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Fractional CTO

Fractional CTO for startup founders

If you have the idea, the customers and the domain knowledge but no technical co-founder, a fractional CTO gives you that person now instead of a year from now. I own the technical side of your startup while you run the business: what to build, how to build it, who builds it and whether it's on track. I've built and run systems at Google, Bloomberg, Compass and CA Technologies, so the decisions you make early are ones you won't have to undo later. I want skin in the game. Taking equity means I'm measured by whether the product still works in three years, not by hours billed this month. So equity is something I welcome, not something you have to hand over. Equity buys down the retainer: the more of the upside I hold, the less you pay each month. We agree the split before the engagement starts.

Who it's for

  • Non-technical founders who need a technical co-founder but haven't found one
  • Founders hiring agencies or offshore developers with no one to hold them to a standard
  • Startups raising or reporting to investors who ask about the technology and the team
  • Companies with a first engineer or two and no one senior to set direction

What's included

  • Technical strategy: what to build first, what to defer and what to buy instead of build
  • Architecture and technology decisions you won't have to undo after traction
  • Vendor and agency oversight: scoping the work, reviewing the code, holding them to delivery
  • Hiring: job descriptions, technical interviews and onboarding for your first engineers
  • Investor and board support: technical due diligence, roadmaps and honest risk assessment
  • Security, compliance and data practices appropriate to your stage
  • Hands-on building when it's the fastest way to unblock the team
  • A partner who can take equity in place of cash, so we're both measured by where the product ends up

Commitment

What a month actually looks like

Two days a week, every week. Enough to run the technical side rather than comment on it from the outside, and few enough that it stays a retainer rather than a salary.

  • Two days a week

    $12,000/month

    about 9 days a month

    Direction and execution. Someone is accountable for the technical plan, reachable for the decisions that cannot wait, and with the time to run the work rather than advise on it from the outside.

    • A standing weekly working session, plus availability between them
    • The roadmap: what gets built next, what gets deferred, what gets bought instead of built
    • Architecture and tooling decisions reviewed before they are locked in
    • Running a hiring loop end to end: job description, screening, interviews, debrief, offer
    • Onboarding your first engineers and setting the practices they work by: review standards, CI, on-call
    • Vendor management in depth: scoping the work, reviewing the code, holding delivery to the contract
    • Hands-on building when that is the fastest way to unblock the team
    • Straight answers for investors and your board, including the diligence room and not just the pitch

How it works

From first call to launch

  1. 01

    Discover

    We talk through how your business runs today, where time is lost and what success looks like.

  2. 02

    Design

    You get a clear plan, scope and price, plus screens to review before any code is written.

  3. 03

    Build

    Working software delivered in short cycles, so you see progress and give feedback early.

  4. 04

    Launch & support

    Deployment, on-site setup where needed, training for your team and ongoing support after go-live.

Related work

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