The tech leader your
business needs —
without the hire.
I run the tech side of your business — websites, e-commerce, data, automation, AI — so the decisions you shouldn't be making alone get made by someone who's done it before. You get back to running the company.
You know all the tech stuff you're supposed to be on top of but never have time for? I run it for you.
A fractional CTO is a senior tech leader who runs your technology part-time — for a fraction of a full-time salary. Not a freelancer you hand a single task to. The person who decides what to build, what to fix, what to buy, and where AI actually pays off. In plain terms: tech leadership, without the six-figure hire.
Built for the awkward middle.
Too big to keep duct-taping the tech yourself. Too small to justify a full-time tech hire. That gap is exactly where I live.
You're losing customers somewhere between "found you online" and "booked the job" — and you can't see where.
Your website, tools, and data have become a patchwork that nobody fully understands or controls.
You keep getting sold tactics — ads, SEO, another new site — when what you need is one person steering the whole picture.
Three jobs. One operator.
Diagnose what's wrong, build what's needed, and lead the tech decisions so you don't have to make them alone.
Diagnose
I map your whole customer journey and find exactly where leads, money, and time are leaking out — before a dollar gets spent fixing anything.
Build
Websites, e-commerce, automation, data migrations, AI workflows — built right the first time, and built so growth doesn't break them.
Lead
Ongoing tech leadership: vendor calls, roadmap, "do we need that new system," "is this AI tool actually worth it." The judgment that turns a vendor into a partner.
Straight answers on AI.
Everyone's selling you AI right now. My job is to tell you the truth — where it'll actually move the needle for a business like yours, where it's a shiny distraction, and what's worth doing first. Then I build the parts that pay off, and skip the parts that don't.
I'd rather show you than tell you.
Four recent engagements — the kind of depth a web designer can't fake.
Half the catalog vanished in a migration. I proved it, line by line.
Gaber & Company — a long-running watch & jewelry parts supplier with a ~7,900-product catalog — had their whole store migrated to a new platform when the old one was shut down. More than half of it quietly disappeared in the move. Chris could see products and images had gone missing, and brought in SteelPixels to find out how deep the damage ran. I checked his master source files against what actually survived the move, product by product, and the verdict was undeniable — more than half the catalog was gone. Now I'm rebuilding the whole store clean from those source files, so nothing gets left behind a second time.
APLS, Inc. — a respected supply yard, built to run its own store
A family-owned landscape & hardscape supplier in western PA, trusted since 1989, had been running on a cobbled-together site with no real search foundation. I rebuilt the storefront and the order-management back end behind it so orders, statuses, customers, catalog, and pricing can live in one place. The site is built for the team to manage themselves after launch — without paying agency rates for every edit.
Jurassic Junk Removal — a five-star reputation, leads quietly slipping away
A hauler running the Pittsburgh business and a Chicago expansion, with a 5.0-star reputation — and contact forms that had been silently failing, plus office tech broken for months. I fixed it on the spot, consolidated and verified their Google presence, and I'm rebuilding both sites with a dashboard so no lead ever vanishes again. Tracy now calls me his go-to tech partner.
Fitz Plumbing — 90+ five-star reviews and no website to back them up
A Pittsburgh plumber with nearly 90 five-star reviews earned by word of mouth — and no website to point them to. I built a fast, mobile-first site with tap-to-call and cleaned up his Google presence, so the reputation he'd already built finally shows up online and helps turn searchers into callers.
Step into both technical and operational challenges.
"Jason came in, quickly understood the situation, and got to work with a level of focus and expertise that was immediately reassuring. Clear communication, no fluff, and a genuine commitment to getting things done right. It's rare to find someone who can step into both technical and operational challenges and handle them this efficiently."
"SteelPixels helped boost my trade business to the next level. Word of mouth is great but Jason was able to help me upload my work onto a website and most customers I talk to compliment the website and ultimately that it led them to giving us a call. Jason from SteelPixels knows his stuff."
Every engagement starts with the Leak Map.
Before I touch anything, I find where your business is actually losing customers. It's how I make sure we fix the leak that's costing you the most — not just the one that's easiest to see.
Found
They're searching for exactly what you do — and finding everyone except you.
Trusted
They find you, but something feels off, so they go with a competitor instead.
Contacted
They try to reach you — and the message goes nowhere, or nobody follows up.
Followed Up
They're interested, but by the time anyone follows up, they've moved on.
Booked
They're ready to buy, but checkout, booking, or payment is a hassle — so they hesitate.
Reviewed
The work goes great, but nobody asks for the review — so the next customer never hears about it.
Start small. Scale into a partnership.
A journey, not a price list. Most relationships start with a free Leak Map, then move into the right next step — a Roadmap, a Build, or ongoing leadership. You'll always know the number before any work begins.
Free Leak Map
A lightweight, outside-in look at your website, Google presence, reviews, and how customers reach you. You get the top 3–5 places you're leaking customers, and the first fix worth making. No logins, no pressure.
Tech Roadmap
A deeper paid diagnostic for messy systems, e-commerce, migrations, automation, or decisions where guessing gets expensive. Credited toward the project if you move forward within 30 days.
Build
Clean, credible websites can start simple. Stores, migrations, automations, dashboards, and complex rebuilds are scoped after your Leak Map or Roadmap so the work is clear before it starts.
Lead
Ongoing tech leadership: roadmap, vendor calls, AI/data/automation decisions, and support — month to month, scaled to your business.
One operator. Pittsburgh-based. Accountable.
SteelPixels is me — Jason. I'm not an agency that hands you off to a junior account manager after the sales call. When you work with me, you get me: the person who runs the diagnosis, builds the systems, and picks up the phone when something breaks.
I work with small and mid-sized businesses across Pittsburgh and beyond — suppliers, trades, e-commerce, local service companies. Most of my work comes by referral, which is exactly how I like it. It keeps me honest, and it means I only take on work I can actually do well.
The promise is simple: plain language, no jargon, no runaround. I'll tell you what I'd do if it were my business — even when that means telling you not to spend money yet.
The honest answers.
What does a fractional CTO actually cost?
Do you only work with Pittsburgh businesses?
What if I already have a web person?
Do I actually own what you build?
Am I locked into a contract?
The Foundation engagement.
If you're building a business from scratch, the fractional-CTO move is to do it right from the start — before tech decisions you'll have to undo later. The Foundation engagement is the same role, scoped to where you are: a real setup of your website, your tools, and how they connect, so you grow on a foundation instead of patches.
Talk about a Foundation engagementLet's find your leaks.
A free Leak Map, no pressure. I'll show you exactly where your business is losing customers — and you decide what to do about it.