Backchannel

Get advice from someone who knows your business

When your business depends on technology, you regularly need to assess decisions outside your expertise. You might be questioning a six-week feature estimate, a proposed migration or rewrite, or a 40% increase in your AWS bill.

Backchannel gives you access to an experienced advisor who understands your situation and can help you make those decisions, without hiring another employee.

How does Backchannel work?

We'll start with a kickoff call so I can learn about your business, tech stack, team and plans. That will give me the context I need when you ask for advice.

You can then message me on Slack whenever a question comes up. I'll respond within one business day, usually sooner, so you can get advice without scheduling a call.

I'll keep track of our discussions and what you've already tried, so you won't need to explain your business and tech stack each time you ask a question.

What can I ask about?

You can ask me anything technical, but typical topics include:

• Whether a developer's estimate sounds reasonable
• Which vendor or tool to choose and why
• Whether a proposed architecture makes sense for your size
• What went wrong after an outage and how to prevent it
• Resume and hiring advice for technical roles
• Whether your cloud costs are normal or out of control
• Where AI actually makes sense for your business
• Whether your outsourced team is being straight with you
• How to evaluate proposals, contracts, and technical claims
• Security concerns and what to prioritise

Who is Backchannel designed for?

Backchannel is probably a good fit if:

• You have a technical team (in-house or outsourced) and need someone senior to sanity-check their work
• You're a CTO or technical lead who wants a trusted, independent sounding board
• You don't need a full-time CTO but you do need reliable technical judgment on demand
• You prefer async communication over scheduling calls
• You value having someone who knows your specific situation

This is probably not for you if:

• You need someone to manage your team, write code, or attend meetings
• You need on-call production support
• You're facing a big, defined problem that needs a proper investigation. A Technical Assessment is better for that
• You just need help with a single decision. Advice & Unblocking is built for that

Questions

How quickly do you respond?
I'll respond within one business day, and often sooner.

Is there a limit on how many questions I can ask?
There's no hard limit, but ideally send one question at a time.

Can we jump on a call sometimes?
The kickoff is the only call included. After that, we'll communicate through Slack.

What if I don't have questions for a while?
If you know you won't need advice for a while, you can pause or cancel your subscription.

Why Slack?
Many people already use it and it works well for this type of communication.

Can I email you instead?
Yes, but Slack is best to get a faster response.

Is this for one person or my whole team?
You'll nominate one point of contact so I can follow the discussions and understand the context when answering.

Can I pause my subscription?
Yes. You can pause for full months. Just let me know before your next billing period.

How long is the engagement?
I recommend six months, which gives me time to learn your business and advise you as it develops.

Have another question?
Email me at joe@joeniland.com and I'll reply ASAP.

How do I get started?

The fee for Backchannel is AUD $1,500/mo ex GST. I recommend a six-month engagement, which we can extend by agreement. If it's not working for you after your first month, I'll refund that month in full.

Not sure?

If you're not confident Backchannel is the right fit, start with an Advice & Unblocking call. It's a good way to experience what it's like to work with me. If you decide you want ongoing access afterwards, we can set up Backchannel then.

Space is limited

To keep my response quality high, I only take on a limited number of Backchannel clients at a time.