Balki Kodarapu

I'm Balki Kodarapu, a fractional CTO & technical advisor who helps SaaS and GenAI startups scale from $100k to $50M ARR—without burning through budgets or momentum. I’ve led six startups through hyper-growth, raised over $160M, delivered multiple exits, and built GenAI products that power pharmacists, care navigators, and Fortune 100 tech-support teams.

I specialize in stepping into chaos—engineering bottlenecks, missed ship dates, org confusion—and turning it into clarity, velocity, and meaningful business results. Over the past 9 years, I’ve led engineering at six companies (including two successful exits), often wearing every hat: hands-on EM, coach of other engineering leaders, and strategic Head of Engineering.

My edge? A relentless focus on developer effectiveness and scalable systems, plus a firm belief that high-performance starts with human performance. I push every team I work with to carve out 15+ hours/week for learning, reflection, and growth. I wake up excited about what mission-focused engineering teams can create with the right clarity, culture, and autonomy.

Outside of work, I mentor engineers and leaders, joke around with my golden retriever Finn, and devour an unreasonable number of podcasts and books. If you care about building better teams, scaling smarter, or surviving the startup trenches, I’ve got stories, scars, and context-rich lessons to share.