Fractional CTO Services
Fractional CTO means senior technical leadership 1–2 days per week. You get strategy, architecture, and delivery oversight without hiring a full-time CTO. Typical engagements start at €3,000–5,000/month for 1 day per week.
Quick Answer
Fractional CTO is ideal for startups and growing companies that already have a development team, but lack senior technical leadership.
Engagement
1–2 days/week, minimum 3 months.
Scope
Roadmap, architecture, team leadership, communication with CEO/Board.
Deliverables
6–12 month roadmap, monthly reports, architecture decisions, hiring support.
Pricing & Engagement Models
Minimum engagement: 3 months.
Hourly
Ad-hoc senior technical guidance
✓
On-demand architecture advice✓
Ad-hoc code reviews and practical suggestions✓
Incident triage & mitigation guidance✓
Prioritisation of urgent technical risks✓
30–60 minute focused consultations✓
Flexible scheduling, booked by the hour✓
Billing in 15‑minute increments
€200 / hour
Billed by hour
Startup
1 day per week — suitable for early-stage startups
✓
1 day/week dedicated CTO time✓
6–12 month roadmap co-creation✓
Architecture foundations and tech stack choices✓
Hiring profiles, interview support & onboarding plans✓
Mentorship for lead engineers and tech leads✓
Investor-ready technical due diligence preparation
€3,000 / month
1 day / week, min. 3 months
Growing Teams
1 day per week — for scaling engineering teams
✓
1 day/week dedicated CTO time✓
Scalable architecture & migration plans✓
Delivery process optimisation (CI/CD, release cadence)✓
Leadership coaching, org design & promotion paths✓
Hiring strategy and interview loop design✓
KPIs, SLAs and incident playbooks✓
Vendor selection, contract review and procurement support
€5,000 / month
1 day / week, min. 3 months
Who Is Fractional CTO For?
Don't give away any equity or full-time salary yet.
Opt-in/opt-out model focused on KPIs and performance.
Founders without a technical co-founder.
Startups with 3–15 engineers and no CTO.
Companies preparing for fundraising or rapid growth.
Teams needing stronger engineering culture and standards.
Scope of Work
Technology Strategy
- Define and maintain a 6–12 month technology roadmap.
- Decide Build vs. Buy for key components.
- Align technology priorities with business goals.
Architecture & Delivery
- Review architecture for core systems and new features.
- Participate in sprint planning and retrospectives.
- Prioritise technical projects and reduce tech debt.
- Review critical code paths and designs.
Team Leadership & Culture
- 1-on-1 sessions with key engineers and tech leads.
- Define coding standards, review practices, and workflows.
- Support hiring: profiles, interviews, offers.
- Mentor senior engineers towards leadership roles.
Communication & Stakeholders
- Work closely with CEO, Product, and other leaders.
- Translate technical risks into business language.
- Prepare input for investor updates and Board meetings.
- Provide monthly summary reports and KPIs.
Engagement Process
Discovery (Free, 30 minutes)
- Understand product, team, and current challenges.
- Clarify expectations, goals, and constraints.
- Decide if Fractional CTO is the right format.
Plan (Week 1)
- Define scope, cadence, and communication channels.
- Agree on roadmap structure and key metrics.
- Schedule regular syncs with CEO and Product.
Ongoing Leadership
- Weekly syncs with leadership team.
- Participation in planning and critical discussions.
- Monthly written reports with progress and risks.
Client Feedback
"Fractional CTO helped us move from ad-hoc decisions to a clear roadmap. We shipped faster and were much better prepared for fundraising."
Founder, B2B SaaS
Early-stage SaaS (Seed)
"Our engineering team gained structure and confidence. The part-time CTO setup worked perfectly with our budget and stage."
CEO, E-commerce
E-commerce Brand
"We didn’t need a full-time CTO yet, but we needed senior guidance. Fractional CTO gave us exactly that, at the right level."
Co-founder, Fintech
Fintech Startup