Fractional CTO
Embedded technical leadership across architecture, hiring strategy, and execution — without the overhead of a full-time team. You get a partner who's shipped production AI products, managed military operations, and can explain the system to both your engineers and your board.
Who this is for
Founders who've outgrown their first technical hire but aren't ready for a $300K+ CTO salary. Teams that need architecture decisions made by someone who's built and deployed production systems — not just drawn diagrams. Companies where the CEO is making technical decisions they shouldn't be making.
How it works
I embed directly into your team's workflow — Slack, standups, sprint planning, architecture reviews, board prep. This isn't advisory work from the sidelines. I make decisions, unblock engineers, and own technical outcomes alongside your team.
The engagement starts with a scoping call to understand your current architecture, team, and goals. From there, we establish a weekly cadence with async availability for the decisions that can't wait.
What makes this different
Most fractional CTOs are consultants who advise. I'm an operator who builds. The difference: when your deploy breaks at 2am, I'm not sending you a Loom video about best practices — I'm in the repo diagnosing the issue. When you're evaluating a vendor, I'm not giving you a framework — I'm reading their API docs and telling you exactly what will and won't work for your use case.
Architecture & Strategy
System design, technology selection, and technical roadmap aligned to business goals.
Hiring & Team Building
Technical interview design, candidate evaluation, and team structure recommendations.
Sprint Oversight
Planning, delivery management, and unblocking engineers on a weekly cadence.
Stakeholder Communication
Board-ready technical updates, investor Q&A prep, and translating engineering to business.
Ongoing partnership with async availability. Typically 10–20 hours/week depending on team size and stage. Starts with a scoping call to define the right structure.