We don't take a fixed equity stake up front. Instead, every invoice under the partnership carries a discounted rate - and the difference accumulates as equity credits on a shared, transparent ledger we both sign off on each billing period. Those credits only convert into actual equity later, when a real event (funding round, acquisition, or IPO) occurs. So the honest answer is: it depends how long we work together and how the engagement resolves, not a flat percentage decided on day one.

Most partnerships combine a modest equity stake with discounted service rates — not free work in exchange for pure equity. This keeps Teknika financially sustainable so we can commit real senior time to your product, while still giving you a lower-cost, lower-risk path than hiring a full-time CTO or paying full agency rates. The exact mix of equity and discounted fees is set during the Partnership Assessment based on your company's stage and runway.

We partner with early-stage founders who have a real product, a credible go-to-market plan, and a genuine gap in technical leadership — not just an idea on a slide. Strong fits typically have committed founders, some traction or a funded runway, and a business where software or AI is core to the product, not a side feature. We work across web, mobile, AI/automation, and connected hardware-software products.

Because each partnership requires real equity and long-term commitment from our team, we take on a limited number of new partnerships each year. We'd rather say no to a founder who isn't the right fit than stretch our technical leadership too thin across too many companies — that's how "single point of failure" risk creeps back in, which defeats the purpose of the model.

If you already have strong, dedicated technical leadership in place, you may still value the arrangement to secure steeply discounted services.

Where we add the most value is when you're technical enough to be dangerous but don't have the bandwidth to own architecture, hiring, and delivery simultaneously, or when your current technical leadership needs reinforcement across domains (AI, hardware integration, staff augmentation) that a single CTO can't cover alone.

AI tools like Cursor, Lovable, Bolt, and Replit are great for proving an idea fast — they're not built to carry a company through fundraising, scaling, or a security review. Most vibe-coded prototypes hit a wall where the codebase needs to be rebuilt properly before it can support real users or investor due diligence. A technical partner's job is to make sure you don't hit that wall at the worst possible moment — mid-raise, mid-launch, or mid-outage.

Obviously, situation dependent. However, this is a primary benefit of a partner rather than a vendor. Our interests are perfectly alligned and the typical "vendor management overhead" is drastically reduced.

That is a realistic concern, from both sides. Because of this our partnership agreement has an activation threshold. Below that threshold, discounts are conditional — if the engagement ends early, the difference between our standard rate and what you paid is billed back at standard rates on a payment plan, rather than converting to equity. Above the threshold, your credits are either converted at the next triggering event or bought out on a structured schedule if no event occurs. Either way, the terms are set upfront in the Technical Partnership Agreement so there's no ambiguity later.

Partner companies also get access to Teknika's broader force multipliers: prototyping and manufacturing introductions through our hardware partners, warm introductions to VC partners in our network, staff augmentation and offshore team support for non-technical hires, and automation/AI implementation for operational processes. We ultimately see ourselves as a business success partner.

A fractional CTO typically gives you technical leadership without execution — you still need to hire and manage a build team. A dev agency gives you execution without the long-term aligned incentives — they get paid whether your company succeeds or not. Teknika's model combines technical leadership, execution, and a credit-based equity structure in one relationship, so our incentives are aligned with your company's long-term success, not just the invoice.

Three short documents, all prepared by us and brought to you ready to review: a Technical Partnership Agreement covering the equity structure and engagement terms, a Discount Ledger Addendum that both sides countersign each billing period to track credits, and a Conversion Notice that's only used if and when a triggering event actually occurs. You're welcome to have your own attorney review everything before signing.