About
A quick summary
I’m Oleg Kozlov — a hands-on software engineer and systems architect who helps startups turn ambitious ideas into products that scale. Over two decades, I’ve shipped products and worked on platforms used by tens of millions of people, led high‑leverage teams, and turned messy, expensive systems into simple, reliable ones.
My sweet spot is the intersection of product, platform, and execution: I design the plan, assemble the team, write the critical path code, and get the thing over the finish line. Founders bring me in when they need momentum and measurable outcomes, not endless “platform work.”
Flexible engagement model
- I help seed-stage founders ship complex AI/data products fast —
- Fractional CTO
- Hands-on Principal Engineer
- Cloud Infrastructure Architect
What I offer to startups
- Builder–leader, not just an advisor. I roll up my sleeves, clarify scope, and deliver working software on a clear timeline.
- Pragmatic architecture. Simple, scalable foundations that don’t paint you into a corner — with clear tradeoffs and “good enough” now vs. later.
- Search, data, and AI you can trust. Sensible relevance, safety, and observable pipelines without hype.
- Operational calm at scale. Guardrails, SLOs, and incident‑lite practices that keep the team shipping confidently.
- Cost discipline. I treat cloud spend like a performance bug — and fix it without slowing growth.
- Hiring and leveling up. I recruit, mentor, and leave behind a team that moves faster after I’m gone.
A few outcomes I’d like to highlight
- Growth that compounds: designed and shipped a multi‑signal social graph search and recommendations engine that lifted connections by double digits across a large network.- Real savings, not just refactors: led ~50% infrastructure cost reductions (six‑figure monthly savings) while improving latency and reliability.
- Zero‑to‑launch in under a quarter: delivered a live video streaming + clips + analytics platform from blank slate to production.
- Stability at massive scale: operated backends supporting 60M+ registered users and 5M+ DAUs, with clear on‑call, playbooks, and sensible SLAs.
- Team velocity: introduced “golden paths,” CI/CD templates, and review norms that cut cycle time and reduced production incidents.
How I work
- Start with outcomes. We agree on the KPIs that matter (e.g., conversion, latency, cost), then anchor scope and milestones to them.
- Ship small, learn fast. Vertical slices with real users beat big‑bang releases. I de‑risk surprises early.
- Communicate clearly. Weekly one‑pager updates, transparent risks, and honest tradeoffs — no hand‑waving.
- Leave it better than I found it. Documentation, dashboards, runbooks, and a team that can carry the torch.
Ways to engage
- Fractional Head/Director of Engineering. Bring leadership and velocity without a full‑time hire.
- Critical‑path build. Own a top‑priority feature or platform component end‑to‑end until it ships.
- Technical due diligence. Pre‑investment or pre‑acquisition assessments with concrete remediation plans.
- Rescue mission. Stabilize production, unblock a migration, or rein in runaway cloud costs.
- Hiring & team formation. Define roles, run hiring loops, and set up effective engineering practices.
Who I’m best for
- Founder‑led teams that need a builder‑leader to reach the next milestone (v0 → v1 → v2) without over‑engineering.
- Seed to Series B startups where infrastructure, data, and product need to move together.
- VCs and angel investors who want a trustworthy operator to pressure‑test a plan or accelerate a portfolio company.
Let’s talk
If you’re a founder or investor who needs speed, reliability, and clarity on the path to product‑market fit, I can help.
Posts to Check Out
