Services

Fractional CTO services — a walkthrough

Six ways to engage one senior technologist. Most clients start with a single consultation and grow into the model that fits — the roles below describe the shape of the work, not rigid packages.

Fractional CTO

Executive technical ownership for companies that aren't ready — or don't need — a full-time hire.

A named senior technologist your team, board, and investors can rely on — at a fraction of an executive salary.

What it looks like

Owning the technical roadmap and architecture direction
Standing behind your technical story in investor and stakeholder meetings
Technical due-diligence preparation and support
Hiring plans: who to hire, when, and how to evaluate them
Vendor, platform, and build-vs-buy decisions with budget in mind

Technical Lead

Hands-on leadership for teams that ship — contractors, agencies, or early in-house engineers.

A team that ships predictably, with quality you can show to acquirers and investors.

What it looks like

Guiding contract developers and reviewing their output
Delivery cadence: milestones, estimates, and honest status
Code and pull-request review with teaching, not gatekeeping
Unblocking gnarly technical problems before they eat a sprint
Establishing engineering practices that survive team growth

Technical Advisor

A senior sounding board on retainer — clarity before you commit capital or quarters.

Decisions made with senior context — the expensive mistakes are the ones you don't make.

What it looks like

Product roadmap advisory and scalability planning
Second opinions on agency and vendor proposals
Security and data-handling guidance at the strategy level
Review of technical pitch materials and investor-facing narratives
Strategic advice on future development phases

Solutions Architect

System design that meets you where you are and scales to where you're going.

A system diagram you understand, a plan you can execute, and fewer 2 a.m. surprises.

What it looks like

Architecture walkthroughs and design reviews
Infrastructure and deployment strategy guidance
Database design, integration strategy, and API architecture
Migration planning: monolith to services, on-prem to cloud, MVP to v2
Performance, reliability, and cost tradeoffs made explicit

Software Engineer

Senior hands on the keyboard when the work simply has to get done — and done right.

Production-quality code with documentation and a clean handoff — you own everything we build.

What it looks like

MVP maintenance, bug fixes, and deployment troubleshooting
Frontend, backend, database, and API development
Emergency and demo-breaking support when the stakes are high
Access, hosting, repository, and configuration rescue
New feature implementation, scoped and approved before work begins

Technical Consultant

Focused, bounded engagements that answer a hard question or clear a specific hurdle.

A crisp deliverable — findings, a plan, or a fixed problem — with a defined start and end.

What it looks like

Technical audits: where the risk actually lives in your stack
Investor demo preparation and technical rehearsal
Participation in investor, stakeholder, or customer calls
Troubleshooting for user testing and early customer rollouts
Written findings and recommendations you can act on immediately

Engagement models

One-off consultation

A single focused session to solve a specific problem or make a decision.

Weekly engagement

Recurring weekly sessions — steady guidance while you build.

Monthly retainer

Reserved monthly capacity with priority response for ongoing partnership.

Project-based

A scoped body of work with a defined deliverable and timeline.

Advisory & engineering

from $150/hr

Consulting, architecture, advisory, and hands-on development.

Specialized support

from $200/hr

Investor meeting attendance and emergency, demo-breaking response.

First conversation

Complimentary

A 30-minute discovery call to see whether we're the right fit. No obligation.

Every engagement is governed by a written agreement: approved estimates before work begins, itemized monthly invoices, and your ownership of everything built for you. No billable surprises — work over an agreed estimate requires your written approval first.

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