Architecture decisions, technical strategy, and engineering leadership for startups that need a CTO's judgment without a full-time hire. Fixed monthly retainer + equity. Pre-seed through Series A.
8–15 hours/week · Best for: pre-seed, cash-constrained, high-conviction bets
For ventures where cash is tight but the opportunity is strong. Lower retainer compensated by higher equity. I'm betting on the outcome alongside you.
| Included | Details |
|---|
| Architecture ownership | Technology decisions, stack selection, infrastructure design. I own the technical direction. |
| Sprint planning | Prioritize the backlog, define sprint goals, translate product vision into engineering tasks. |
| Dev team interface | Direct communication with your engineering team or agency. Review PRs, unblock decisions, maintain quality standards. |
| Weekly sync | 30-minute founder alignment call. Async updates between syncs. |
| Fundraising support | Technical narrative for investor decks. Architecture documentation that demonstrates execution readiness. |
4–8 hours/week · Best for: funded startups needing architecture guidance, not daily execution
Strategic technology oversight. You have a team that can execute — you need someone to make sure they're building the right thing the right way.
| Included | Details |
|---|
| Architecture review | Evaluate current system, identify risks, recommend improvements. Written assessment with prioritized action items. |
| Technology strategy | Build vs. buy decisions, vendor evaluation, technical debt prioritization. Opinionated guidance, not generic frameworks. |
| Bi-weekly sync | 60-minute deep dive every two weeks. Async availability for urgent questions between sessions. |
| Hiring support | Technical interview design, candidate evaluation, team structure recommendations. |
| Board/investor readiness | Technical sections of board decks. Due diligence preparation. Architecture documentation. |
10–20 hours/week · Best for: seed/Series A needing hands-on technical leadership
The core fractional CTO engagement. I'm in the codebase, in the standups, and in the architecture decisions. Hands-on leadership without the full-time cost.
| Included | Details |
|---|
| Everything in Advisory | Architecture review, technology strategy, hiring support, investor readiness. |
| Hands-on leadership | Lead sprint planning, conduct code reviews, make real-time technical decisions. In the weeds, not just advising from the side. |
| Engineering process | CI/CD pipeline, testing strategy, deployment process, monitoring and alerting. Establish the practices that scale. |
| Weekly sync + async | 30-minute weekly founder call. Daily async availability for engineering team. Slack/Teams presence. |
| Performance + security | Load testing strategy, security review, infrastructure optimization. Pre-launch hardening. |
| Vendor management | Evaluate and manage relationships with outsourced development teams, cloud providers, and SaaS tools. |
20–30 hours/week · Best for: growth-stage needing near full-time CTO capacity
Near full-time engagement for companies in critical phases — pre-launch push, fundraising, M&A technical due diligence, or scaling past the first engineering team.
| Included | Details |
|---|
| Everything in Standard | Architecture, hands-on leadership, engineering process, vendor management. |
| Executive team participation | Attend leadership meetings, contribute to company strategy, represent technology in board discussions. |
| Team building | Recruit, interview, and onboard engineering hires. Define roles, levels, and compensation benchmarks. |
| On-call availability | Available for urgent technical decisions and incident response. Priority response within 2 hours during business hours. |
| Transition planning | When ready for a full-time CTO: define the role, lead the search, onboard the successor, ensure clean handoff. |
Side-by-Side
| Capability | Equity-First | Advisory | Standard | Embedded |
|---|
| Architecture decisions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sprint planning | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dev team interface | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fundraising / investor docs | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Technology strategy | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hiring support | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Code reviews / hands-on | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Engineering process (CI/CD, testing) | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Performance + security review | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Executive team participation | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Team building + recruiting | — | — | — | ✓ |
| On-call availability | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Successor transition | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Monthly retainer | $3K–$6K | $5K–$8K | $8K–$15K | $15K–$25K |
| Equity | 1.0–2.0% | 0.25–0.5% | 0.5–1.0% | 0.1–0.5% |
| Hours/week | 8–15 | 4–8 | 10–20 | 20–30 |
Equity ranges based on Carta advisor data (2024), FAST agreement benchmarks, and TopStartups.io CTO compensation database. Retainer ranges reflect 2025–2026 market rates for independent fractional CTOs.
What Drives the Price
| Factor | Lower end | Upper end |
|---|
| Company stage | Pre-seed, bootstrapped | Series A, funded |
| Team size | Solo founder + outsourced dev | 5+ engineers needing leadership |
| Technical complexity | Standard web/mobile stack | AI/ML, real-time systems, compliance-heavy |
| Hours needed | Advisory cadence (weekly call + async) | Daily standups, sprint planning, code reviews |
| Cash vs. equity preference | Higher equity, lower cash | Higher cash, lower equity |
The cash-equity tradeoff: Less cash = more equity. If you're paying $3K/month instead of $15K, the equity compensates for the discount. This is standard in the fractional CTO market — the specific ratio is negotiated per engagement based on company valuation and funding stage.
Communication
| Channel | Cost | Notes |
|---|
| Email | Included | Unlimited. Primary channel for non-urgent items. |
| Slack / Teams | Included | Async daily. Response within same business day. |
| Scheduled meetings | Included | Weekly or bi-weekly sync included in each tier. Additional meetings as needed. |
| Loom / async video | Included | Architecture walkthroughs, decision explanations, code review summaries. |
How It Works
| Step | What | Details |
|---|
| 1 | Discovery | One call to understand your product, team, stage, and technical challenges. Free, no obligation. |
| 2 | Assessment | I review your codebase, architecture, and team structure. You review my background and references. Mutual fit check. |
| 3 | Terms | Tier selection, retainer amount, equity percentage, vesting schedule. Written agreement before the first week. |
| 4 | Onboard | Week 1: access to repos, Slack, project management. Architecture assessment delivered by end of week 2. |
| 5 | Ongoing | Monthly retainer, weekly/bi-weekly syncs, async availability. Month-to-month after initial 3-month commitment. |
What This Is Not
- Not hourly consulting. Fixed monthly retainer covers availability and judgment, not logged hours. Some weeks are heavy, some are light.
- Not a coding contractor. I make architecture decisions, lead teams, and own technical strategy. If you need a developer, hire one.
- Not a title for your pitch deck. If you need a CTO name on your team page but don't need the actual work, this isn't the right engagement.
- Not permanent. The goal is to build technical leadership capacity — either through my ongoing involvement or by hiring a full-time CTO I help recruit and transition.