Not all CTOs are created equal – why startup experience matters in tech due diligence
Beyond the CV
CTO can mean very different things depending on the company’s stage, sector, and size. A Fortune 500 CTO might be a visionary strategist overseeing hundreds of engineers. A startup CTO? More likely a solo developer juggling AWS configs, sprint planning, and investor decks—usually all before lunch.
Yet, when it comes to technical due diligence for startups, investors often turn to CTOs without considering this nuance. That’s a problem.
Not all CTOs are created equal. And if your tech due diligence partner doesn’t understand the startup trenches, they might miss the risks you’re trying to uncover.
The high stakes of early-stage tech
Early-stage investments are high-risk by nature. Founders pitch a vision of scale, disruption, and product-market fit, but under the hood, the tech may be fragile, poorly architected, or built with no continuity plan.
That’s why technical due diligence matters. But here’s the thing, you don’t just need a tech person; you need the right kind of tech person.
Someone who knows:
- How to assess a code written under serious amounts of pressure
- What “good enough for now” looks like (vs “this will break in 6 months”)
- The real-world implications of technical debt
- When a tech team is hiding poor practices behind fast growth
In short, someone who understands the early-stage journey, not just at a theoretical level, but from real, lived experience.
What traditional CTOs might miss
Many CTOs come from scale-up or enterprise backgrounds. They’re used to stability, established teams, and month-long roadmaps. This is valuable experience, but it doesn’t always translate well to the messy, imperfect world of startups.
Without startup experience, technical due diligence can easily miss:
- Fragile infrastructure masked by rapid growth
- Founders with misplaced faith in a single developer
- Lack of documentation, version control, or testing frameworks
- A total absence of scalable architecture
Even worse, they may overestimate problems, throwing up red flags where agile, practical solutions are already in play.
Startups operate in a grey area. You need a due diligence partner who knows the difference between calculated chaos and systemic risk.
The Novidian difference—startup-led due diligence
At Novidian, we specialise in startup-savvy technical leadership, which means our due diligence is designed to spot the red flags that actually matter.
Our approach blends:
- Real startup experience. We’ve lived the journey and guided countless startups towards success
- Independent insight. We’re not selling dev hours
- Constructive feedback. We identify risks but also recommend fixes
- Speed and practicality. Because in early-stage, time really is money
We’ve worked with VCs, accelerators, and angel investors who tell us the same thing: the startups they back need tech advice, but they don’t need another dev shop. They need a strategic, honest voice who knows how to separate ambition from danger.
What investors get wrong about “having a CTO”
One of the biggest missteps we see is the assumption that if a startup has a CTO, the tech must be covered. But titles are cheap. Experience isn’t.
In many cases, the CTO is:
- A founder who can code but lacks architecture or scaling experience
- A friend of the founder working part-time
- A freelance lead developer who’s now gone quiet
These aren’t red flags in themselves—it’s often part of the journey. But without an experienced eye, it’s impossible to know whether the company’s tech is built to last or moments from a meltdown.
Good due diligence isn’t about blame; it’s about clarity
We don’t tear founders down. Most are doing the best they can with the resources they have. But we do believe in truth-telling.
A good due diligence process provides:
- A snapshot of current risks
- A clear view of tech strengths
- A roadmap for improvement
- It gives investors peace of mind and founders a blueprint to level up.
The right CTO can save a portfolio
Startup failure is expensive. And while not every misstep can be prevented, a smarter approach to technical due diligence can protect capital, reputation, and long-term outcomes.
By working with experienced startup CTOs—those who’ve made the tough calls, scaled from scratch, and navigated the chaos—you’re not just ticking a box.
You’re making a better investment.
Want to bring startup-savvy technical insight into your due diligence process?
Let’s talk. Novidian offers independent, experienced CTO-level support for founders, accelerators, and investor groups.
And with our new CTO-in-your-pocket AI-based platform, getting quality CTO advice has never been easier.
👉 Apply for the free Beta here