Everything You Should Know About Being a Fractional CTO
Sergio Pereira
I had my first Fractional CTO gig 7 years ago.
Since then had close to 15 clients. All paying nice hourly rates.
This is what I know and what you should know about being a Fractional CTO.
Fractional CTO is a role that’s becoming more and more popular these days, especially among startups.
In this article, we’ll have a closer look at what it means to be a fractional CTO and what you need to know if you’re considering taking on this role.
What Is a Fractional CTO?
First of all, what exactly is a Fractional CTO?
A Fractional CTO is a professional who provides technical leadership on a part-time or project-by-project basis to a company that does not have a full-time CTO.
They work closely with the leadership team to identify and prioritize technical initiatives, develop and implement technology strategies, and ensure that the company’s technical resources are aligned with its business objectives.
Why Would Companies Hire a Fractional CTO Instead of a Full-timer?
Well, here are a few reasons why:
Companies don’t have the budget for a full-time hire.
Hiring a Fractional CTO is faster than hiring a full-timer.
Companies want to build technology, but don’t know how.
The company is transitioning from outsourcing to in-house development.
The company needs to hire many engineers.
The company wants to raise venture funding.
There’s a roadmap and a team, but there are “issues”.
3 Key Factors Accelerating the Demand for Fractional CTOs
Remote work.
High salaries.
Startups cutting costs to extending their runway are more likely to hire a Fractional CTO than before.
How a Client Inquiry for My Fractional CTO Service Looks Like
This is what a typical client inquiry looks like. Certainly, for many clients, I need to jump on an intro meeting to clarify these points. But some people in my network send me pre-brushed inquiries like this.
Find Your Client Persona
If you’re thinking of becoming a Fractional CTO, one of the most important things is to find your “client persona”. The more you differentiate, the more value you provide to your clients.
This is it for me:
Early-stage startup.
With solid funding (Seed or Series A).
Without a full-time CTO.
In the Fintech vertical.
Follow me for more knowledge about remote work
I’ll be publishing new articles every week, and new social media content every day. If you enjoyed this article, follow me on Twitter or Linkedin, and stay in the loop. Share my content and drop a comment there. Let’s help more people learn about remote work.
Subscribe to my newsletter
Read articles from Sergio Pereira directly inside your inbox. Subscribe to the newsletter, and don't miss out.
Written by
Sergio Pereira
Sergio Pereira
I am Sergio Pereira. I’ve been building technology for the last 15 years, and I’ve worked as a Startup CTO since 2014. I love Startups, and love to work with Founders to transform their promising business idea into a product shipped to fulfil that market opportunity, and then help them grow from a nimble operation into a fully fledged company aimed for scale. I’ve been a Startup CTO for 8 years, twice as a co-Founder. And I’ve worked with more than 10 startups as a Fractional CTO. For the last few years I've been focused on Fintech. I launched Income Share Agreements for the first time in Europe, and deployed a successful solution to alleviate the student debt burden in the US. As a Fractional CTO I’ve worked with companies in payments, lending APIs, KYC/AML funnels, NFTs and other Fintech use cases. I’ve also worked with startups in eCommerce, HR, Legal and other fields, despite my focus in Fintech. When it comes to technology I’m “stack agnostic”, as I’ve worked with multiple stacks (Javascript, Java, Python, Ruby, PHP, Solidity), cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP, Heroku) and tools. I usually evaluate the constraints and trade offs and decide on the best stack for each specific company context and situation. I’m very bullish on remote work. I have worked remotely since 2017, and have been building remote teams since then. Hiring and managing engineers is one of my specialties, and finding the best talent around the world became also a passion. Embracing a global talent pool has been a key competitive advantage for me as a Startup CTO, and I’ve evolved my async processes to make my teams more performant and inclusive. Some of my duties as a Startup CTO: Engage closely with Founders to understand the company’s business goals and priorities. Own tech roadmap, cost structure and discuss scope<>cost trade offs with Founders. Own recruiting. I source, interview, hire and onboard engineers, designers, data scientists, etc into my teams. Manage day to day tech delivery, from feature specs, to managing engineers and coordinating releases. Engage with external stakeholders (clients, partners, vendors, investors) as needed for due diligence, integrations, etc. Lead compliance and security, usually high stakes in the Fintech space