Fractional CTO services for non-technical founders.

A fractional CTO gives you technical leadership on a defined, part-time basis. The job ties together what the product needs next, the engineering decisions behind it, what your team can handle and what could go wrong once it is live. You should end up better informed, and the people doing the work should know who is responsible for what.

How much authority the role carries depends on the agreement. Advising you on a hire is a different job from managing that person, and reviewing a release is a different job from approving changes to production. We set those boundaries with you so the title does not leave anyone unsure who is accountable.

A developer builds the product you agreed on. A technical adviser may weigh in now and then on a narrow set of questions. A fractional CTO takes on a continuing leadership remit. A technical co-founder is a separate company relationship, and it comes with commitments that a service engagement does not automatically include.

A roadmap should say which customer or business outcome each priority supports. It also has to cover the work that keeps the product operable: permissions, data quality, releases and support. If that work stays hidden until a launch or a customer review, it costs more to deal with then.

We ask what is blocking the next business outcome and what evidence would settle the open question. The answer might be more building, a test with customers or a review of a component you already have. Once the question has a name, your team is less likely to spend weeks building around a decision nobody has made.

Vendor oversight means checking reported progress against a usable product. A pull request shows that development happened, but it does not prove the change reached production or that a customer can finish the journey. We agree on the demonstrations and records that let you see the gap.

Hiring work can include clarifying the role, reviewing technical evidence and helping you assess candidates against the job. The aim is to find the capability your business needs, which an impressive title or a fashionable technology on the team will not tell you.

The price depends on the responsibility, availability and work included. Do not compare a quote for an advisory role made up of meetings directly with one for hands-on delivery leadership. Ask whether code review, hiring support, help during incidents and implementation are included or scoped separately.

The engagement should get more useful as we learn the product and the business. Check whether decisions are clearer, whether the team can demonstrate progress and whether you can see the risks behind a recommendation. Agree on a review point and a handover process so your company does not depend on one outside person to explain its own product.