A fractional CTO who has shipped investor-ready SaaS in three weeks
Architecture, hiring, investor support for post-seed SaaS founders making big technical decisions alone. $4,500/mo Advisory, $8,500/mo full.
Who this is for
Non-technical SaaS founder (seed to Series A) making big technical decisions alone, with investors asking about the team and hiring feeling risky.
The pain today
- Technical hires, stack choices, and roadmap feel risky
- Investors asking about engineering team and the answer is thin
- Current engineer is junior or unmanaged, decisions slipping
- No one to own architecture conversations in investor meetings
- Full-time CTO hire is 6+ months away and expensive
The outcome you get
- Fractional CTO at $4,500 to $8,500/mo, available inside a week
- 90-day first-phase: roadmap, hiring, architecture review
- Investor-facing technical credibility in pitch meetings
- Hiring plan for first 3 to 5 engineers
- Clear handoff plan to full-time CTO when the time comes
Why post-seed SaaS founders hire a fractional CTO
Three common reasons. First, the founders raised seed without a technical co-founder and need senior engineering leadership immediately. Second, the company has one or two engineers but no one to own architecture, hiring, or investor-facing tech conversation. Third, the founders want a real CTO assessment of their stack, team, and roadmap before the next fundraising. A fractional CTO at $4,500 to $8,500/mo delivers that leadership at a fraction of full-time CTO cost ($250k+ loaded) with faster onboarding (a week vs 3 to 6 months hiring cycle).
What I actually do in the first 90 days
Days 1 to 14: discovery. Review codebase, product, team, roadmap, financials (to understand runway). Interview engineers, product, sales. Output: SWOT of the technical organisation and a 90-day priority list. Days 15 to 60: execute. Typical wins — one performance fix (Cuez-style), one hiring decision (new role or existing-role change), one architecture decision (rebuild vs iterate, vendor choice, infra decision). Days 61 to 90: plan. Roadmap for next 6 to 12 months, hiring plan, investor-facing technical story. Continuity path set.
Hiring, architecture review, investor support
Hiring: interview loops, technical assessments, levelling calibration, compensation guidance. I have hired teams at W2O (led 15 devs, 30+ clients, 25+ products) and at Imohub as CTO. Architecture review: code review, scalability assessment, tech-debt triage, vendor consolidation. Investor support: technical slides for pitch decks, investor conversations about architecture and team, technical due diligence prep. For founders raising, I attend investor meetings as needed to speak to technical questions. Usually 2 to 4 meetings across a fundraise cycle.
Pricing tiers ($4,500 / $8,500)
CTO Advisory $4,500/mo: one to two days per week. Strategic input, hiring support, architecture decisions, investor meetings. For founders with an existing engineering lead who needs senior guidance. Fractional CTO $8,500/mo: three days per week. Deep involvement in architecture, hiring, code review, roadmap. For founders without a senior engineer, playing the CTO role fully. 14-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime. US LLC invoicing — IRS/IR35 safe. NDA standard. Work typically 3 to 12 months, transitioning to full-time hire when the team grows.
Case: Cuez and GigEasy — SaaS architecture and MVP pacing
Cuez: broadcast-SaaS API from 3s to 300ms, 10x faster, ~40 percent infra cost reduction (Laravel, Vue.js, TypeScript, AWS, FFMPEG). SaaS architecture rescue and performance leadership. GigEasy: 3-week investor-ready MVP from scratch for Barclays and Bain Capital-backed founders (Laravel, React, AWS, PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker, Pulumi). MVP pacing discipline and investor readiness. Together these cover the core CTO topics for post-seed SaaS — architecture under pressure, shipping speed, investor credibility.
When to hire a full-time CTO instead
Hire full-time when you have an engineering team of 8+ that needs dedicated leadership, or when fundraising will commit to a technical leader on the team page. Fractional works for 3 to 12 months of bridge leadership and early-team building. I help with the full-time CTO hiring — interview loops, levelling, onboarding plan — as part of the engagement. Many clients stay with me through the bridge and then transition cleanly to a full-time CTO once the company and runway support it.
Recent proof
A comparable engagement, delivered and documented.
Rescued a slow API that was blocking user growth
Refactored the backend architecture, making the system far more responsive and scalable for the growing user base.
Frequently asked questions
The questions prospects ask before they book.
- How does the engagement work week-to-week?
- Advisory ($4,500/mo): 1-2 days per week — 1 hour weekly call with founders, 1 day deep work (code review, architecture, hiring), ongoing async in Slack. Fractional ($8,500/mo): 3 days per week — daily availability, deep project involvement, regular team standups. Both tiers include attendance at key investor meetings, board meetings where tech is a topic, and technical hiring interviews.
- Do I pay you in cash or equity?
- Cash at the listed monthly rates. I do not take equity typically — it aligns incentives in ways that conflict with founder interests in most cases. For founders where cash is tight, I may discuss reduced cash plus small equity, but equity-only engagements are not my preference. Clean cash arrangement keeps the relationship professional and easy to exit. US LLC invoicing covers IRS/IR35 concerns for both parties.
- How do I know this is working?
- Clear deliverables per month: hiring decisions moved forward, architecture decisions made, roadmap updated, code reviewed. 30-day check-in documents progress. Founders should feel 'we are moving faster with more confidence' within the first 30 days. If not, cancel — 14-day guarantee covers month one. Cancel anytime after. This is my test for fit as much as yours.
- Can you sign NDAs and handle confidentiality?
- Yes. NDAs standard at engagement start. Covers financials, roadmap, team information, investor conversations. I do not take engagements in direct competition with existing clients. For founders in sensitive verticals (regulated industries, competitive SaaS), NDAs include specific non-compete language per engagement. I handle many sensitive engagements — discretion is baseline.
- How do you handle handoff to a full-time CTO?
- Every engagement assumes handoff from day one. Architecture decisions documented as ADRs. Roadmap captured in shared docs. Hiring pipeline state visible. When you hire a full-time CTO, I overlap 1 to 2 months for knowledge transfer, then transition to advisor role or step out fully. Many founders keep me as advisor at a reduced rate after handoff — monthly check-ins, availability for major decisions. Optional. Works well for many clients.
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