.

As an application architect, I play a critical role in helping the organization design, build, and deploy complex software applications that meet their unique needs.

Through a deep understanding of software engineering best practices, application design patterns, and modern technologies, I have been able to develop scalable, reliable, and maintainable software architectures that support business growth and drive innovation.

Some of the key areas in which I have provided value include:

* Guiding the implementation of a microservices-based architecture for improved scalability and flexibility
* Designing and guiding development cloud-native applications for enhanced reliability, availability, and cost-effectiveness
* Advising on software engineering best practices and emerging technologies to keep applications current and competitive
* Collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment with business goals and objectives

Application Architect

WealthForge

As application architect for WealthForge, a fintech startup, I was responsible for designing and implementing cutting-edge solutions for the Altigo platform. With my deep expertise in software engineering, cloud computing, and financial technologies, I was able to deliver innovative solutions that simplified the overall architecture that allowed for better scalability and security.

My role involved working closely with our development teams to design and implement solutions that are scalable, reliable, and secure. Whether we were developing new features, optimizing existing applications, or building integrations with third-party platforms, I ensured that our solutions are aligned with our business objectives and meet the needs of the business.

Capital One

At Capital One, we're Changing Banking for Good. As a Master Software Engineer I have developed applications to improve visibility of key financial metrics. I have developed and continually contributed to inner sourced application frameworks that have decreased development time by 80% while improving application security and resiliency. As an AWS Solutions Architect, I have reduced cloud costs by 66% while increasing application resiliency.

As a trainer and teacher I have developed and lead training courses in Threat Modeling, Application Development, and Application Security.

Master Software Engineer

Provider Resources, Inc.

Application Developer

CTO at goLance • Making software simple • Startup Mentor

Building and scaling your product feels unpredictable and frustrating.

Now, imagine if you could:
- Have a clear roadmap for your tech decisions
- Build a system that supports consistent, scalable growth

You know there’s a better way to operate.

This is where I come in...

For startups and scale-ups, I offer Technical Advising Services:
- I provide high-level strategic advice, along with hands-on guidance to ensure execution aligns with your business goals.
- With over 15 years in the field and experience leading teams through high-growth phases, I specialize in helping companies avoid costly mistakes and create tech systems that scale.
- My frameworks have helped companies transform messy tech stacks into well-oiled machines, ready to scale.

I offer a limited number of advising slots to ensure each client gets personalized attention.
  
If you’re ready to take your technology to the next level, send me a message or schedule a call using the link in my profile.

Brian Childress

Zscaler

DevOps Architect

Bluebeam, Inc.

Software Architect

Recharge Payments

-   Participated in the Architecture Board, which governed best practices, cross-cutting concerns, and technical proposals
-   Introduced a Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) to address quality issues and reduce production incidents by 90%+
-   Led the organization of the first Architecture Summit to discuss high-level concerns and processes
-   Increased batch job processing throughput by 4x through hands-on troubleshooting and developer coaching
-   Designed API throughput performance improvements for a 10-15x reduction in deployment resources and related costs
-   Mentored engineers by sponsoring technical designs, offering career guidance, and enhancing technical skills
-   Promoted methodologies for performance testing and data-driven decision making
-   Developed strategies and systems for decomposing a monolith into microservices
-   Collaborated with the event bus team on designs for eventing and serverless functions
-   Improved testing frameworks and guided developers on Test Driven Development (TDD)
-   Worked with the Security Team to address security concerns and implement secure coding practices
-   Utilized Python, Google Cloud Platform/Functions, API First designs, Microservices, Dapr, Redis, Docker/container images, Kubernetes, MySQL, and ElasticSearch

Principal Engineer/Software Architect

Pulse Secure

- Served on the Architecture Board, responsible for determining overall software architecture and development practices
- Architected and led a team for the development of a Zero Trust microservice platform
- Coordinated security hardening, evaluation, and best practices for most Python-based software
- Designed and led the development of the Python framework at the core of most of the company's Python software
- Designed various features, including authentication token management, multi-tenancy, WebSockets, event messaging, RBAC, user management, certificate management/PKI, OpenAPI adoption, Docker image builds, Postgres migrations, async function queues, and inter-service APIs
- Advocated for Python Best Practices, API design, Test Driven Development, Continuous Integration, and Continuous Delivery
- Maintained several open-source projects core to the company's Python frameworks
- Coordinated Python 2 to Python 3 conversion of many microservices
- Utilized Python, Azure, AWS, Kafka, Redis, Kubernetes, Docker/containers, Postgres, MySQL, Nginx (Lua), OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, Terraform, MongoDB, and ElasticSearch

Principal Engineer/Architect

- Leader of team that converted newly acquired MobileSpaces's Mobile Device Management (MDM) software to Pulse Workspace
- Architect for Pulse One, a VPN server manager and orchestrator that is Docker based, SaaS and On-premise
- Team lead for conversion of Pulse One from a SaaS solution to a cluster-able, on-premise solution within 6 months. Its Docker based architecture can be installed on custom VPN hardware or ran in VMware

Senior Staff Engineer/Server Architect

Various startups and consulting roles

Through many years of software engineering, I gained a broad range of experience from various startups, consulting companies, and open-source projects. I've deployed to every major cloud hosting provider. I've been hands-on with every major programming language. I have developed SaaS, on-premise, desktop, and mobile applications. Some notable highlights include:

-   Co-founding a software contracting agency called Massive Forge, where we developed multiple applications using Python and Javascript. A client acquired the company.
-   Software Architect Consultant for several Hong Kong-based startups, including Libbler and Pingspot, where I developed applications using Python, Javascript, MongoDB, Redis, AWS, and iOS.
-   MapMyFitness (acquired by Under Armour), a fitness tracking SaaS and mobile app, where I primarily developed with Python and Django. I also worked with Hadoop, Cassandra, and Java for analytics.
-   Zenoss, IT monitoring software, where I designed a new event processing and service monitoring suite as part of a project to convert the software from Python to Java.
-   A fintech startup called Bancvue Interactive (now known as Kasasa), where I developed SaaS products for community banks and credit unions.

Additional Software Engineer Experience

Pingspot

Pingspot (http://pingspot.com/) was "A fun, new way to record and recommend your favorite businesses.". It's an iOS application with a Python backend. For Pingspot I developed the mobile application as well as designed and developed the backend. The app graphics were designed and created by Catchlight Productions (http://www.catchlight.com/).

Technologies used: Python with Flask and Celery, MongoDB, Redis, Foursquare API, Facebook API, iOS SDK, Heroku, Cloudinary

Software Architect Consultant

Libbler

Libbler (http://libbler.com/) is "The ultimate career launchpad for entry level professionals. Features include: resume builder and guide, comprehensive employer database for graduate, internship, entry level opportunities and practical industry advice to help develop career skills.". 

I designed and developed the original libbler.com from top to bottom -- except for the graphic design.

Technologies used: Python with Flask and Celery, Spine.js, Coffeescript, MongoDB, Redis, Oneall single-sign-on, Heroku and AWS

Massive Forge

A software contracting agency that I started with my business partners. We developed several applications, primarily with Python and Javascript. The company was acqui-hired by a client.

Co-Founder/CTO

MapMyFitness

- Maintained and developed new features for primary website platform using Python/Django and MySQL
- Developed new API platform using Python and Flask while utilizing Django ORM
- Developed new live race tracking platform using Flask and integrated with remote tracking services using Python and RabbitMQ
- Created APIs for mobile developers to integrate with race tracking
- Maintained fitness statistics reporting engine using Hadoop, Cassandra, and Java
- Created and maintained new unit test infrastructure using py.test
- Developed continuos build solution for development virtual boxes using VirtualBox, Vagrant, and Python

Senior Software Engineer

Zenoss, Inc.

Zenoss provides dynamic system monitoring for IT services across physical, virtual, and hybrid cloud infrastructures. The core of Zenoss is open source and built on Zope/Python, Ext JS, and MySQL.

- Helped wrap up development of UI refresh for 3.0 release
- Developed Dynamic Service View using Flex and yfiles
- Use Agile methodologies for software development
- Design new event processing and service monitoring suite which uses Java, RabbitMQ, SOLR/Lucene, and Neo4j.

🔸Unpacking Software Architecture

I help people deploy more value with less code.

taplio

The Battle

Brian Childress

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