Fractional CTO · Hong Kong
Fractional CTO for Hong Kong founders.
Outsourced build slipping and invoices approved on trust? Senior technical leadership for founders and boards in Hong Kong, without a full-time executive hire. Former CTO and COO, and founder of my own consultancy for over fifteen years, working on your hours rather than mine.
Part of Fractional CTO in South East Asia. GMT+8 coverage for scale-ups across Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
When founders call
Four situations I am usually brought into
You are building with an outsourced team
Development spread across Hong Kong, the mainland or further afield needs someone reading what was promised against what shipped. Without that, invoices get approved on trust.
A full-time CTO is not yet justified
The technical decisions are already executive-level even when the headcount is not. Fractional gives you the judgement without the salary, equity and hiring risk.
Investors are about to look under the bonnet
Technical diligence finds what it finds. Knowing it first, and having a plan for it, is worth more than a polished deck.
The board cannot tell if delivery is on track
When reporting is filtered through the people doing the work, the board needs an independent read on the roadmap, the team and the next twelve months of cost.
How the engagement works
Working with a Hong Kong business from the UK
Hong Kong hours, worked properly
HKT is GMT+8 and Hong Kong does not observe daylight saving, so the gap is seven hours in UK summer and eight in winter. A 09:00 UK start puts me with you at 16:00 or 17:00 HKT, every working day, with earlier starts by arrangement when something is live.
Remote by default
Fixed weekly contact, board attendance by video, and written reports your team and your investors can both act on. Most technical advisory into the region already runs this way.
On-site when it earns its place
Some work needs a room: a board offsite, a team reset, a diligence week. I travel to Hong Kong where that is the right call, arranged and costed per engagement rather than assumed.
I take on a small number of clients at a time, have no development team to keep busy and no supplier referrals to protect. No lock-in either: when you are ready to bring the role in-house, I help you hire well and step back.
What founders say
“Working with Tim and Scryla was a great experience. The guidance and consultation helped us plan our project and defined our scope. Through a thorough report, Tim helped us understand the phases of work with our outsourced development team. We would recommend any start up looking for a steer to work with Tim and Scryla.”
“Engaging Tim as an advisor was one of the best decisions we made for our company. Tim brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and a fresh perspective to the boardroom. He has helped us to make better strategic decisions, improved our governance and brought valuable connections to the table.”
Questions
Hong Kong FAQs
- Are you based in Hong Kong?
- No. I am based in Manchester, UK and work with Hong Kong founders and boards on a remote-first basis, with the intention of relocating to the region. I would rather say that plainly than present a service-area page as a local office.
- How does the time difference actually work?
- Hong Kong holds GMT+8 all year with no daylight saving, so the gap from the UK is seven hours between late March and late October and eight hours the rest of the year. That makes the late-afternoon HKT slot a fixed part of the week rather than something renegotiated each month, and personal data questions in scope — the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Cap. 486, overseen by the PCPD — get handled in that same standing slot rather than by email tennis.
- Will you travel to Hong Kong?
- Yes, where it changes the outcome — a board offsite, a delivery reset, a diligence week. Travel and on-site time are agreed and costed as part of the engagement up front, so there are no surprises on either side.
- What sectors do you know?
- Fintech, iGaming and gambling, digital health, SaaS, data and agencies. Those are sectors I have run technology and operations in as a CTO and COO, not sectors I have read about.
- Is this the same as a technology non-executive director?
- No, and I keep the two separate. A fractional CTO works inside the business, owning technical decisions and leading the team. A non-executive director sits outside it, holding the executive to account on the board's behalf. I will tell you which one you actually need.
Building in Hong Kong?
Tell me about the business, the stage it is at, and what is worrying you. I will tell you plainly whether I am the right person, and what I would look at first.