Pavel Shpin - Technical Due Diligence ExpertBeyond the checklist.
I audit founder competency,
not just code.
For Investors who need conviction and Founders who need to close
The AI-Era Investment Blind Spot
Traditional technical due diligence misses the systemic risks that destroy startups. While auditors focus on code quality, they miss the three critical red flags: Shadow AI IP leakage, hollow core architectures, and key person dependencies that can obliterate enterprise value overnight. These AI-era risks require a founder's perspective to identify—they're invisible to conventional TDD checklists.
Technology is a mirror.
A company's technology is an unforgiving mirror of its leadership's discipline and foresight. A brittle codebase reflects a chaotic team. A resilient, scalable architecture is the physical artifact of a strategic one. My founder competency audit goes deeper than traditional code review — it evaluates the technical debt patterns, key person dependencies, and architectural decisions that reveal the operating system of the company that produced it.
"A brittle architecture suggests a tactical, short-term-focused team. A robust, scalable architecture suggests a strategic, long-term-focused team capable of building enduring value."
The AI-Era Technical Red Flags I Look For Before Investing
The "Hollow Core" Architecture
A product with a beautiful UI built upon a brittle, non-scalable foundation.
Shadow AI IP Leakage
Proprietary code and data silently exfiltrated through unmanaged AI tool usage.
The "AI Whisperer" Risk
Critical AI systems that only one person can debug, creating extreme key-person dependency.
The Systemic Architect
My approach goes beyond a one-time audit. As a Fractional CTO, I partner with you to build resilient, valuable, and intelligent enterprises. I architect not just your technology, but the interconnected systems of process and people that drive sustainable growth.
Trusted by leaders who build and back value
"Pavel's audit didn't just give us a 'Go/No-Go'; it gave us a strategic roadmap. The most valuable diligence we've ever commissioned."
Seed B2B SaaS: 3-Day investor-side TDD. Flagged single-threaded CI/CD ownership and brittle scaling paths; deal proceeded with conditions.
Series A DevTools (AI): Founder readiness. Instituted AI usage governance; reframed architecture narrative to defend valuation.
Healthcare Data Platform: Independent TDD on data lineage and model risk; delivered IC-ready summary tying risk to ROI.