Fractional CTO & Enterprise Advisory
CTO-Level Leadership,
Without the Full-Time Hire
15+ years architecting systems for Fortune 500 companies and building engineering organizations from the ground up. Now available to your company — at the scale you need.
Who I Help
Two distinct tracks — each with its own challenges, objectives, and engagement model.
Fractional CTO for Startups
Seed to Series B companies that need senior technical leadership — but are not yet ready, or not yet willing, to hire a full-time CTO.
- You have engineers but no senior technical leadership
- You're a non-technical founder making critical stack decisions
- You're preparing for a funding round and need tech diligence
- Velocity has stalled and you need someone to diagnose why
- You need a technical voice in the room for board conversations
Enterprise Advisory
Fortune 500 and large enterprises that need an independent outside CTO-level perspective for audits, transformations, or strategic decisions.
- You need an objective technology audit before a major investment
- A digital transformation initiative has stalled or gone off-track
- You're evaluating vendors and need an expert to cut through the noise
- Leadership needs an independent architecture review
- You need a credible outside voice for board or investor conversations
Fractional CTO Services
Embedded technical leadership that scales with your company. Whether you need a few hours a week or a deeper ongoing engagement, the goal is the same: build the right things, in the right order, with the right team.
Technical Strategy
Define the technology roadmap that supports your business goals — from MVP to scale. Prioritize build vs. buy decisions, manage technical debt, and establish an architecture that grows with you.
Team Building & Engineering Culture
Hire your first engineers, structure your engineering org, and establish the processes that let a small team punch above its weight. Interviewing, hiring rubrics, onboarding, and career ladders.
Architecture Decisions
System design guidance at the moments that matter most — before you build the wrong thing. API design, data modeling, cloud architecture, and scalability planning done right from the start.
Investor-Ready Tech Diligence
Prepare for technical due diligence before your next funding round. Audit your codebase, document your architecture, and articulate your technology strategy to investors with confidence.
Enterprise Technology Advisory
Independent, executive-level technology perspective for organizations where the stakes are high and the cost of getting it wrong is significant.
Technology Audits
Comprehensive assessment of your existing technology stack, architecture, engineering processes, and team capabilities. Delivers a clear picture of technical debt, risk, and opportunity — with a prioritized action plan.
Digital Transformation Advisory
Executive-level guidance for large-scale modernization initiatives. From legacy system migration to cloud-native transformation, providing the technical leadership and change management expertise to deliver results.
Architecture Reviews
Independent review of system architecture, integration patterns, and platform choices. Identify risks before they become outages, validate vendor proposals, and ensure your technology investments are sound.
Vendor Evaluation
Objective, expert evaluation of technology vendors and platforms. Cut through marketing claims with rigorous technical assessment — ensuring you select solutions that actually fit your requirements at scale.
Engagement Models
Structured around what your company actually needs — from a few hours of strategic guidance to full interim CTO coverage. A full-time CTO costs $350K–600K/year. Fractional saves 60–80%.
Technical Advisory
8–12 hours/month
Strategic guidance without operational involvement. Monthly architecture reviews, technology roadmap input, vendor evaluation, and async Q&A.
Best for: Pre-seed/Seed founders who need a senior technical voice
- Monthly architecture review
- Technology roadmap input
- Vendor evaluation
- Async Q&A (24hr response)
Fractional CTO
40–60 hours/month
Active technical leadership, roughly 2 days a week. Weekly standups, architecture ownership, hiring support, and executive reporting.
Best for: Series A companies and bootstrapped SaaS scaling past $2M ARR
- Weekly team standup
- Architecture ownership
- Engineering roadmap
- Hiring support & rubrics
- Executive reporting
Interim CTO
80–120+ hours/month
Full-time temporary coverage. Daily presence, full team management authority, board-level reporting, and hiring your permanent replacement.
Best for: Series B+ with a CTO vacancy, or PE-backed post-acquisition
- Daily operational presence
- Full team management
- Board-level reporting
- Permanent CTO hiring
Strategic Sprint
20–40 hours over 4–6 weeks
Scoped engagement for a specific outcome — technology audit, due diligence report, architecture review, or engineering hiring strategy.
Best for: Companies preparing for fundraising, PE diligence, or a critical architecture decision
- Technology audit & roadmap
- Technical due diligence
- Architecture review
- Engineering hiring strategy
Proven at Scale
The same technical depth that transformed systems for the world's largest companies — available for yours.
Selected Case Studies
Common Questions
Answers to what most companies ask before engaging.
What does a fractional CTO do?
A fractional CTO provides senior technology leadership on a part-time or project basis. They own the technical strategy, guide architecture decisions, lead or advise engineering teams, and represent technology at the executive level — the same work a full-time CTO does, structured around your company's current needs and budget. For startups, that often means being the first technical executive, defining the stack, making early hires, and building a foundation that scales. For established companies, it means an independent perspective on technology strategy without the overhead of a full-time executive.
How much does a fractional CTO cost?
Engagements start at $4,500/month for strategic advisory (8–12 hours/month) and scale to $10,000–14,000/month for active fractional CTO leadership (40–60 hours/month). One-off strategic sprints — technology audits, architecture reviews, due diligence — run $8,000–15,000 flat over 4–6 weeks. Full interim CTO coverage is scoped individually. A full-time CTO costs $350,000–600,000/year with salary, equity, benefits, and recruiting. Fractional typically saves 60–80% while delivering the same leadership at the stage you need it.
When should a startup hire a fractional CTO?
The right time is usually before you need one. Common triggers: you're a non-technical founder making technology decisions without confidence; you've hired your first few engineers but have no senior technical leadership; you're heading into a Series A and need investor-ready technical due diligence; your codebase has accumulated significant debt and velocity has stalled; or you're making a platform decision (cloud provider, tech stack, data architecture) that will be hard to undo. The earlier you bring in senior technical leadership, the fewer expensive mistakes you'll need to unwind later.
What's the difference between a fractional CTO and a technical advisor?
A technical advisor provides periodic guidance — typically a few hours a month, often in exchange for a small equity stake. They answer questions and offer perspective but don't own anything. A fractional CTO is operationally engaged: they attend your leadership meetings, work directly with your engineering team, make decisions, and are accountable for outcomes. Think of an advisor as a sounding board and a fractional CTO as an executive who happens to work part-time.
Is a Fractional CTO Worth It for You?
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Let's Discuss Your Needs
Every engagement starts with a conversation. No pitch, no pressure — just an honest discussion about where you are, where you want to go, and whether I can help get you there.
Typically respond within one business day.