A fractional CTO for founders who need decisions, not another vendor

Most early technical damage is not bad code. It is three months spent on a decision nobody in the room was qualified to make.

Custom software SaaS products AI development Web applications AI chatbots Nearshore teams

Fractional CTO

Decisions, not recommendations

A consultant hands you options. A fractional CTO picks one, writes down why, and is accountable for how it turns out.

What a fractional CTO actually does for you

Five things, in the order founders usually need them. Architecture and build-or-buy decisions — what you build, what you rent, and what you postpone. Vendor choice and control — reading proposals, setting acceptance criteria, catching the estimate that is optimistic by design. Hiring — role definition, technical interviews, and a first-90-days plan. Technical due diligence — for your investor or for an acquisition you are considering. Budget and priority — what gets built this quarter and what does not.

It is part-time on purpose: most early companies need a few hours of senior judgement a week, not a full-time salary and an option package.

When a fractional CTO is the right call

When there is no technical co-founder; when a vendor is proposing something you cannot evaluate; when an investor asks for technical due diligence. If you already have a strong lead engineer, what you probably need is a sounding board — cheaper, and we will say so.

Signals you need senior technical judgement

there is no technical co-founder and decisions keep waiting;
a contractor proposes work you have no way to verify;
an investor has asked for a technical due diligence report;
you hired your first engineer and nobody can review their choices;
a build-or-buy decision has been open for more than a month.

$Signals a fractional CTO is needed: no technical co-founder, unverifiable vendor proposals, investor due diligence and unreviewed engineering decisions$

Price

From $2,990/month

Timeline

Start within a week

Payment

Monthly, cancellable

Pricing

What a fractional CTO costs with us

Cash only — we do not ask for equity. Month to month, cancellable, with the hours written down.

Fractional CTO, consultant, or a full-time hire

Three different products that get confused constantly, and the cheapest is not always the right one.

Criterion

ConsultantFractional CTO

Fractional CTOConsultant or advisor

Output

A recommendation and a deck

A decision, written down, owned

Accountability

Ends with the report

Continues into how it turns out

Vendor management

Rarely included

Part of the role

Hiring involvement

Advice

Interviews and a 90-day plan

Cost

Hourly, unpredictable

$2,990–4,390 a month, capped hours

Versus a full-time CTO

Cheaper but shallower

A fraction of the cost until you genuinely need one full-time

Process

How the engagement runs — and the conflict we declare up front

We are a development studio. That creates an obvious conflict, so the rule is on the page rather than in the small print.

The conflict-of-interest rule

If your fractional CTO recommends a build partner, alternatives are named in writing and the reasoning is yours to check. Recommending someone other than us is a normal outcome.

If you do choose us to build, the CTO role moves to an independent person or the retainer is discounted for the duration — you should not pay us to supervise ourselves.

Decisions get written down

Every significant decision gets a short record: options, trade-offs, what we chose and what would make us change our mind. It survives the engagement and the next CTO.

That record is what makes technical due diligence painless a year later.

A weekly rhythm, not an inbox

One scheduled call a week, an agreed decision queue, and asynchronous answers inside your working day. Belgrade overlaps US East by four to six hours.

Hours are capped and reported: you see where the time went.

Due diligence as its own product

Code quality, architecture, team, security posture and a prioritised risk list — for an investor, or before you acquire someone else's product.

Delivered in a week, in a form an investment committee can read without a translator.

Why us

Why founders take this from a studio

Four things we can prove, rather than four adjectives.

We declare the conflict

Alternatives in writing, and the CTO role handed over or discounted if you pick us to build. Written on the page, not buried in an engagement letter.

No equity, month to month

Cash only, cancellable monthly. Advisory equity is how early cap tables get complicated for work that lasted one quarter.

17 years of delivery behind the advice

230+ projects means the vendor proposal in front of you looks familiar, including the parts that are optimistic by design.

We will tell you to hire instead

Past roughly 40 hours a month, a fractional CTO is a worse deal than a full-time one. Saying that costs us a retainer and saves you a year.

Industries

Fractional CTOby industry

The decisions differ by domain: compliance in fintech and health, integrations in logistics, unit economics in marketplaces.

18 sectors

IT companies and digital agencies
Insurers and brokers
Lenders and microfinance
E-commerce
Wholesale and distribution
Manufacturing
Freight and forwarding
Clinics and medical centres
Dental
Car dealers and service centres
EdTech
Legal and consulting firms
Equipment rental
Real estate agencies
Property developers
Travel and events
Beauty and wellness
Construction and renovation

FAQ

Fractional CTO questions

Six answers that usually replace a discovery call.

How many hours do we get?

Core covers up to 20 hours a month, Pro up to 40. Beyond that a full-time hire is the better deal and we will tell you so.

Do you take equity?

No. Cash only, month to month. Advisory equity complicates a cap table for work that often lasts a quarter.

Will you just recommend yourselves for the build?

The engagement letter prevents it: alternatives are named in writing, and if you pick us to build, the CTO role moves to an independent person or the retainer is discounted.