Fractional CTO / Technical Advisor Needed for SaaS Product Audit

Title: Fractional CTO / Technical Advisor to Audit SaaS Product, Prevent Cost Overruns, and Assess Launch Readiness

Important:

I am not looking for a basic developer or someone to help build features.

I am specifically hiring for independent technical oversight, honest assessment, and founder-side protection before I move further into launch, payments, and scale.

About the Product

I am a non-technical founder building an AI-powered SaaS platform in the college planning space. The product is in MVP stage and partially live. I currently have a developer working on it.

At this stage, I need an experienced technical advisor / fractional CTO to review the full system and tell me what is solid, what is weak, and what is risky.

Scope of Work (Audit Required)

I need a structured audit across the entire system:

1. Architecture & Overall Setup

Review the current stack and how all components connect

Assess whether the system is clean, scalable enough for current stage, and appropriate for MVP → launch

Identify shortcuts, weak decisions, or poor structure

2. Backend Logic & Database (MongoDB)

Review database structure and collections

Assess user model, relationships (parent/student), and role handling

Identify issues with data cleanliness, duplication, and future scalability

Confirm whether the structure will support analytics, billing, and permissions properly

3. Authentication & User Flow

Review email/password authentication

Review Google login setup (or planned implementation)

Identify risks of duplicate users, incomplete signups, or weak account handling

Assess whether the system can support real user growth cleanly

4. Stripe & Payment Readiness

Evaluate whether the system is ready for Stripe integration

Review plan enforcement (ensuring users cannot access features outside their plan)

Identify risks in billing logic, subscriptions, upgrades/downgrades, and usage tracking

Give a clear “ready / not ready” assessment

🔴 Critical: API Cost Control & Billing Incident

I recently incurred a $600+ unexpected charge from Google Cloud (Places API) due to uncontrolled API usage.

This is a major concern and a primary reason for this hire.

You must review:

Whether API limits, quotas, and restrictions are properly implemented

Whether caching, deduplication, and on-demand loading are handled correctly

Whether API keys are properly restricted (domain/IP)

Whether backend logic prevents excessive or duplicate API calls

Whether safeguards exist to prevent cost overrun or abuse

I want clear answers:

What went wrong

Whether this was preventable

What must be implemented immediately

Cost protection is non-negotiable before I scale or add payments.

5. Security & Access Control

Review account ownership and access (Google Cloud, MongoDB, Vercel, etc.)

Identify risks around API keys, permissions, and exposure

Confirm whether the setup protects the founder from lockout or misuse

6. Deployment & Environment Setup

Review GitHub, Vercel, production vs preview vs development

Assess whether deployment flow is clean and professional

Identify gaps in visibility and control

7. Technical Process & Documentation

Assess whether the current developer is working with proper structure

Identify missing documentation

Recommend what needs to exist so I am not dependent on one developer

Current Pain Points

I need direct evaluation of the following:

Lack of clear technical visibility and oversight

Concern that features are being built without proper backend structure

Recent API billing issue due to missing safeguards

Uncertainty around MongoDB data structure and user model quality

Concern about authentication, duplicate users, and messy account data

Not confident moving forward with Stripe until system is validated

Need clarity on ownership, access, and control across all systems

Need to separate MVP shortcuts from real risks before launch

Current Stack

Next.js

MongoDB

Vercel

Cloudflare

Stripe (planned)

Google login (planned/in progress)

OpenAI API

Google APIs (Places, etc.)

Deliverables

At the end of this audit, I expect:

Clear written assessment of what is solid, weak, and risky

Prioritized list:

fix immediately

fix soon

can wait

Clear decision on Stripe/payment readiness

Clear assessment of backend and developer quality

Explanation in plain English (non-technical)

Ideal Candidate

Only apply if you have real experience with:

SaaS architecture and startup systems

Backend and database design (MongoDB or similar)

Authentication systems and user modeling

Stripe/subscription logic

API cost control, rate limiting, and backend safeguards

Cloud environments and deployment workflows

Advising non-technical founders

You must be comfortable giving direct, honest feedback.

To Apply, Answer These:

What similar SaaS systems have you audited or overseen?

Have you handled API cost control and billing protection? Give an example.

What are the most common hidden risks in MVP-stage products?

How would you evaluate whether a developer’s work is solid vs sloppy?

How would you structure a short audit for this project?

Engagement

Start with a small paid audit (1–3hours).

If the fit is strong, this can turn into ongoing fractional CTO / advisory work.