Fractional CTO Services for Startups & Scale-Ups

A fractional CTO joins your team part-time to own the technical roadmap, make architecture decisions, hire engineers, and sit in board meetings. You get the strategic impact of a full-time CTO for a fraction of what the seat costs, and without the commitment of filling it permanently.

01

What does a fractional CTO do?

A fractional CTO provides the same strategic leadership as a full-time CTO, but on a part-time basis. This includes owning the technology roadmap, making build-vs-buy decisions, leading architecture reviews, hiring and mentoring engineers, managing vendor relationships, and reporting to the board on technical progress and risk.

02

Who needs a fractional CTO?

Fractional CTO services are ideal for startups from pre-seed through Series A that have 2-15 engineers but are not yet ready to hire a full-time CTO. They are also valuable for scale-ups going through rapid growth, companies replacing a departing CTO, and non-technical founders who need a trusted technical partner to translate business goals into engineering execution.

03

Fractional CTO vs full-time CTO

A full-time CTO is a six-figure salary plus equity, and a three-to-six month search before anyone starts. A fractional CTO delivers the same strategic output — architecture decisions, hiring leadership, investor presentations, and technical roadmapping — for a fraction of that, starting in weeks rather than quarters. The tradeoff is availability, not seniority: you get less of the person, not a less experienced one.

04

How the engagement works

We embed into your existing team. We join your standups, own the technical roadmap, sit in your architecture reviews, and attend board meetings. Communication happens through your existing channels — Slack, Linear, Notion, or whatever your team uses. Hours are tracked and reported weekly so you always know exactly where time is going.

What is included

Technology roadmap ownership
Architecture decisions and reviews
Engineering hiring and mentoring
Board and investor reporting
Vendor and tooling evaluation
Build-vs-buy decision frameworks
Sprint planning and retrospectives
CTO search and transition support

Common questions

How many hours per month does a fractional CTO work?

It depends on the depth of involvement you need advisory engagements are lighter and focused on judgment, embedded ones are close to a full CTO workload. We agree the commitment up front and report time weekly, and there is async access between sessions either way.

Can a fractional CTO replace a full-time CTO?

For most startups from pre-seed through Series A, yes. A fractional CTO delivers the same strategic output at a fraction of the cost. As you scale past Series B, we help you hire a full-time CTO and manage the transition.

How quickly can you start?

Most engagements start within 1-2 weeks. We do a brief discovery session to understand your team, stack, and goals, then embed into your workflow immediately.

What industries do you work with?

We work with B2B SaaS, AI-first companies, fintech, healthtech, and marketplaces. Our strength is in companies building software products with engineering teams of 2-50 people.

Ready to get started?

We work with a small number of companies at a time. If this is what you need, let's have a conversation.

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