I build software people depend on.
Not just functional. Not just shipped. Built right — because the people using it don't get a second chance if it breaks.
I'm Crystal McNeil. CTO and Founding Software Engineer. I design and build systems from the ground up, lead engineering teams through hard decisions, and take full accountability for the technical direction of the products I own.
Most software problems are actually leadership problems.
A bad codebase is usually the result of bad decisions — decisions made without enough context, under the wrong kind of pressure, or by people who didn't understand what they were building and why. Good technology doesn't happen by accident. It happens when someone with both the technical depth and the strategic clarity to make the right call is actually in the room.
That's the gap I fill. I don't hand you a roadmap and disappear. I own the technical direction. When things work, that's the team's win. When they don't, that's on me.
Strategy and execution. I don't separate them.
Engineering Leadership
I lead engineering organizations — setting technical direction, making architecture calls, building teams, and holding the line on quality when there's pressure to cut corners. The buck stops here.
Full-Stack Development
React. Next.js. TypeScript. Node.js. Cloud infrastructure. I write production code across the full stack, and I build systems designed to still be maintainable by someone other than me.
Product Architecture
I build software that solves real problems, encodes domain knowledge correctly, and scales when it needs to. Simple until it can't be. Complex only when it earns it.
Consulting & Advisory
Architecture reviews, technical due diligence, CTO mentorship. If you need someone who'll tell you the truth about your technology decisions, this is what we'd do.
I write about what I actually think.
Engineering leadership, technical decisions, what founders get wrong about technology, and the things nobody puts in the post-mortem. No fluff. No content marketing. Just what I've learned from being in the room when it mattered.
Read the blogI also ship tools. React components and a desktop dev toolkit — things I built because the alternatives were annoying.
See what's in the shopLet's work on something worth building.
I take on a small number of projects and advisory engagements at a time. If what you're building matters — and you need someone who'll treat it that way — let's talk.
Get in touchI typically respond within 24 hours. If it's not a fit, I'll tell you — and I'll point you somewhere better.