A fintech CTO who has shipped for Barclays/Bain and a $1B+ unicorn
Compliance-aware architecture, hiring, investor support for fintech founders pre-Series A. $4,500/mo Advisory, $8,500/mo full.
Who this is for
Non-technical fintech founder, often pre-seed to Series A, with a fundraising deadline and compliance complexity.
The pain today
- Compliance, security, and architecture decisions are complex
- Investors want a real CTO on the team page
- Previous contractor shipped code that cannot pass audit
- No one to speak to SOC 2, PCI, KYC in investor meetings
- Full-time fintech CTO hire is 6 to 9 months away
The outcome you get
- Fractional fintech CTO at $4,500 to $8,500/mo
- Compliance baseline (SOC 2, PCI, KYC) scoped without over-engineering
- Hiring plan for first 3 to 5 engineers
- Investor-facing technical credibility from a GigEasy and bolttech track record
- Bank and payment API integration experience applied
Why fintech founders need experienced fractional CTOs
Fintech is unforgiving of technical shortcuts. Compliance gaps (SOC 2, PCI, KYC, state-level licensing) kill deals and create regulatory exposure. Architecture mistakes around audit trails, idempotency, and encryption compound painfully once real customer money flows. Investors in fintech are sophisticated — they scrutinise the technical team. Hiring a full-time fintech CTO takes 6 to 9 months and costs $300k+ loaded. A fractional CTO with fintech credentials delivers that technical credibility inside a week.
My fintech architecture baseline
Every fintech engagement starts with the same baseline review. Encryption in transit and at rest. Secrets management through a real vault. Audit logs on every sensitive action. PII segregation. SOC 2 readiness (access controls, change management, incident response). PCI scope minimisation through tokenisation. KYC flow architecture with appropriate provider. At bolttech, the $1B+ unicorn, I led the Payment Service to 99.9 percent uptime with zero post-launch critical bugs — the baseline is what made that possible. Same standards apply to every fintech engagement.
Compliance posture (SOC 2, PCI, KYC) without over-engineering
Pre-Series A fintech does not need full SOC 2 Type II or full PCI Level 1. What is needed: a clear plan, a minimum viable compliance posture, and the ability to ramp as the company grows. Typical first-year plan: SOC 2 Type I with Vanta or Drata, PCI SAQ A through tokenisation, KYC through Persona or Onfido. Each scoped to current need with clear path to expand. Over-engineering compliance pre-revenue kills runway; under-engineering creates deal-killing issues later. Balance matters.
Pricing tiers
CTO Advisory $4,500/mo — 1 to 2 days per week. Architecture guidance, hiring, investor support. For founders with existing engineering lead needing senior oversight. Fractional CTO $8,500/mo — 3 days per week. Deep involvement in architecture, compliance work, hiring, investor preparation. For founders without a senior engineer, playing full CTO role. 14-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime. NDA standard. US LLC invoicing — IRS/IR35 safe. Typically 3 to 12 months, transitioning to full-time CTO when fundraising round supports.
Case: GigEasy and bolttech
GigEasy: 3-week investor-ready MVP from scratch for Barclays and Bain Capital-backed founders. Stack: Laravel, React, AWS, PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker, Pulumi. Investor demo on schedule, zero post-launch fires. bolttech: $1B+ unicorn backed by Tokio Marine and MetLife. Led Payment Service with 40+ provider integrations across Asia and Europe, 99.9 percent uptime, 15+ new international markets, zero post-launch critical bugs. Stack: NestJS, React, MongoDB, Redis, TypeScript. Both inform every fintech CTO engagement.
When to hire a full-time fintech CTO instead
Hire full-time post-Series A when the company has committed to a specific regulatory path requiring dedicated leadership (banking charter, state licensing pipeline, complex multi-jurisdiction product). Fractional bridges from seed through Series A effectively. I help with the full-time CTO search — interview loops, levelling, onboarding — as part of the engagement. Many clients stay with me through the bridge, then I transition to technical advisor or board observer at a reduced rate.
Recent proof
A comparable engagement, delivered and documented.
Built and shipped an investor-ready MVP from scratch
Built the entire technological base and delivered MVP in just 3 weeks, enabling a successful rapid launch and investor demo.
Frequently asked questions
The questions prospects ask before they book.
- Can you help with SOC 2 and PCI audits?
- Yes. I prepare the engineering artifacts auditors need: access control documentation, change management records, incident response procedures, audit logs. Running the actual audit is done with Vanta, Drata, or a specialist compliance partner — I work alongside them. For PCI, scope minimisation through tokenisation keeps most fintechs in SAQ A (lightest level). At bolttech I shipped under strict PCI requirements and know what passing looks like.
- Do you help with fundraising?
- Yes. Technical slides for pitch decks. Attending investor meetings where tech is a topic. Preparing technical due diligence materials — architecture decisions, security posture, team plan, cost model. For founders with Series A aspirations, clean technical diligence often accelerates the round by weeks. I speak investor language because of bolttech (investor-facing fintech at unicorn scale) and GigEasy (fundraising-stage MVP work).
- What about equity vs cash?
- Cash at monthly rates is my preference — keeps the engagement clean and professional. I do not take equity typically. For very early-stage founders with tight cash, reduced cash plus small equity may work — case by case. Equity-only engagements are not my preference; they align incentives in ways that conflict with founder interests often. Clean cash keeps the relationship free of awkward conversations later.
- How do you handle handoff?
- Every engagement assumes handoff. Architecture decisions documented as ADRs. Compliance posture documented. Hiring pipeline state visible. When you hire full-time CTO, overlap 1 to 2 months for transfer, then step out or transition to advisor. For fintechs that raise successfully, I often stay as technical advisor post-handoff — monthly check-ins, availability for major decisions at a reduced rate. Optional, common pattern.
- Can you attend investor meetings?
- Yes. Typically 2 to 4 investor meetings across a fundraise cycle — technical due diligence calls, architecture walkthroughs, team-section pitch segments. I prepare with you beforehand on expected questions and positioning. For fintechs raising, investor scrutiny on the technical team is real — having a credible CTO presence in those meetings often materially affects outcomes.
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