Today we’d like to introduce you to Eliseo Robles.
Hi Eliseo, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Started younger than most people expect. I was 14, running Minecraft servers out of my bedroom. Shimencraft. Taught myself everything—Linux administration, community management, monetization. Learned pretty quickly that people will pay more for a purple name than for actual gameplay advantages. That stuck with me.
From there I got obsessed with building things that worked. Not just technically—things that people would actually pay for and use.
My first real startup was an EdTech platform in Mexico. We served over 5,000 students in underserved communities. That exit changed how I thought about everything. Technology has to deliver outcomes. Real ones. Not pitch deck metrics.
Did some time in Europe—internship with LafargeHolcim, ran the Goodwall Ambassador Program in Switzerland. Picked up business coursework at Harvard and Cornell along the way. But honestly the real education was shipping production systems and watching what actually moved the needle for clients.
Now I run Robles Consulting as a Virtual CTO practice. 30+ production systems delivered. Technical due diligence on $50M+ in M&A and fundraising. I also serve as CTO at Nurivatech.ai where I lead an 18-person engineering org doing computer vision and ML.
The through line is pretty simple: I like building things that work and helping other people do the same. No fluff. Just execution.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The first real wall I hit was at Schwab. I came in, executed well, got promoted faster than most. Then I stalled. Not because of performance—my numbers were there. But I kept hearing variations of “you need X years in role” before the next step. Didn’t matter that I was already doing the work. The system wanted tenure, not results.
That was frustrating. You’re delivering, you’re coordinating offshore teams across time zones, you’re mentoring engineers who’ve been in the industry longer than you’ve been alive—and someone’s telling you to wait your turn.
That experience pushed me toward consulting. I realized I didn’t want to climb a ladder where the rungs were measured in years served instead of value delivered. I wanted to build things where execution was the only metric that mattered.
Starting Robles Consulting had its own struggles. Getting taken seriously when you’re young. Clients questioning whether you’ve “seen enough” to advise on their systems. You learn to let the work speak. Show up, ship something that works, and suddenly the age conversation disappears.
The Minecraft server days actually helped with that—I’d been running businesses and managing communities since I was 14. By the time I was pitching enterprise clients, I had almost a decade of actually building things. Just not in the format people expected.
Every wall I’ve hit came down to the same thing: people wanting credentials over proof. I just kept shipping until the proof was undeniable.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We’re a Virtual CTO practice. I embed with founders and leadership teams to build, fix, or scale their technology—without the $400k+ salary and 18-month commitment of a full-time hire.
Most of our work falls into three buckets:
Technical due diligence for investors and acquirers. VCs and PE firms bring us in before they write checks. We’ve supported $50M+ in M&A and fundraising evaluations—digging into codebases, architecture, team structure, and technical debt. We tell them what’s real and what’s smoke.
Fractional CTO engagements. Startups that need senior technical leadership but aren’t ready for a full-time exec. I come in, set the architecture, build the team, establish the processes—then either hand it off or stick around in an advisory capacity.
Production delivery. We’ve shipped 30+ systems across AI/ML, mobile, and web. Not prototypes. Production software with real users and real revenue attached.
What sets us apart is the operating model. We run a strategic mix of US-based engineers and LATAM contractors through SOW-based engagements. That means we can spin up specialized talent fast, scale down when the sprint’s done, and keep costs sane. No bench-warming. No bloated retainers.
The other thing—we do shared-risk pricing when it makes sense. Especially on proof-of-value engagements. If we don’t deliver, you don’t pay full freight. That aligns incentives in a way most consultancies won’t touch.
Proudest of the trust we’ve built. Clients come back. Investors refer us to their portfolio companies. That doesn’t happen if you’re just another agency pushing hours.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I ran my first profitable business at 14. Minecraft servers.
Shimencraft. I taught myself Linux administration, set up the infrastructure, built the community, figured out monetization. When users wanted custom features, I taught myself Java to write plugins for them. That was my introduction to real programming—not a classroom, just players asking for things and me figuring out how to build it.
At peak we had hundreds of active players and I was clearing real money as a teenager.
The wildest part? I learned more about business from that than most MBA courses cover. Discovered that people will pay more for status than utility—a purple name in chat outsold actual gameplay advantages every time. Learned that your most problematic users sometimes make your best moderators if you give them ownership. Figured out pricing psychology, community management, churn, all of it.
Also learned some harder lessons. There’s a weird ethical tension in monetizing kids’ desire for social status. I think about that a lot now when I’m advising on product strategy and growth mechanics.
By the time I started “real” companies, I already had almost a decade of building and selling things under my belt. People see the consulting practice and the CTO title and assume it started with a CS degree and a corporate ladder. It started with a kid in his bedroom trying to keep game servers online and figuring out why people buy things.
That’s probably why I’m allergic to theory without execution. I’ve been shipping since before I could drive.
Pricing:
- Technical Due Diligence — Flat fee based on scope. Typically $5k-15k for a full code review, architecture assessment, and investment memo. Turnaround in 1-2 weeks.
- Fractional CTO / Advisory — Monthly retainer. Ranges from $3k-10k/month depending on hours and intensity. Most clients start at 10-20 hours/month.
- Production Delivery — Project-based SOWs. We scope a proof-of-value phase first, usually $10k-25k over 2-4 weeks. If it works, we continue. If it doesn’t, you’re not deep in the hole.
- Shared-Risk Pricing — For the right fit, we’ll discount upfront fees in exchange for success bonuses or equity. Aligns incentives. We only win if you win.
- We don’t do hourly billing for ongoing work. It creates bad incentives on both sides.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://roblesconsultingllc.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/robles-consulting-llc/
