Second Opinion on Expensive Technology Decisions

Before you spend serious money on technology, get a second opinion.

I independently review software, AI, app and vendor decisions for owners and CEOs before the money moves. I do not sell development and I do not sell software, so my only incentive is getting the decision right.

Vendor and agency proposals AI initiatives App and software builds Build, buy, or neither Late or over-budget projects

If one of these sounds like this week

“We have three proposals and no way to tell which one is right.” $80k, $240k and $600k for the same project. Each one priced a different amount of your risk. I tell you which assumptions moved the number.

“Everyone keeps telling me we need an AI strategy.” Which part of the initiative actually needs AI, what it changes in the business, and what a $20 a month tool would have done.

“My team says we need an app. Do we?” Usually not. When you do, what the smallest version that proves it looks like, and who should build it.

“The project is six months late and I cannot tell what is actually wrong.” Fix it, cut scope, replace the team, or stop. Decided against what runs on your data, not against a status report.

“Our vendor says we need the custom version.” Of course they do. What an off-the-shelf tool would fail at for your business, specifically, and whether the process should change instead.

“We are about to sign for three years.” Data ownership, portability, the API, termination assistance, who holds the credentials. The exit clause, read before the entry.

Everyone you can ask gets paid if the answer is yes

Ask the agency whether you need the build. Yes. Ask the vendor whether you need the platform. Yes. Ask the AI consultancy whether you need an AI initiative. Definitely. Your CTO, if you have one, is often the person who proposed it.

None of them is lying. Each of them was hired to answer “can we”, and you are asking “should we”.

The vendor

Wants you to buy. Knows the product better than anyone in the room and is the least neutral person in it.

The agency

Wants you to build. Its estimate is also its revenue, and nobody prices their own upside conservatively.

The consultancy

Wants a larger engagement. The proposal covers all four parts of the problem because it sells all four.

Me

Paid a fixed fee to find out whether any of them are right. No implementation behind the recommendation, no referral fees, no preferred vendor.

I am on your side of the table. That is the whole product.

Start here: the Second Opinion One decision. $5,000, fixed. Two weeks. A written verdict and a call where I defend it.

See the Second Opinion

You bring one consequential decision: a proposal, a contract, a build, an AI initiative, a platform. I read everything, talk to the people involved, challenge the assumptions, price the alternatives including doing nothing, and tell you what I would do if it were my money. You get it in writing: decision, evidence, options, recommendation, risks, next actions.

What owners remember

Clarity

“Working with Giacomo gave us clarity and direction we had not found elsewhere. His insights and strategic approach saved us countless hours and dollars.”

CEO · which option was right

Momentum

“Our launch was stuck in a loop of delays until Giacomo stepped in. With his help, we launched three months ahead of schedule.”

Founder and CEO · a late project, rescued

Better judgment

“His strategic insights were invaluable when we restructured our app's subscription model. His guidance helped us avoid an expensive misstep.”

COO · an expensive misstep, avoided

Trusted backup

“No agency we worked with could match the expertise, reliability, and speed Giacomo provided. We finally had the clarity we needed to move forward with confidence.”

CTO · vendor oversight

Giacomo Balli

The Second Opinion