Portico
EdTech · Embedded Delivery Partner
24 initiatives in 9 months
I take the Success team's customer requests from plan to deploy while core engineering stays on the roadmap. The reports and fixes I ship leave Portico's clients happier.
Your roadmap is bigger than your team.
I'm Fadee Kannah, technical co-founder of CourseKey, where I built the platform from concept to scale. I join SaaS teams and build what they need next, from customer requests to AI features. Your team reviews everything I write before it ships.
See how I work
Free · no prep needed · proposal in 48h
Built for SaaS teams with a live product. Building a first version instead? That's a fixed-scope project.
18+Years building software companies
$100M+Raised by companies I’ve built for$30M CourseKey · ~$70M American Growth Insurance
2US patents as co-inventor
Sound familiar?
The teams I get called in for usually say one of these.
“Customers keep asking for things our engineers can’t get to.”
Custom reports, integrations, documentation. Your engineers belong on the roadmap, and your customers shouldn’t have to wait.
How it went at Portico“We want AI inside the app we already have, not a separate tool.”
A demo on the side is easy. In your product it has to work with your sign-in and be safe to put in front of customers.
See the assistant I built for American Growth Insurance“We need something real to show investors, and we need it in weeks.”
Slides won’t hold up in diligence. Investors and early customers want to use a working product, not hear about one.
How it went at American Growth Insurance
What changed for them
Each of these started as one of the situations above.
Portico, embedded retainer case studyRedacted screenshots 
American Growth Insurance
Insurance · Fixed-Scope Project
4 weeks to a working AI assistant inside their app
They used it with about 10 design-partner agencies while in stealth, then launched with ~$70M from Atomic and Rockbridge Growth Equity.
Read the case study
Three ways to work together
Start with an assessment if you’re not sure what you need. Go straight to a project or a retainer if you are. Pricing comes in a written proposal within 48 hours of our free call.
Delivery Assessment
When delivery is stuck and you’re not sure what to fix first.
- You get
- a written plan: what to fix, in what order, and the risks along the way.
- You need
- an active roadmap and time with the engineers who ship it.
- What shapes the scope
- How much of your workflow I review, and whether a small proof of value fits safely inside the two weeks.
Fixed-Scope Project
When you can say what done looks like before we start.
- You get
- an MVP, a feature, or a rebuild, shipped to production.
- You need
- a clear definition of done and someone who can decide scope with me.
- What defines done
- Before work starts, we write down the scope, who owns what, and how we’ll know it worked. The work happens in your repo, on your CI, or in a new repo I set up for you.
- Case study
- American Growth Insurance: a 4-week build inside their existing app.
Embedded Delivery Partner
When the work keeps coming and nobody on your team has room for it.
- You get
- a senior engineer who owns a stream of work from planning to deploy.
- You need
- access to your repo and team chat.
- How it works
- I join your meetings and code review like anyone else on the team. Nothing ships without your engineers’ approval.
- Case study
- Portico: ongoing for two years.
Need a technical leader more than extra hands? I also work as a fractional CTO on architecture, roadmap, and growing your team. Bring it up on the call.
What people I’ve worked with say
Luke Sophinos
Fadee is a code magician. He can turn any idea into reality in a scalable way. And he’s been doing it with me for more than a decade. Not only is Fadee insanely talented and hard working, but he exemplifies the best of humanity - he’s thoughtful, genuine, and really cares about his work and his contribution. I’ve been beyond blessed to work with Fadee and will continue to do so at any opportunity.
CEO & Founder
Anthony Bull
Looking for a 10xer? Look no further. Fadee has been one of the best I've worked with over the course of my career. Curious, determined, passionate, resilient, communicative, caring, and gritty, he's phenomenal at the software game and a joy to work with. We partnered well to tackle the people, process, and architecture aspects of Engineering, with all engineers admiring his technical abilities. Their loyalty has been reflective of his to them and the company.
SourceVP of Engineering
Cathy Pucher
Fadee is an exceptional CTO and entrepreneur. I have known him for close to 10 years. Besides being crazy smart, he is exceptionally generous with his time. He is passionate about giving back and mentoring future technologists. He inspires others and his journey has inspired me.
Executive Director
Before you book
Who owns the code?
You do. The work happens in your repo, and your engineers review every pull request before it merges.
What access do you need?
Your repo and your CI if you have them, and someone who can decide scope with me. If you have no engineers yet, I set up the repo and hand it over. Nobody has to reorganize around me.
Do you only do AI work?
No. At Portico it was reporting and LMS integrations. American Growth Insurance needed an AI assistant, so that’s what I built.
What does it cost?
It depends on the scope, so the price comes in the written proposal, within 48 hours of our call. The call is free.
Tell me what you’re trying to ship.
Free · no prep needed · proposal in 48h
Prefer to write?
Send a message and I'll reply within 48 hours.