Foundary | Technical Leadership & Advisory

I’m James Blackburn.

I started Foundary to enable software-led businesses to excel.

Foundary is a London-based technical leadership and advisory business providing fractional CTO services.

I specialise in helping Pre-Seed to Series A companies build exceptional technical products and teams.

With experience both as a founder and at fast-growing scale-ups, I understand the unique challenges at each stage of the startup journey. From navigating early-stage technical hurdles to overcoming leadership challenges in scaling, I bring the strategic mindset and hands-on experience needed to guide businesses to success.

Tech entrepreneur with 15+ years experience, specialising in scaling startups, system architecture, and technology strategy. Scroll down to read more.

Services

As a former technical founder, I possess a versatile skill set adaptable to various businesses, with particular expertise in supporting venture-backed companies through critical milestones such as achieving product-market fit. My core areas of expertise include:

Technology Strategy & Roadmap

Developing a long-term technology plan aligned with business goals, including identifying key tech initiatives, setting timelines, and budgeting for future development.

Architecture & Technology Stack Design

Designing and implementing scalable system architecture and selecting the right technology stack that aligns with both current needs and future growth.

Product Development Oversight

Overseeing product development processes, from MVP to scaling, ensuring cross-functional alignment across the business. Driving agile workflows, feature prioritization and quality assurance.

Team Leadership & Development

Providing guidance in recruiting, building, and scaling tech teams. Mentoring and managing engineers, fostering a strong technical culture and leadership within the team.

Vendor & Partner Management

Advising on or directly managing relationships with external vendors, contractors, and service providers to ensure optimal tech integrations and cost management.

Security & Compliance

Implementing best practices in data security, privacy regulations, and compliance, ensuring the company’s infrastructure is robust and adheres to industry standards.

Software Development

In addition to the advisory services mentioned above, I stay current with the latest engineering trends and remain hands-on with software development. I offer a range of web development services, either directly or through my network of skilled software professionals.

Who is this for?

The ideal client is an early-stage, software-driven business, whether bootstrapped or VC-backed. I typically work with companies whose tech teams are up to 25 people. If VC-backed, businesses in the Seed to Series A stages are the best fit. These companies are agile and open to change, making my advisory services most impactful during this critical growth phase.

Some common scenarios:

01. First-time tech founders

You are an accomplished business expert in your sector, you are newly founding a software-orientated business but have never directly managed software engineers or built a product before.

02. Product launched and gaining traction

You have launched your idea and built your product. Your business is gaining traction and raising new investment. You wish to ensure that your technical product and team are in good shape for the next phase.

03. Raising investment

You are raising money for your business, expecting technical due diligence from investors and need credibility and a safe pair of hands to get through the process.

04. Needing credibility and reassurance

You have clients/partners that are strategically important to your business and require support in scoping solutions to ensure the deals land.

05. Growing out your team

You have raised a funding round and will be investing in growing your Product and Technical teams and wish to ensure you build a high-performing, well-balanced team with the right culture.

06. No in-house CTO

You do not have a Technical Leader/CTO at all (or with suitable experience) and are looking for access to an experienced professional on a flexible basis.

Portfolio

Examples of where Foundary is supporting businesses to forge leading technology.

Startup addressing the growing challenge of ageing population

Turning an ambitious, long-term technical product vision into reality by identifying the appropriate technical architecture and planning the integration of third-party services with bespoke solutions to achieve optimal outcomes. Assistance is also offered for budget planning, team composition, and grant applications.

Sector: Health & Social Care
Stage: Early stage startup, revenue generating
Investment: Founder-backed & grant support

Innovative auction platform offering unique experiences and gifts to benefit charities

Managing the relationship with a 3rd party development agency and ensuring effective communication, while offering general technical guidance for operating the business. Assistance is also offered to explore opportunities for diversifying the platform into a B2B offering, expanding its market reach.

Sector: Retail (eCommerce)
Stage: Early stage startup, revenue generating
Investment: Pre-seed round & founder-backed

Overview

With over 15 years of experience in the technology sector, I specialise in guiding early-stage tech businesses through critical growth phases. I have successfully founded, scaled, and exited my own businesses, giving me first-hand insight into the challenges and opportunities startups face.

My expertise spans system architecture, team leadership, and technology strategy, with a proven track record of delivering scalable, innovative solutions. Having worked across various industries and tech environments, I bring a strategic approach to aligning technology with business goals. Whether managing complex product development, leading technical teams, or advising on vendor and security strategies, I help startups maximize their tech potential while preparing for future growth.

Details

2022-2024 - Huboo

Roseta.io and New Vision were both successfully acquired by Huboo (a Series B company) in January 2022. I became a member of the Senior Management Team at Huboo (VP-level), a company having at it's peak over 750 employees and a technical team of over 100. I managed multi-disciplinary technical teams of engineers and product & delivery teams across multiple technology stacks as the business was scaling to £50M+ ARR.

2019-2022 - Roseta.io

Alongside New Vision, founded a SaaS integration platform for eCommerce businesses. We integrated and partnered with leading vendors such as Shopify, Magento and Netsuite. We pioneered a no/low code approach to integrations that enabled us to scale the platform quickly and offer it at a competitive market pricepoint.

2013-2022 - New Vision

Founded the company and, over nearly a decade, organically grew it into a successful software development agency. We specialized in back-end applications, with a particular focus on data and API integrations. For the first five years, I served as the principal engineer, establishing a strong technical foundation before expanding the team to over 10 engineers.

2008-2013 - Early Career

Held various technical roles with B2B SaaS software companies - including the talent acquisiton platform Oleeo and notably with Fidessa Plc, the market leading equities trading platform for investment banks and brokers. It was learning about the FIX Protocol at Fidessa which gave me a particular interest in data integrations, which I would later apply to my own start-ups.

Education

I hold a BSc in Business & Computer Science from The University of Liverpool (2008) and completed the MBA Essentials programme at London School of Economics in 2023.

Forging leading technology