Free tools
The tools we wish we’d had. Yours to use.
Twenty years of scorecards, checklists, and playbooks built to answer the questions we kept getting asked. Grouped by whether you need to read the state, make the thing, or get help running it. No account, no follow-up.
Not sure which?
Tell us who you are, we’ll point you at the right ones.
One question Who are you?
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Two shelves of tools. Skip to the one that fits what you’re doing.
Diligence & Assessment
Score first. Decide later.
Tech-risk scoring, AI-readiness, pre-acquisition diligence. The self-serve versions of the reads we run on paid engagements.
3 tools Explore diligence tools →Engineering Leadership
Two tools deep, because it’s where our fractional engagements teach us the most.
The merged First 90 Days playbook (timeline, quick-win rubric, comms templates), plus the cross-functional team assessment.
2 tools Explore leadership tools →Assess it
Know what you have, cost the plan.
When you want this done properly rather than self-scored, see the paid work.
Scorecard · Interactive
Portfolio Tech-Risk Scorecard
Score a portfolio company or target on tech risk across six dimensions in ten minutes.
Use itScorecard · Interactive
AI-Readiness Audit
Six-dimension self-assessment of whether your data foundation can support AI.
Use itChecklist · Interactive
Pre-Acquisition Tech Diligence Checklist
40 diligence questions across 8 sections, sorted held up, unclear, or red flag in the browser, 5 deal-changer red flags, an IC-ready verdict, printable for the data room.
Use itGet help running it
Inside your team.
When you want this done properly rather than self-scored, see the paid work.
Self-score · Interactive
Cross-Functional Team Assessment
Product team or feature factory? A live self-score with one verdict, and the 30-60-90 plan to fix what it finds.
Use itPlaybook · Interactive
The First 90 Days Playbook
The whole first quarter in one place, week-by-week timeline, an interactive quick-win scorer, and the communication cadence that carries the quarter.
Use itWould you like us to do this for you?
When you want the written review, not the self-score.
AI, minus the hype
Free AI Tools & Guides
More expertise than tool, and we are happy to give it away. The teams we embed into use these guides as well. Everything here is free, because the high bar we set is higher than the gate. No account, no follow-up.
See all free AI tools & guidesInfographic
Build a Product for $0
A free-first model map for every phase of the product cycle, ideation to ship. Which free model does each job, when to pay, and the best upgrade when the stakes are high.
View the model mapScorecard · Interactive
AI-Readiness Audit
A six-dimension self-assessment of whether your data foundation can actually support AI. Score it in the browser, get a verdict, no account needed.
Score your readinessGuide
The AI tag isn’t a strategy
Why sticking AI on the roadmap is not a plan, and the questions worth asking before the budget follows the buzzword.
Read the guideGuide
Not all AI is created equal
The difference between AI that ships value and AI that ships demos, and how to tell which one you are being sold.
Read the guideGuide
How to improve LLM uptime
Practical steps for keeping LLM-backed features reliable in production, from fallbacks to monitoring.
Read the guideGuide
AI won’t replace engineers, but it will replace engineering leaders
What AI actually changes about engineering leadership, and the gap between the leaders who adapt and the ones who get replaced.
Read the guideGuide
Beyond ChatGPT: documentation and developer success
Using LLMs past the chat box: documentation, onboarding, and developer-success use cases that actually stick.
Read the guide