Matthieu Kern

🤔 CTO salaries at a scaleup: £150K or £300K? Same title. Completely different roles. So, what’s the deal with scaleup CTO salaries in 2025? Job titles often don’t help. Because the same title can mean completely different things at different companies. This means benchmarking CTO salaries is tough, and so it’s confusing for job hunters to know what to expect. 🤑 𝐒𝐨, 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐂𝐓𝐎 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧:  Series A: £150K to £200K Late-stage VC/PE-backed: £175K to £250K Established: £275K to £300K B2B Fintech, SaaS and Enterprise AI continue to lead, salary wise.  And, of course, US firms pay higher than European ones. Remote vs hybrid WFH – does this change salary expectations?  Absolutely! Companies are now paying more for London-based employees due to the high cost of living. But, if you're fully remote in a lower-cost location, expect a different pay scale. 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬: Series A: Expect 10 to 50 tech staff Late-stage VC/PE-backed: 50+ tech staff Established SME: 100+ tech staff 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥? 💲 Ok so this part is interesting, as VC and PE firms are offering potentially huge playouts on a trade sale or event. For series A, expect higher % in equity (1-2%) but obviously higher risk. For late-stage VC/PE-backed, probably the sweet spot, its less % on paper but a life changing upside with a company that is already established and a higher chance of success. And at a listed company, you’ll get stock options that can be sold, (£100K/£200K a year) 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞? At series A: Hands-on, player-coach role (sorry I know this term annoys CTOs, but its what's requested).- Deeply involved in technical work - Mentoring junior team members - Typically a VP Engineering moving up - Strong technical architecture knowledge required. Late-stage VC/PE-backed: Proven ability to scale software teams - C-suite experience essential - Not hands-on, but focused on team-building and leadership with corporate experience in governance and security. Established company: Manage 100+ tech staff across multiple countries - Influence the Board and Investors - Focus on strategy and large budgets - Experienced in matrix management and larger-scale operations Additionally, we’re seeing a shift whereby many companies are hiring seasoned CTOs as part-time advisors or mentors to guide their leadership teams. So the conclusion same title CTO but a huge difference between each company. 🚀 Want to discuss your career path or potential opportunities? 👉 Hiring a CTO - DM Ellis for a confidential chat about executive search or a Q2 2025 market benchmark. #CTO #salaries #fintech

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If you run a Shopify agency and... want to scale without burning out your team... ❌ Don’t overload your devs with urgent tasks ❌ Don’t say yes to work you can’t deliver on time ❌ Don’t hire freelancers with inconsistent output ❌ Don’t let client deadlines slip ❌ Don’t turn down work just because your team is full Instead, ✅ Delegate overflow work to a trusted white-label partner ✅ Get on-demand Shopify dev, design & speed optimization ✅ Keep your clients happy (and coming back) ✅ Free up internal bandwidth to grow your agency ✅ Deliver high-quality work - without hiring more people A good white-label partner = fewer delays, better margins.

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It's happening: the "Vibe coding cleanup specialist" role is here. A natural consequence of mass-adoption of tools like Lovable and v0 by Vercel, and probably a new market in the making. It may be a great way for software engineers to find new work-streams. I'm not sure if it is a pleasant work to do, but that's another story. For studios like Pixelmatters, for now, this is not attractive as the clients that need this kind of work are often individuals (B2C) and not companies (B2B) and are unlikely to have a significant budget to invest on their MVP. Still, surely an evolution of the industry to keep an eye on.

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How we hired a Senior Frontend Engineer in 3 weeks: 7 key steps We break down the exact process we used to fill a high-bar role at a web3 client of ours: Here’s how we built momentum and closed fast. 1️⃣ Ideal Candidate Profile - We started with a crystal-clear ICP: mindset, context, likely objections. - Must-haves: React, TypeScript, Styled Components, Rx.js - Location: Remote GMT ±2 - Industry fit: Web3 or consumer apps, 5–7 years. - Deal breakers were clarified upfront to avoid later recalibration. 2️⃣ Profile Calibration - We translated the ICP into a clear calibration table guiding sourcing, screening, and scorecards - This reduced fuzzy preferences and aligned decisions across hiring managers. 3️⃣ Talent Pool Analysis - Mapped the TAM across 4 European regions: Tier 1: Web3 + Rx.js Tier 2: React + TypeScript. - Key insights: - Eastern Europe = strongest Tier 1 source (96 candidates) - 1,100+ Tier 2 profiles mapped. This let us remain selective while managing market trade-offs transparently. 4️⃣ Question Bank - Built a structured kit across 10 categories with: - Core questions + follow-ups - Strong vs weak indicators. 5️⃣ Messaging -Tested a 4-part email sequence: - Employer Value Prop hook Re-engagement + CTA reset - Why this job is cool (market/team context) - Final nudge with slots + urgency. - Tone: casual, confident, and engineer-focused (team, product, scope). 🤖 AI-Enabled Outreach Added automated flows (n8n + custom LLM prompts): - Personalised GPT-4 messaging in company tone. - This let every TP operate like a full-stack hiring squad, reducing manual bottlenecks. 6️⃣ Created candidate database - LinkedIn profiles, tier classification, resume notes, messaging status. This kept parallel sourcing streams flowing. - Ready to go for future hiring rounds 7️⃣ Candidate FAQs - Prepped answers for screening calls: Summary: A complex hire delivered efficiently by codifying our process and building shared tools. This is a snapshot of how we deliver across many roles when our talent partners work on an embedded project. ✌️

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Is your SaaS platform growing so fast your QA can't keep up? This is what we've seen with clients who come to us in panic mode. Rapid growth is exciting, but it creates massive quality challenges: - User expectations skyrocketing - Complex integrations multiplying - Release cycles shrinking from weeks to days - One major bug potentially destroying trust you've spent years building Here's the QA playbook our team has prepared for high growth SaaS platforms: 1/. Automation as a strategic weapon (not just a cost-cutting tool) Automation doesn’t replace your QA team - it's empowering them. We helped an e-commerce client move from: > Repetitive manual checks → Strategic exploratory testing > Days-long feedback cycles → 15-minute feedback loops > Missed edge cases → Comprehensive coverage The math was simple: Invest X → Save 10X in time → Deliver 100X in value The result? 30% boost in customer retention. That's not just better testing - that's direct revenue impact. 2/. Performance testing that predicts the future Your platform is stable today, but what happens when Black Friday hits or your marketing campaign goes viral? The right performance testing doesn't just tell you if your system works now - it tells you when it will break in the future. 3/. API testing as your foundation In 2025, your APIs are your product. When SaaS platforms crash and burn, API issues are the culprit 70% of the time (based on our incident analysis). Your API testing strategy can't be an afterthought - it needs to be your first thought. 4/. Security testing as a business driver Security in SaaS isn't just a technical requirement - it's a sales enabler. One client added our comprehensive security testing reports to their sales materials and saw their enterprise deal close rate increase by 35%. 5/. TestOps The days of throwing code "over the wall" to QA are dead. TestOps integrates quality throughout the entire delivery pipeline, bringing testing, development, and operations together as one unified team. Let me be direct For high-growth SaaS platforms, quality isn't a cost center - it's your competitive advantage. When your competitors' systems crash while yours stay rock-solid… When you can release new features weekly while they struggle monthly… When your customers trust you with their most sensitive data… That's when quality becomes your moat. … P.S. Is your QA process slowing down releases? DM Vervali Systems for a free consultation. #QA #QAautomation #softwaretesting #SaaS

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Built the “perfect” SaaS MVP. Nobody cared. Spent 2 months polishing the UI, adding edge-case features, and optimizing performance. Then launched to silence. If you're building your first SaaS - or your fifth - this will save you weeks of frustration. There’s a pattern to why some products flop despite great execution. I’ve lived it. And now I know what not to do. Let me save you the pain. 5 SaaS mistakes I’ll never make again - and what I do instead: - Building in stealth mode → I now validate in public from day one. - Overengineering the MVP → I build what solves one clear pain, fast. - No distribution plan → I market before the product exists. - Chasing feature requests → I focus on 20% features that drive 80% value. - Ignoring onboarding → I design it as carefully as the core product. I’ve made these mistakes more than once (and still shipped a SaaS that onboarded 500+ users). You don’t have to repeat them. 👉 Want a free checklist? "10 questions to ask before you code your MVP" → Comment MVP and I’ll DM you the PDF. (or use this link: https://lnkd.in/d2wHTTqu ) → Use it before you start building. What’s your biggest SaaS mistake you swore you’d never make again?

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