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How it works

What you're actually buying.

"Fractional CTO" is vague on purpose by most people who use it. Here's exactly what working together looks like, with nothing dressed up.

Quick answer

How does a fractional CTO engagement work?

A fractional CTO from Fraction is a senior operator who owns the technical decisions — which hire, refactor vs rebuild, which vendor to drop — on a fixed weekly rhythm, not just an advisor handing you options. Engagements are month-to-month with no equity, scaling from ~1 day a week up to ~3–4 days. See the three retainer tiers and what a fractional CTO costs, how it compares to a full-time CTO or agency, or start small with a fixed-fee Tech Teardown. Ready? Book a 20-minute fit call.

01

A senior operator, not a junior with a title

I'm not learning on your dime. I've made the early-company technical mistakes already — the premature rebuild, the wrong first hire, the architecture that buckles at 10x, the agency that bills for motion instead of progress. You're paying for the scars.
02

Decisions, owned

Most "advisors" tell you what they'd do and leave you to do it. I make the call and stand behind it. Hire this person, not that one. Don't rebuild — refactor these three things. Drop that vendor. Tell the board this.
03

A fixed weekly rhythm

A standing working session each week, plus async access for the decisions that can't wait. You're never sitting on a $50k decision for three days waiting for a meeting.
04

An honest exit

When you've outgrown a fractional CTO and genuinely need a full-time one, I'll tell you — and help you hire them. The goal is to make myself unnecessary at the right moment. A vendor who never says "you don't need me anymore" is a vendor you can't trust.
What I won't do

I'm not a body shop.

I won't take orders to build whatever you point at without telling you when it's wrong — that's the entire value, and it's the part agencies skip. And if you have 12+ engineers and real scale, you need a full-time CTO, not me. I'll say so on the first call rather than take a fee I shouldn't.

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Questions, answered

How does a fractional CTO engagement actually work?

You get a senior operator on a fixed weekly rhythm — a standing working session plus async access for the calls that can't wait — who owns the technical decisions instead of just advising. It's month-to-month with no equity, scaling from ~1 day a week to ~3–4. More on what you're actually paying for.

How many days a week does a fractional CTO work?

Advisory is ~1 day a week, Embedded ~2–3, and Command ~3–4 — sized to your stage, not billed by the hour. See the tiers on the pricing page, or read how many days you actually need.

What does a fractional CTO own versus just advise on?

A real one makes the call and stands behind it — which hire, refactor vs rebuild, which vendor to drop, what to tell the board. That ownership is the whole point, and it's what separates a fractional CTO from a full-time CTO or an agency.

How is this different from an advisor or an agency?

An advisor tells you what they'd do; an agency builds whatever you point at. A fractional CTO owns the decision and will tell you when you're wrong — and when you've outgrown fractional and need a full-time CTO.

How much does it cost, and how do I start?

Retainers run $6,000–$18,000/month, or start with a fixed-fee $7,500 Tech Teardown — a two-week review creditable toward your first month. Book a 20-minute fit call and we'll size the right starting point together.