Technical direction
Turn a product vision into practical architecture, priorities, and a plan your team can execute.
Fractional engineering leadership for startups
The engineering leader who can still build.
I help founders turn product ambition into sound technical decisions, a focused team, and software that actually ships.
Work directly with Zach Trayner—no agency handoff and no layer of account management.
From ambiguity
to momentum.
01
Set directionClarify the product, architecture, and next best bets.
Aligned
02
Lead the workGive the team focus, standards, and a path through tradeoffs.
Moving
03
Build and shipStay close enough to the code to remove the hardest blockers.
Live
Product signal
Strong
5products led from 0→1
10+years building software
18M+users served by web properties led
Web + mobilestrategy through delivery
Where I fit
Your startup needs leadership—and leverage.
You may not need a full-time VP of Engineering yet. You do need someone who can see the whole product, make the hard calls, lead engineers well, and get hands-on when that is the fastest path forward.
Engineering leadership
Create clarity, strengthen the team, improve delivery, and establish the standards that keep velocity healthy.
Hands-on building
Prototype the uncertain parts, own critical features, and work in the code when leadership alone will not unblock the product.
Founder partnership
Get a candid technical thought partner who understands runway, customers, hiring, and the cost of every detour.
Best fit: an early or growth-stage startup with a real product, meaningful technical decisions ahead, and a founder who wants senior ownership without premature executive overhead.
Relevant experience
Products shipped. Teams led.
Hard parts owned.
My value is not a polished agency process. It is the range to move between product strategy, engineering leadership, and execution without losing the thread.
0→1 product leadershipThe Skills
Led the development of five new products.
As VP of Engineering, I helped take three web apps, a cross-platform mobile app, and a public website from concept through launch while building and managing the engineering team behind them.
- Product and technical direction
- Hiring and team leadership
- Hands-on delivery
Complex product deliveryCarketa
Owned core workflows for an automotive SaaS platform.
Led major features across vehicle shipping and payments integrations, reminders, dashboards, and customer-facing workflows using React, Next.js, and TypeScript.
Product-led sales enablementBeyond Signal
Built a demo experience that helped create demand.
Led frontend engineering and created a compelling product demo mode that contributed to three booked sales appointments within two weeks.
Mobile operations productWize Solutions
Delivered a field app for warehouse installations.
Built a mobile product that helps crews manage installation projects, capture bills of lading, and keep material details close to the work.
View the Android appAlso: engineering and platform leadership at Tava Health, Mattermost, and Lucid—where the web properties I led served more than 18 million users.
How I work
Leadership close enough to the product to matter.
I operate where founders often feel the most friction: between what the business needs, what the product promises, and what engineering can responsibly deliver.
- 01
Find the real constraint.
Before adding people or code, identify what is actually slowing the company down.
- 02
Make the hard decisions early.
Surface tradeoffs while they are still inexpensive and give the team a clear direction.
- 03
Ship in visible increments.
Create momentum founders, engineers, and customers can see and learn from.
- 04
Leave the company stronger.
Build the product and the engineering habits that make the next stage easier.
About Zach
Builder, engineering leader, and founder.
I’m Zach Trayner. Over the last decade, I’ve worked as an engineer, manager, VP of Engineering, and founder—leading teams and building web and mobile products from the earliest decisions through real-world use.
Pega Digital is how I partner directly with startups that need experienced technical ownership. I care about good systems and clean code, but the point is always a stronger product, a more effective team, and a business that can move with confidence.
Start a conversation
Need an engineering leader who can help build the next stage?
Tell me where the product is, what is getting difficult, and what a better next six months would look like. A rough note is enough.
Email zach@pegadigital.com