How I Saved a Client $30k/mo With One Simple Check

Hey there,

Last year, I stepped into a fractional CTO role for a startup building a financial literacy app for kids. My first order of business? A basic code commit audit.

What I found was startling: two developers on the team hadn't pushed a single line of code in over 3 months. Zero commits, while still drawing their full salary. That's $30,000 per month for essentially no output.

As fractional CTOs, our job isn't just to steer the tech strategy - it's to be the eyes and ears on the ground, identifying waste and opportunities for efficiency. Code commit audits are one of the quickest ways to get a pulse on your team's productivity.

Here's how to do it:

1. Request access to the company's version control system (e.g., GitHub, GitLab, etc.)

2. Review each developer's commit history over the past 90 days

3. Flag any developers with unusually low commit frequency or long gaps

4. Dig deeper with the flagged developers to understand root causes

Now, commits aren't a perfect productivity metric. But for this role, a complete lack of commits is a giant red flag that needs immediate investigation. It could signal anything from poor process to a lack of clarity to disengagement.

The lesson? Don't wait for obvious signs of trouble. Proactively audit for hidden drains on your resources. Your clients will thank you (and so will their bottom line).

What other metrics do you track to gauge your team's output and efficiency? Hit reply and let me know - I'm always looking for new tools to add to the kit.

Happy auditing,
Lior

P.S. These are the kinds of conversations we have in our live weekly meetups inside the CTOx Accelerator. By sharing what’s working right now across our respective niches, we get smarter faster – together. 

Lior Weinstein
Founder & Head Coach, CTOx