Zando Ward

I’m a CTO & co-founder at Leland with a background spanning software engineering, technical leadership, hiring, and startup execution. I’ve worked across frontend and full-stack engineering roles at startups ranging from seed stage to growth stage, and I’ve helped hire and mentor engineers from internship level through senior and leadership positions. My experience includes: CTO & Co-founder at Leland Former Head of Engineering leading a high-performing engineering organization Former software engineer at multiple venture-backed startups SWE internship experience at organizations including AWS Experience interviewing, hiring, mentoring, and reviewing engineers from companies like Amazon, LinkedIn, Meta, and more I’m a strong fit if you’re: Trying to break into software engineering Preparing for technical interviews Navigating internship or new grad recruiting Deciding between startups and big tech Looking to grow as a full-stack or frontend engineer Interested in engineering leadership, management, or entrepreneurship Trying to level up your technical communication and career positioning My coaching style is practical, candid, and execution-focused. I care about helping people build real technical and career leverage — not just memorize interview patterns or optimize for short-term outcomes.