The questions buyers actually ask, answered without the sales pitch.
Specific problems, short honest answers, and the path forward — including the parts you can do yourself and the parts where it gets genuinely hard. No gate on the answer.
Cost & commercials
What things actually cost, and what changes the number. Every figure here is the same one we publish on the engagement page — no "contact us for pricing".
How much does it cost to build an MVP?
A real range, what moves the number, and the three scope decisions that cost the most when you get them wrong.
Read the answer → Fractional CTO · PricingHow much does a fractional CTO cost?
Real monthly ranges, how they compare to a full-time hire, and when fractional stops being the right answer.
Read the answer → CRM · PricingWhat does a CRM implementation actually cost?
Licence cost is the small number. Here is what the rest of it is, and which parts you can avoid entirely.
Read the answer → Salesforce · AgentforceWhat does an Agentforce implementation cost?
Deployment ranges, the consumption pricing nobody mentions in the demo, and how to tell if you are ready at all.
Read the answer → MVP · TimelineHow long should an MVP take to build?
10 to 16 weeks for most production-grade builds — and why the variable is almost never engineering speed.
Read the answer →Choosing between options
The comparisons buyers run before committing. Written to help you decide, including the cases where the answer is not us.
Salesforce, HubSpot, or a bespoke CRM — how do you choose?
The two variables that actually decide this, and the cases where each one is genuinely wrong.
Read the answer → AI · ArchitectureShould we use a public LLM or a private one?
A decision that is usually framed as security versus capability, and is actually about which data touches which model.
Read the answer → Leadership · HiringFractional CTO or full-time CTO — which do we need?
A decision-count test that answers this in about ten minutes, plus the signals that mean you should hire.
Read the answer → Build · Technical debtShould we rebuild our software or rescue what we have?
Rebuilds are chosen emotionally far more often than analytically. Four tests that separate the two cases.
Read the answer → AI · Use case selectionWhat should we automate with AI first?
High volume, low variance — and why the interesting problem is almost always the wrong first choice.
Read the answer → Salesforce · AgentforceDo we need Data Cloud for Agentforce?
Not always — and being told you do before anyone has looked at your data model is a sales answer, not a technical one.
Read the answer →Diagnosing what is broken
Symptoms, structural causes, and what to check first. Most of these you can work through without hiring anyone.
Why is our sales forecast always wrong?
Four structural causes, in the order to check them. Most forecast problems are definition problems.
Read the answer → Build · ArchitectureWhy didn't our MVP scale?
The four failure modes, which are recoverable, and how to tell which one you have.
Read the answer → CRM · AdoptionWhy is nobody using our CRM?
Adoption failures are design failures. The four causes, and why more training rarely helps.
Read the answer → AI · ReadinessHow do we know if we're actually ready for AI?
Six evidence tests. Most companies fail on the same two, and both are fixable without buying anything.
Read the answer →Getting started
What a first engagement looks like, how long things take, and what has to be true before you begin.
What does a fractional CTO actually do week to week?
The concrete answer, rather than the abstract one — what the days contain, and what should be true after ninety days.
Read the answer → Salesforce · AgentforceWhat is Salesforce Agentforce and how does it work for SMBs?
Agentforce is Salesforce's autonomous agent layer. What it does, where it works for smaller teams, and the readiness tests that decide whether it will.
Read the answer → Revenue OperationsWhat does RevOps consulting include?
What a revenue operations engagement actually covers, in what order, and what it costs — plus when a RevOps hire beats a retainer.
Read the answer → AI · ReadinessWhat is an AI readiness assessment for a small business?
What an AI readiness assessment actually measures, what the market charges, and how to tell a genuine assessment from a disguised proposal.
Read the answer → CRM · Platform choiceShould we use HubSpot or Salesforce?
The honest comparison between HubSpot, Salesforce and a bespoke build — and the one question that decides it.
Read the answer → Fractional CTO · DiligenceWhat is technical due diligence, and what does it cover?
What a technical due diligence review covers, which findings kill deals, and how to prepare before an investor asks.
Read the answer →Every entry answers one question in the first eighty words, publishes a real number or a real tradeoff, names what you can do without us, and says plainly where the DIY path breaks. If an entry cannot clear that bar it does not get published.
Ask it directly.
The Solution Desk grows from real buyer questions. If yours is not here, ask — and if the answer is useful to other people, it becomes an entry.