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. 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
Cuez is a live broadcast production tool used by TV teams on air across Europe. I inherited a backend API averaging 3 seconds per response and cut it to 300ms, while reducing infrastructure costs by 40% and leaving the system stable under real production load.
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. The B2B invoicing structure 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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