30 Years of Building. One Year of Rebuilding.
CTO. Founder. Pilot. Builder of things that work.
The Story
Three decades as a Founder, Partner, Builder and Operator in and around PE/VC-backed companies. Architecture decisions, team building, board-level technical communication, and the kind of pattern recognition that only comes from doing it for 30 years.
Then AI changed everything. Not gradually — violently. The entire development paradigm shifted this year. Code went from bottleneck to commodity. The new constraint became problem definition — the one thing that still requires human judgment, business acumen, and decades of scar tissue.
Silverback CTO was born from that shift. The Velocity Process is the methodology. The 30-day challenge is the public proof. And the consulting practice is the delivery vehicle for PE/VC-backed companies that need senior technical leadership at AI speed.
Current Ventures
Silverback CTO
Consulting CTO and Venture Partner engagements for PE/VC-backed companies. Board-level technical leadership at AI speed.
Learn more →Silverback Ventures
AI-native venture studio. Equity partnerships and co-founding on high-signal problems where the Velocity Process gives an unfair speed advantage. Opening publicly Day 30.
The Velocity Process →CogleGroup
AI-native services firm — a software company masquerading as a services firm. Three product lines underneath: CounselExpress (Day 10), ChamberAdvance (Day 11), PlanCheckers (Day 12). Co-led with Jim Hasty as general partner.
coglegroup.com →Essays
Long-form writing on the AI-native operating model — venture studio mechanics, the Velocity Process, what changes when code stops being the bottleneck. toddmerrill.substack.com
Tales From The Sky Lounge
A business podcast for PE/VC operators and founders. Conversations about building, scaling, and the uncomfortable truths about technology leadership.
Also a certificated commercial pilot. Pattern recognition at altitude.