What is a Fractional CTO?

How a fractional CTO can save your company

A fractional CTO is someone who takes on the tasks of the CTO but not full-time. Only a fraction of the time. Why would you do that? Isn’t the CTO one of the most critical roles in the company?

A CTO is responsible for the technical build of your product or service — the company’s money making machine. As such, you want someone who truly knows what they are doing in that position. Unfortunately, this is not possible for many early-stage projects in companies, as the cost of such expertise — expertise that can make or break your company — is at a high price.
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The good news, is that fraction CTOs are perfect for early-stage projects, offering:

• Deep technical expertise from years of experience AND
• Industry exposure over a wide-portfolio of projects. 

So as a part-time member, what exactly is critical in terms of tasks that a fractional CTO should be responsible for?
Let’s have a look at the tasks of a fractional CTO and assign them a value from 1 to 3 of how much the impact on the company is

• [2] Initial architecture design
• [2] Scoping  product features
• [3] Deciding on the tooling and tech stack
• [1] Managing roadmaps and development cycles
• [3] Writing code
• [3] Recruiting and scaling development
• [1] Staying current with industry trends

As you can see, some of the tasks have a way higher impact on the company than others. Fortunately, fractional CTOs typically charge by the hour, so if you have them work on the highest-value tasks, you can get a lot of value out of them…

Let’s do a deep dive in each task to see how you can maximize your value:

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Initial Architecture Design 

• Task Description: A fractional CTO for an early-stage tech company will design the initial architecture, including decisions on databases, cybersecurity, cloud deployment, scalability, AI workflows, and quality assurance, to ensure efficient development.
• Value Add (save an estimated 150-200 developer hours):  by optimizing architecture design, over the course of several weeks the fractional CTO can, significantly reducing time spent on rework and debugging, while improving development product speed.

Scoping Product Features

• Task Description: A fractional CTO for an early-stage tech company will scope new product features based on user feedback, accurately estimating development time and ensuring a smooth rollout of high-priority features.
• Value Add (save an estimated 100-150 developer hours): By effectively scoping and prioritizing features, the fractional CTO can avoid misallocated development time, reduce delays from unforeseen technical constraints, and ensure a steady release of valuable product updates.

Deciding on the Tooling and Tech Stack

• Task Description: A fractional CTO for an early-stage tech company will select the appropriate tooling and tech stack by balancing software requirements, team expertise, hiring potential, and available development tools.
• Value Add (save an estimated 100-150 developer hours): By making informed decisions on the tech stack early on, the fractional CTO can streamline development, reduce the need for rework, and avoid inefficiencies caused by poor technology choices, ensuring faster, smoother project execution.

Managing Roadmaps and Development Cycles

• Task Description: A fractional CTO for an early-stage tech company will manage roadmaps and development cycles, including overseeing task allocation, tracking progress, and ensuring timely delivery of code-writing tasks.
• Value Add (save an estimated 80-120 developer hours): By efficiently managing development cycles and roadmaps, the fractional CTO can reduce time wasted on misaligned priorities or poorly scoped tasks, ensuring that developers stay focused on high-impact work and that projects are delivered on time.

Writing Code

• Task Description: A fractional CTO for an early-stage tech company can write complex software features that are outside the skillset of the current team, providing high-level coding support when necessary.
• Value Add (save an estimated 60-100 developer hours): By leveraging the expertise and speed of the fractional CTO for complex coding tasks, the company can complete advanced features significantly faster, allowing developers to focus on other priorities and accelerating product development.

Recruiting and Scaling Development

• Task Description: A fractional CTO for an early-stage tech company will assist in recruiting and scaling the development team, from sourcing talent to conducting technical interviews, ensuring high-quality hires.
• Value Add (save an estimated $30,000 by avoiding bad hires): By leveraging the fractional CTO's expertise in technical recruitment, the company can avoid costly hiring mistakes, while ensuring top talent is brought on board to boost productivity and development efficiency.

Keeping up with Industry Trends

• Value Add (save an estimated 50-100 developer hours): By keeping up with industry advancements, the fractional CTO can introduce cutting-edge technologies that streamline development, reduce costs, and improve operational efficiency, ensuring the company remains competitive and agile.
• Task Description: A fractional CTO for an early-stage tech company will stay informed on the latest industry trends, technologies, and frameworks to ensure the company leverages modern, cost-effective solutions.

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Conclusion

A fractional CTO can save an early-stage tech company an estimated 600-900 developer hours ($30,000 to $90,000 by average US developer rates) and avoid costly hiring mistakes, all while setting the strategic direction through informed decisions on architecture, tooling, feature scoping, and recruitment. Stay competitive with other elite startups by hiring a fractional CTO.

Do you need help with a technical task in your company? Contact us for a free consultation.

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