For private equity, growth-equity, and venture firms
Technical diligence and advisory, from a sitting CTO.
I'm Eric Wood, CTO at LINQ. Before that I ran technology at Cordance, a software holding company where I led diligence and integration on more than ten acquisitions, and at MyFitnessPal through its carve-out to Francisco Partners. Summit Foundry Group is the small practice I run alongside my day job: technical diligence for deals in process, and advisory for the firms and portfolio companies that want a practicing CTO's read.
- years as CTO / engineering leader
- 20+
- acquisitions diligenced and integrated
- 10+
- engineers hired and led
- 0→100+
- years in PE-backed companies
- 6+
Where I can help
Across the deal, in the places a part-time person is useful
Technology problems in a portfolio company surface at predictable points: in diligence, in the first hundred days, during the hold, and when the exit process starts. Diligence is the project-shaped work I do myself; the rest is advisory to the people who run the company day to day.
Pre-deal
Technical diligence
An assessment of the architecture, the team, and the main risks, scheduled around your IC date.
- Two to three weeks
- Risk register with cost and time to fix
- Findings tied to the thesis
First 100 days
Your team runs the plan
The register is written to become the 100-day plan. Your operating team or the incoming CTO runs it; I stay available to them.
- Register handed over as the draft plan
- Advisory to the CTO or ops lead
- Check-ins at day 30, 60, and 100
Hold period
Advisory
A few hours a month where a sitting CTO's judgment is useful: reviews, hiring, board read-outs.
- Portfolio technology reviews
- CTO hiring scorecards and interviews
- Second opinions on plans and vendors
Exit
Sell-side review
A buyer's-eye read on the technology six to twelve months before a process.
- What a buyer's diligence will find
- Remediation on your schedule
- Data room and management prep
What I look for
The same three problems, deal after deal
The thesis doesn't match the platform
Integrations go wrong when the model assumes capabilities the technology doesn't have. Across ten-plus acquisitions at Cordance, that gap was the most common thing diligence had to find before the wire.
Résumé-driven development
Engineering teams rebuild things that work and adopt tools because they're interesting. Someone who has run the org needs to keep the roadmap pointed at what customers and the plan require.
Building for $100M at $20M
Large architectural decisions made too early are expensive to unwind. The goal is enough capability for the next stage, with technical debt taken on deliberately rather than by accident.
Track record
Work I can talk about
These were employers rather than clients, so I can name them. Detail is on LinkedIn and on the About page.
Cordance: diligence and integration across a portfolio
Aceable: running engineering at a growth-stage consumer SaaS
MyFitnessPal: carve-out to Francisco Partners
Under Armour: platform consolidation at scale
Engagements
Two things I do
Technical due diligence
Advisory
Summit Foundry Group is a small practice I run alongside my role as CTO at LINQ. I take one diligence at a time, or one or two advisory relationships, and I'll tell you on the first call if I'm full.
About
Eric Wood
CTO at LINQ. Previously CTO at Cordance and Aceable, VP Engineering at MyFitnessPal through its carve-out from Under Armour, Senior Director at Under Armour, and eight years at IBM in identity and security. BS and MS in Computer Science from Cal Poly. Based in Denver.
Have a deal in diligence, or a question a practicing CTO should answer?
A thirty-minute call is usually enough to work out whether I can help and whether I have the capacity. Engagement details are in the one-pager.
Or email signals@summitfoundrygroup.com. I reply within one business day.