Commerce platform strategy
Choose, launch, and scale on the right platform, from a first Shopify store to Shopify Plus, headless builds, and replatforming.
Advisory & Fractional CTO
Technical leadership
for growing ecommerce brands.
Almost 20 years as CTO of a growth agency, launching and scaling ecommerce brands on Shopify and guiding their martech decisions, from under $1M in revenue to nearly $100M. Available as an advisor or fractional CTO, without the full-time hire.
Services
The technical decisions behind growth.
Most brands don’t need a full-time CTO. They need good decisions at the right moments, from someone who has made them many times before.
Martech decisions
Pick and connect the right tools for analytics, attribution, email and SMS, reviews, subscriptions, and customer data, without paying for overlap.
Brand launch and growth
Plan the technical side of launching a new brand and keep it ready for each stage of growth, from first sale to scale.
Build vs. buy
Evaluate apps, vendors, and agencies against custom development before money and time are committed.
AI and automation
Find where AI and workflow automation will actually save time across marketing and operations, and where it would only add complexity.
Team and partners
Hire and evaluate engineers, manage agencies and contractors, and set up a delivery process that ships.
Engagements
Ways to work together
Every engagement is scoped to the problem. These are the most common starting points.
Project
Platform & Martech Audit
A fixed-scope review of your store, tech stack, vendors, and roadmap, delivered as a written report with prioritized recommendations and a walkthrough call.
Ongoing
Advisory Retainer
A standing monthly relationship for founders and marketing leaders who want an experienced sounding board for platform, martech, and vendor decisions.
Ongoing
Fractional CTO
Part-time technical leadership embedded with your team: owning the roadmap, guiding engineers and agencies, and representing technology to founders and investors.
Pricing depends on scope and involvement. Reach out to discuss what would fit.
Process
How it works
Introductory call
A short conversation about where the business is, what is getting in the way, and whether outside technical leadership is the right fit.
Assessment
A focused look at your store, martech stack, team, and vendors, summarized in plain language with prioritized recommendations.
Ongoing partnership
Regular working sessions, async access between them, and hands-on help where it matters most. Scope adjusts as needs change.
Who You’ll Work With
Rob, founder of Useful Static
For almost 20 years, Rob has been CTO of a growth agency, helping launch and grow ecommerce brands, especially on Shopify, and advising on their martech decisions. He has worked with brands at every stage, from under $1M in annual revenue through the $5–15M range to one approaching $100M.
He also leads Useful Static, an independent software studio that builds and ships its own Shopify products, including ClaimCheck and StoreOps. Advisory clients get both perspectives: the strategy that grows a brand and the hands-on experience of building the software behind it.
Open Channel
Need a technical partner?
Share a little about your brand and what you’re trying to solve. Rob will follow up to set up an introductory call.
Prefer email? hello@usefulstatic.com