Fractional CTO
For US Startups

Direction

Technical decisions stop drifting

Fuzzy product goals and competing engineering opinions get resolved into a direction the team can actually execute.

Execution

Roadmaps become more realistic

Scope gets narrowed, dependencies surface early, and delivery pressure stops turning into technical debt.

Hiring

Engineer decisions get better

Role design, candidate evaluation, and seniority calibration — so you stop making $150K+ bets on the wrong technical profile.

Technical Roadmap

Prioritised delivery planning and scope management so the roadmap reflects business reality, not wishful engineering.

Architecture Decisions

Stack choices, scaling paths, migration planning, and technical risk assessment before problems get expensive.

Hiring Support

Role design, technical screening, and offer calibration so you hire the right level at the right time.

Vendor and Agency Oversight

Independent review of external partners so quality is evaluated against your goals, not their sales pitch.

Investor Diligence Prep

Architecture documentation, technical risk summary, and presentation support for fundraising rounds.

Hands-on When Needed

When the fastest path is to build or unblock directly, I can move from strategy into execution without a handoff.

Avoid the premature executive hire

A full-time CTO at seed or early Series A often costs $250K–$350K plus equity before you know what you actually need from the role. A fractional CTO gives you the same decision quality at a fraction of that commitment.

Keep founder time on the business

Non-technical founders often absorb CTO work by default — tech decisions, developer management, architecture choices. That time should be on customers and growth, not engineering coordination.

Reduce the risk of expensive technical mistakes

Early architecture choices are permanent much longer than people expect. Having senior guidance before those decisions gets made is far cheaper than fixing them later.

Get accountability on your development vendors

Many US startups use agencies or freelancers without a technical leader to evaluate the work. A fractional CTO provides that independent check before problems accumulate.

Prepare for your next technical hire

When you are ready for a full-time CTO, a fractional engagement helps you define what you actually need from the role and how to evaluate candidates credibly.

What does a fractional CTO actually do for a US startup?

Architecture decisions, roadmap prioritisation, hiring guidance, vendor oversight, and helping founders make better product and engineering tradeoffs — without a full-time executive salary.

How is a fractional CTO different from hiring a tech lead?

A tech lead executes. A fractional CTO owns the technical direction: what to build, how to architect it, when to hire, and how to reduce risk. The two roles complement each other.

What stage is fractional CTO right for?

Best fit for seed to Series B startups that have product traction but inconsistent technical leadership — you have developers, but no one owning the bigger technical picture.

Do you work with US time zones?

Yes. I work with SF, NY, Austin, and other US markets. Regular calls, async Slack, and fast turnaround on decisions.

Can you help with fundraising technical diligence?

Yes. I can prepare your architecture documentation, review technical risks, and help you present the engineering story convincingly to investors.

What does engagement look like in practice?

Typically a monthly retainer covering weekly check-ins, async advisory, roadmap reviews, architecture decisions, and hiring support. Scope adjusts to what the company needs most.