Hiring guide · Leadership
How to hire a
fractional CTO.
Fractional CTOs (FCT) work part-time across multiple companies, often pre-Series-A. The right FCT bridges technical strategy and team-building during early growth.
Comp range$300/hour or $10-25k/month retainer.
Timeline4-8 weeks.
When to hire
Hire in-house
You're pre-Series-A, your CEO is non-technical, and you need senior technical leadership.
When to outsource
Outsource to a studio
You're pre-PMF and don't have funding. An FCT is a real cost.
Evaluation · 02
Signs of strong candidates.
Strong signals
- Has been a real CTO at scale before
- Currently fractional with multiple companies
- Has architecture and people skills
- Sets up systems that survive their departure
- Honest about scope of fractional vs full-time
Red flags
- ✗Has never been a real CTO
- ✗Wants to do everything themselves
- ✗Promises full-time outcomes for fractional time
- ✗Resists handing off to a permanent CTO
- ✗Charges by the hour with vague deliverables
Interview · 03
Questions to ask.
- Q1
How do you scope your involvement vs the team's?
- Q2
How do you handoff to a permanent CTO?
- Q3
How do you avoid being the bottleneck?
- Q4
What stage do you bring the most value at?
- Q5
How would you assess our current architecture?
Considering a studio?
We bridge
to your hire.
We sometimes serve as fractional technical advisors. If you're not ready to hire a fractional CTO yet, brief us — we can fill the gap and help you hire later.
Brief us