Reduce technical
execution risk
in your portfolio.
Most early-stage startup failures come down to engineering — wrong architecture, wrong developers, no technical leadership. Foundry works with angel investors to identify and address technical risk before it becomes a write-off.
Portfolio startup built on poor architecture
Founders made technical decisions without engineering leadership
No way to assess technical health objectively
You're evaluating engineering claims without a senior technical lens
Technical due diligence before you invest
Independent assessment of architecture, team, and technical risk
Ongoing technical oversight post-investment
Your portfolio companies get engineering leadership — your capital works harder
Our team has worked with
The problem
Technical failure is the
leading cause of early-stage
startup loss.
Angel investors evaluate market size, founder quality, and product vision — all of which matter. But technical execution is the factor that most often turns a promising investment into a write-off. Poor architecture decisions made at the start are expensive to fix later, and most founders don't know they've made them.
Having a technical partner who can look at a startup's engineering with senior eyes — before and after you invest — is one of the highest-leverage risk management tools available at the early stage.
"We had no way to evaluate whether what they were building was any good. The pitch was excellent. The codebase was a disaster."— Angel investor, SaaS portfolio
This is one of the most common situations we encounter. Founders who can sell the vision but haven't made sound technical decisions. By the time it shows up in the metrics, significant capital has already been spent on the wrong foundation.
What we offer investors
Two ways we work with
angel investors.
Technical Due Diligence
Before you commit capital, we assess the technical foundation of a startup you're considering. You get an independent, senior engineering perspective on whether the product is built to last — or built to fail.
Portfolio Technical Oversight
After you've invested, we provide ongoing engineering leadership to your portfolio companies — reducing execution risk, improving product quality, and helping founders make better technical decisions throughout the build.
Working together
Simple to engage.
No complexity on your side.
We don't ask for complex arrangements or long-term commitments. The process is straightforward — you bring us a startup, we assess it and tell you what we find. If you want ongoing oversight for your portfolio, we can structure that too.
Every engagement starts with a conversation. No upfront commitment required to have an initial discussion about a specific startup or a portfolio situation.
Book an Investor CallInitial conversation
You share context on the startup or portfolio situation. We discuss whether a technical assessment would be valuable and what it would cover.
Technical assessment
We conduct a thorough review of the startup's codebase, architecture, infrastructure, and team. Typically completed within 1–2 weeks.
Findings report
A written report covering what we found, what it means for the investment, and — if issues exist — what it would take to fix them.
Debrief call
We walk you through the findings and answer questions. If ongoing technical oversight makes sense, we discuss what that looks like.
Ongoing oversight (optional)
If you want us embedded as the fractional CTO for a portfolio company, we structure a separate engagement directly with the startup.
Why trust our assessment
30+ years of enterprise
systems. Real startup
execution experience.
Technical due diligence is only as good as the engineers conducting it. Our team brings 30+ years of enterprise-grade engineering experience — including work for IBM, Morgan Stanley, Toyota, and GM — alongside direct experience building and launching startup products.
We know what a solid architecture looks like, what a problematic one costs to fix, and how to tell the difference between a founder who understands their technical decisions and one who's guessing.
Let's talk about your
portfolio.
If you have a startup you're considering investing in — or one in your portfolio where you're not sure about the technical foundation — book a call and let's discuss whether a technical assessment makes sense.
No obligation, no pitch. A real conversation about a specific technical situation.
Book an Investor CallWhat to expect on the call
A 30-minute focused conversation. We'll ask about the startup, the technical situation, and what you're trying to understand. You'll leave with a clear sense of whether an assessment would add value.