Service
Fractional CTO for non-technical founders
A fractional CTO is a senior technical leader you hire part-time. I do this for founders whose software is built by an agency, a freelancer or a small team: a few calls a month plus async review, so the important technical decisions get made by someone who understands them.
Who this is for
- You run a small company, and software is central to it, but you are not an engineer.
- An agency, a freelancer or 1–10 developers build your product.
- You pay for development and can't tell if it's good, on track, or going to break.
- You don't have the budget, or the need, for a full-time CTO.
If you have a strong technical cofounder, you probably don't need me. If you need someone to manage your developers every day, you need a full-time hire, and I'll tell you so.
What a part-time CTO does for you
- Checks estimates and plans before you commit money to them.
- Makes the decisions that are hard to undo: architecture, tech stack, build vs buy, when to rewrite and when not to.
- Reviews your agency or freelancer: their proposals, code and process.
- Helps you hire: what role you actually need, and interviewing candidates you can't assess yourself.
- Translates: what your developers are saying, what it means for the business, and which questions to ask back.
How it works
A monthly engagement: 2–4 calls plus async review of documents, pull requests and proposals between calls. You get decisions and recommendations in writing, so they don't disappear after a call. For typical market rates and how to size an engagement, see how much a fractional CTO costs.
It usually starts with a code audit. I can't give good advice about a codebase I haven't seen, and the audit gives us a shared list of what matters most. If you're not sure you need either, start with a free 20-minute call.
What I don't do
- Write your product code or join your team full-time.
- Sell development services afterwards. I'm not an agency.
- Promise results I can't control. I'll tell you what I'd do and why.
Questions founders ask
- What is the difference between a fractional CTO and an interim CTO?
- An interim CTO fills the role full-time for a few months, usually while a company hires a permanent one. A fractional CTO works part-time for as long as it is useful. If your team is small and the product is built by an agency or a few developers, you rarely need someone full-time. You need someone senior to make and check the important decisions.
- Do I need a CTO at all?
- Not always. If your product is simple, your developers are good and nothing is about to change, you may not need anyone. You need technical leadership when you are making decisions you can't judge yourself: choosing or replacing an agency, hiring your first developers, planning a rewrite, preparing for fundraising, or when delivery keeps slipping and you can't tell why.
- Will you work with my agency or freelancer?
- Yes. That's the most common setup I work with. I'm not trying to replace your developers. My job is to make sure you get good work from them, and to tell you plainly if you aren't.
- Will you write code for us?
- No. I read code, review it and make technical decisions, but I don't build your product. That keeps me independent: I have nothing to sell you after I tell you what's wrong.
- How do you price a fractional CTO engagement?
- It depends on how many calls you need each month, the size of the team and how much async review is involved. I quote a fixed monthly fee after a free 20-minute intro call, so you know the cost before you commit.
Not sure what kind of help you need?
Tell me what you're building and who builds it. In 20 minutes you'll know whether a fractional CTO makes sense for you, or what to do instead.
Ask for a free 20-minute call