5 Mistakes I Made Scaling from 20 to 200 Engineers
The lessons I learned the hard way so you don't have to. From hiring too fast to ignoring culture debt.
Read Article →Technology Leadership Consultant
I scaled engineering teams through hypergrowth, COVID crisis, and multi-country expansion at Rohlik (unicorn) and ShipMonk (3PL). Now I help CTOs and engineering leaders avoid the mistakes I've already made.
Why I do this
In 2018, I became CTO of Rohlik with a team of 20 engineers and a platform held together with duct tape and determination. Six years later, we had 220+ engineers, operated in 5 countries, and had built the technology backbone for a unicorn.
Along the way, I made every mistake in the book. I hired too fast. I hired too slow. I built systems we had to throw away. I learned that processes that work at 20 people break completely at 100. I discovered that the hardest part of being a CTO isn't the technology — it's the people, the politics, and the pressure.
Now, I help other technology leaders navigate these challenges. Not with theoretical frameworks, but with battle-tested experience from the trenches of hypergrowth, crisis management, and scale.
My philosophy is simple: Great technology comes from great teams. Build the team right, give them the right environment, and the technology will follow.
Technology is built by humans. Invest in your people and culture before your architecture.
The best solution is one that ships. I help you make smart tradeoffs, not chase perfection.
Metrics matter, but so does judgment. I help you measure what matters and decide with confidence.
Consulting services for technology leaders
Grow your engineering organization without losing speed or culture. I've scaled teams from 18 to 220+ while maintaining high performance and navigating hypergrowth challenges.
Navigate the complexities of technology leadership with personalized coaching. From first-time CTOs to experienced executives facing new challenges.
Deep domain expertise in e-commerce platforms, fulfillment automation, and logistics technology from years leading technology at Rohlik and ShipMonk.
End-to-end agile transformation with focus on developer productivity and delivery speed.
Design career ladders and growth paths that retain and develop engineering talent.
Technology assessment for investors, boards, and M&A processes.
Part-time technology leadership for companies in transition or seeking strategic guidance.
How we 3x'd capacity while hiring 100+ engineers during COVID
In 2020, Rohlik faced explosive demand during COVID-19. We needed to scale delivery capacity 3x while maintaining platform stability and hiring 100+ engineers remotely — all while the world was shutting down.
Results that speak for themselves
Built and scaled engineering organization from a small team to over 220 dedicated professionals
Technology leadership that supported 32x revenue growth at Rohlik Group
Led technology expansion across 5 European markets with localized platforms
Technical due diligence and support for multiple successful funding rounds
Consistent year-over-year improvement in development efficiency
Successful migration of all systems to Google Cloud Platform
From colleagues and executives I've worked with
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Lessons from the trenches of technology leadership
The lessons I learned the hard way so you don't have to. From hiring too fast to ignoring culture debt.
Read Article →What to prepare, what to expect, and how to communicate technology to non-technical board members.
Read Article →After leading multiple transformations, here's what I've learned about making agile stick.
Read Article →How to quantify, communicate, and strategically manage technical debt when every sprint counts.
Read Article →Technology leaders ready to level up
Navigate the challenges of technology leadership, from strategy to execution to stakeholder management.
Prepare for the next level, build high-performing teams, and develop your leadership capabilities.
Build your technology foundation right from the start. Avoid common pitfalls and scale with confidence.
Navigate the transition from startup to scale-up. Maintain speed while building sustainable processes.
Understand technology better, work more effectively with your tech teams, and make informed decisions.
Leverage my deep domain expertise in e-commerce, fulfillment, and logistics technology.
A journey through technology leadership
Leading a 90+ member Product Development organization spanning teams in Czechia and USA. Driving 20% YoY productivity improvements and setting processes for continued growth and scale.
Led technology transformation supporting growth from €22M to €712M revenue. Scaled team from 20 to 220+ engineers. Joined executive board in 2022. Drove expansion to 5 European markets and led successful cloud migration to GCP.
Stepped into technology leadership, bridging engineering execution with strategic direction.
Built foundation in project management and technology delivery. Key projects for enterprises including ČSOB, Škoda Auto, and Provident.
Common questions about working together
Most engagements start with a free discovery call to understand your challenges. From there, we can work together through ongoing advisory (monthly retainer), focused project work (fixed scope), or intensive workshops (1-2 days). I customize the approach to your needs.
Advisory retainers typically start at €2,000/month for regular access and guidance. Project-based work is scoped individually. I'm happy to discuss budget alignment on our discovery call.
Yes, though my sweet spot is companies in the scale-up phase (Series A and beyond) where the challenges of growing the engineering organization become critical. For early-stage, I often do focused workshops rather than ongoing advisory.
I help design hiring strategies, interview processes, and organizational structures — but I'm not a recruiter. I can advise on how to attract and evaluate engineering talent effectively.
Both. I'm based in Prague and work with European clients primarily, but I've managed distributed teams across US and Europe and am comfortable with remote advisory. For workshops, in-person is often more effective.
Ready to take your technology leadership to the next level? Book a free discovery call to discuss your challenges.
Schedule a call to discuss your challenges and explore how I can help.
Book a Call30 minutes · No commitment · Let's see if we're a good fit