Fractional technical leadership when you need senior judgement, not a full-time executive

For founders who are still the de facto CTO and have become the bottleneck.

Ongoing senior architecture and delivery input for teams that need leverage, not another full-time hire.

You leave with

A living technical sequence

A living technical sequence, not a one-off strategy PDF.
Written decisions for anything expensive to reverse.
Availability on the cadence we agree – and honesty when a topic needs a project, not a call.

See it done

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I provide ongoing technical leadership in a fractional capacity when a company needs architecture, AI, and delivery judgement without hiring a full-time CTO. This is not a title I collect. It is the engagement model: retained access to a senior engineer who has owned products, run a small software company, and operated inside larger delivery organisations. I join planning, make and document the expensive calls, unblock the team, and stay out of theatre. If you need a manager of managers, you need a different hire. If you need a principal-level partner a few days a month, this is the path.

Who this is for

Early product companies whose founder is still the de facto CTO and is becoming the bottleneck.
Teams with capable builders who need someone to set the technical sequence.
Companies adopting AI who need continuity, not a one-week workshop.

Problems this model fits

Decisions wait because nobody is mandated to make the architectural call.
Hiring is happening against a vague 'senior full-stack' profile.
Vendors and tools accumulate without an owner for the map.
A full-time CTO is neither budgeted nor justified by team size.

What I do in the room

Own the technical sequence: what we build, integrate, or refuse this quarter.
Architecture and AI decisions with written rationale.
Input on hiring, vendors, and build-versus-buy.
Unblock delivery on the critical path – including writing the code when that is the fastest path.
Translate between founders, customers, and engineering without watering down the constraint.

How the retainer works

A defined cadence (typically weekly or twice-weekly) plus async on the critical path. We agree what I am accountable for this month. I will not sit in every stand-up as a ceremonial CTO. If the company outgrows the model, the success condition is that you can hire a full-time lead into a system that already has a shape.

When you actually need a full-time CTO

Fractional leadership is a bridge. It is the wrong destination if these are true.

Team size and people problems

Once you need career paths, performance management, and multiple squads, you need a manager who is present. I will say when that line is crossed.

Regulatory or on-call estate

If someone must own incidents around the clock as an executive, that is not a retainer.

Fundraising narrative

Hiring a logo CTO for a deck is not an engineering engagement. I will not play that part.

How fractional retainers fail

Using the advisor as a slack punching bag for every bug.
No internal owner, so every decision waits for the next call.
Scope that silently becomes full-time IC work at retainer rates.

Fragen, die gestellt werden

Are you a fractional CTO?

I offer fractional technical leadership. I do not use the CTO title as decoration, and I will not appear on your site as 'our CTO' unless that is a real, agreed role. The work is the architecture, the sequence, and the delivery judgement.

See whether a retainer is the right shape

If the need is a single project, we should scope a project. If the need is ongoing judgement, we should talk cadence.