Fractional CTO
You get a CTO’s judgment, network, and hands when you need them, without the full-time salary or the equity hit of a co-founder.
A lot of companies are too big to keep flying blind technically, but too early to justify a 250k-plus full-time CTO. That gap is exactly what I fill. I plug in as your fractional CTO: I own the technical direction, keep the roadmap honest, and give you a senior person to think out loud with, for a fraction of a full-time hire.
I work with founders who are not technical and with ones who are and just need another experienced head in the room.
What it covers
- Technical direction and architecture decisions, owned not just advised
- Roadmap and priorities kept aligned with the business
- Hiring: writing roles, screening engineers, building the team
- Managing and mentoring your existing developers or agencies
- Vendor and tooling decisions, and the budget behind them
- Translating between the business and the engineers, in both directions
- A standing line to me for the fire drills and the judgment calls
- Investor and board support when the questions turn technical
Who it’s for
- Non-technical founders who need a technical partner they trust
- Funded startups between seed and Series A without a full-time CTO
- SMBs modernizing and tired of being sold to by vendors
What you get
- A named senior technical leader your team and board can point to
- A maintained roadmap and a clear set of current priorities
- Regular check-ins and a written summary of decisions and status
- Hiring and vendor support as needed
- On-call judgment for the calls that cannot wait for a full-time hire
How it works
- 1
Fit call
We make sure the problem and the working style fit. No pressure either way.
- 2
Onboarding
I get up to speed on your product, team, stack, and goals in the first week or two.
- 3
Cadence
We settle into a rhythm: regular syncs, a shared backlog, and a clear way to reach me between them.
- 4
Lead
I own technical direction and move the roadmap forward with your team.
- 5
Scale or hand off
When it is time for a full-time CTO, I help you hire them and hand over cleanly.
When a fractional CTO is the right call (and when it isn't)
The honest version: you need a fractional CTO when the technical decisions have gotten bigger than anyone on the team is comfortable owning, but the volume of them does not yet justify a full-time hire. That usually looks like a non-technical founder managing a dev shop they cannot evaluate, or a small team shipping fast with nobody keeping the architecture honest. If that is you, part-time senior leadership pays for itself in the mistakes it prevents.
If instead you are mid-crisis or covering a sudden departure, what you actually want is an interim CTO in the chair full-time for a stretch. And if you are still at the idea stage with nothing built, a startup CTO engagement is the better fit. I offer all three because the right amount of leadership changes as you grow, and I would rather point you to the one that fits than sell you the one you asked for.
Why work with me
I’m Matt George, a fractional CTO for SMBs and early-stage startups and the founder of the venture-backed legal-tech company Injuria.ai. I have built and shipped real products end to end, from scrappy MVPs to data and AI infrastructure running in production, so the advice here comes from doing the work rather than talking about it. You get a senior technical partner with nothing to sell you, no vendor kickbacks, and a bias toward shipping.
FAQ
How much of your time do we get?
It varies by engagement, from a few days a month for advisory up to most of a week when we are heads-down on something. We size it to the need and revisit it.
Do you write code?
I can and sometimes do, especially early when speed matters. But the point of fractional CTO work is leadership and leverage, so mostly I make sure the right things get built by the right people.
What is the difference between this and an interim CTO?
Fractional is ongoing and part-time. Interim is full-time and temporary, usually to cover a gap or a crisis. I offer both.
Can you work with our existing developers or agency?
Yes, that is common. I manage and mentor in-house teams and keep agencies honest and on-scope.
Related services
Interim CTO
Full-time technical leadership to cover a gap, steady a team, or get through a crunch, for a defined stretch.
Technology Strategy
A written, costed technology plan that ties every build and buy decision back to where the business is going.
Startup CTO
A technical partner for founders going from idea to shipped product, without giving away co-founder equity.
Let’s ship it! 🚀
Whether it’s legal tech, an AI platform, fractional CTO leadership, or a problem you just want a second set of eyes on, grab a time that works.
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