Fractional CTO · Remote Worldwide
Fractional CTO: your hands-on technical partner for MVP and growth
You want to ship a product that grows with your company. Then you need someone who makes the technical decisions in your interest and takes responsibility for them.
Senior engineer · Ex-startup CTO · MVP focus · No unnecessary lock-in
Why
Why startups and SaaS teams bring in a fractional CTO
There’s usually a concrete trigger: time pressure, a missing senior hire, mounting tech debt, or an upcoming funding round.
Hiring
Senior eng leadership is slow to hire
Hiring senior engineering leadership takes months almost everywhere — and the best people are rarely on the market. A fractional CTO bridges that gap from week one.
Cost
A full-time CTO is a major fixed cost
A full-time CTO is a major fixed cost — typically a six-figure salary plus equity, recruiting, onboarding, and the risk of a mis-hire. A fractional CTO gives you senior technical leadership without any of that.
Tech Debt
20–40% of the tech estate’s value
CIOs estimate tech debt at 20–40% of the value of their entire tech estate. Building fast without technical leadership almost always gets expensive later.1
Due Diligence
Investors look at your tech
In software deals it’s not only about market and traction. Technical due diligence assesses technical assets, security risks, scalability and tech debt as risk.2
Fractional only works when the role, decision-making authority and integration into the team are clear. Otherwise it is an advisory role without impact.
What I do
What you actually get
Technical leadership in execution. Preparing decisions, making them with you, implementing them in the team.
Technical reality check
Where do you stand right now on feature scope, architecture, team, process and code quality?
Architecture & stack decisions
Decisions that fit your product. Not textbook “best practices”.
An actionable roadmap
MVP iterations, reducing tech debt, infrastructure, automated tests, releases. Development has to be fast and predictable.
Engineering standards
Code reviews, definition of done, testing strategy, CI/CD. Every release should make your software noticeably better.
Team building & hiring
Role profiles, candidate interviews, technical evaluation, onboarding. Finding and keeping the right people.
Vendor/agency management
External developers deliver, but you lack technical control? I take on code reviews, requirements engineering and quality assurance.
The goal is a product that works technically and commercially.
Use cases
When a fractional CTO is the right call
Founder without a technical co-founder
You want to build an MVP without depending on agencies or investing blindly in a stack.
A small dev team without leadership
Developers are there, but no one owns architecture, priorities and quality. Tickets take longer, releases get riskier.
An existing MVP that’s “creaking”
Bugs, outages and slow development cycles. Every new feature takes longer than it should.
Ahead of an important round
Funding, a partnership or a big customer: you need clear answers on scalability, security and your biggest technical risks.
Agency/freelancers, but no control
External developers deliver, but you lack control: requirements, code reviews and technical responsibility in-house.
CTO-level decisions, no full-time management
You need strategic tech decisions, but budget or timing don’t justify a full-time CTO role yet.
Process
How we work together
A clear process, little overhead, fast results.
Intro call
We clarify the goal, context and constraints (time, budget, team) and the most pressing open decisions.
Tech/product check
Code, architecture, delivery, team, risks. Compact and honest. So we know where we stand.
Focused sprints
Delivery in sprints with regular updates, documented decisions and clean handovers.
Knowledge transfer
Documentation, clear ownership, no lock-in. You can keep going without me.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a fractional CTO, in one sentence?
A fractional CTO is a part-time CTO: technical leadership plus execution, without a full-time hire.
How is this different from a classic IT consultant?
Consultants often deliver recommendations without ownership of execution. I work inside the team, make decisions with you, and stand behind the implementation.
Can you also build the MVP yourself?
Yes. On MVPs I often build alongside the team, implement critical parts and define technical standards.
What does a fractional CTO cost?
It depends on scope — typically 1–3 days per week or focused projects. You pay specifically for leadership and delivery, with no fixed payroll cost and no hiring risk.
When does a technical due diligence make sense?
As soon as funding, M&A or large enterprise customers are on the table. That’s when an outside view of architecture, tech stack, security, development processes and tech debt is usually required.
How long does a fractional CTO typically stay on board?
Either until a clear goal (e.g. MVP launch or handover to internal tech leadership) or as a retainer during growth phases. The important thing is a clear exit plan with no lock-in.
Can you be our fractional CTO if our team isn’t in Europe?
Yes. I work fully remote and structure the engagement around your team’s hours. I’m in CET (Vienna), with daily overlap with Europe and US mornings; for fully US-Pacific teams we agree on a fixed overlap window up front.
Let’s talk about your project.
A short, no-obligation call. I’ll listen to where you are and tell you honestly whether and how I can help.
Currently available for new projects
Book a free intro call