Fractional CTO
Fractional CTO for US startups and SMEs.
A fractional CTO is an experienced chief technology officer engaged part-time instead of as a full-time executive. For US companies that usually means senior technical judgement on architecture, delivery, vendors and spend on a set cadence, with overlap arranged around US working hours and travel costed per engagement.
Deadlines slipping, burn rising, and nobody senior accountable for the technology? Former CTO and COO, and founder of my own consultancy for over fifteen years. I work with founders who need senior technical leadership on the decisions that matter, without committing to a full-time executive hire.
What a fractional CTO is
A fractional CTO is an experienced chief technology officer engaged part-time. You get the judgement of someone who has run technology at executive level, applied to the decisions that carry real cost, on a contract you can size up or wind down as the company changes.
For a US company that typically covers architecture and delivery calls, offshore or agency oversight, security and compliance readiness ahead of enterprise buyers and auditors, engineering spend against the plan, and being the person your board or your investors can put a technical question to and get a straight answer.
I take a small number of clients at a time. I have no build team to keep busy and no vendor referral fees to protect, so nothing in the advice is pointing anywhere except at what I think you should do.
When to hire one
The moments founders call me
Your offshore build team is unsupervised
A US company with a development team several time zones away needs someone reading delivery against what was promised. Otherwise the only status report you get is written by the people being reported on.
A security questionnaire is blocking a deal
Enterprise buyers send a SOC 2 or vendor-risk pack and the answers stall. Someone has to decide what is true today, what needs building, and in which order — before the deal slips a quarter.
The next round is going to look at the technology
US venture diligence goes beyond the deck: architecture, key-person risk, third-party dependencies, what the burn is actually buying. Better to know what they will find before they find it.
Your first senior engineering hire is the wrong shape
Founders reach for a VP Engineering when the gap is technical strategy, or a CTO title when the need is delivery management. Getting the shape wrong is expensive in US comp and equity.
What you get
Business audits
An honest read of where your technology stands, written so you and your board can act on it.
Strategy development
A plan with sequence, cost and trade-offs named, not a wish list.
Coaching and mentoring
For CTOs, COOs and their teams, and for founders growing into the technical side of the job.
Project delivery
Steering projects, in-house or outsourced, when a programme needs a steady hand on it.
How the engagement works
I contract with the US entity directly, which keeps the arrangement simple: no employment, no benefits load, no equity conversation, and a scope you can review at any point. Cadence follows the stage — a one-off audit with a written report, a fixed involvement through a delivery programme, or standing availability as the technical voice you call before a decision is signed.
Everything lands in writing. Boards, investors and engineering teams read the same document, which removes most of the arguments about what was actually said.
No lock-in, and no interest in staying longer than the business needs me. When the company is ready to bring the role in-house, I help you hire for it and step back.
Choosing between the options
Fractional CTO, full-time CTO or an agency
Fractional CTO
Executive-level judgement at a cadence that matches the stage, with no salary, equity grant or severance attached. Independent of any build shop, so nothing is being sold to you underneath the advice.
Full-time CTO
The right call once the engineering org needs daily leadership. Before that point, US executive comp and equity make it an expensive bet to place on an unproven fit, and a slow one to unwind.
Development agency or dev shop
Strong at building the thing you specified. Structurally poor at telling you the specification is wrong, because the revenue depends on the build continuing.
Working with US companies
I am based in Manchester, UK and work remotely. My working day overlaps with US East Coast mornings, which is when most of the conversations that matter happen anyway.
The work is remote by design rather than by compromise: written reports, scheduled calls and availability between them. Sectors I know well include fintech, iGaming and gambling, digital health, SaaS, data and agencies.
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.”
“Aside from his knowledge of big data and the technologies and methodologies that surround it, Tim has been a great sounding board for myself and my business partner with what we are building at Ruler Analytics and Epic New Media.”
Questions
Fractional CTO FAQs
- What is a fractional CTO?
- A fractional CTO is an experienced chief technology officer engaged part-time rather than as a full-time executive hire. For a US startup that usually means a contracted engagement with no equity grant, no benefits load and no severance exposure, sized to the decisions the company actually faces this quarter.
- Can a fractional CTO work with a US company from the UK?
- Yes, and most of my work already runs this way. I engage as a contractor with a US entity, which keeps the arrangement simple on your side, and my working day covers US East Coast mornings. Where a board meeting, an investor session or an on-site review needs me in the room, travel is costed into the engagement rather than assumed.
- Can a fractional CTO help with SOC 2 or a security questionnaire?
- SOC 2 is an AICPA attestation performed by a licensed CPA firm, so I cannot issue the report. What I do is decide what is true of your systems today, what has to change before an auditor or an enterprise buyer looks, and in what order — so the questionnaire stops being the thing that holds up the deal.
- How does a fractional CTO help with US venture diligence?
- Technical diligence looks at architecture, key-person risk, third-party and open-source dependencies, security posture, and whether the engineering spend maps to the plan. I go through it before the investor does, tell you what they will find, and put the answers in writing.
- What does a fractional CTO cost?
- It depends on cadence and scope — a one-off audit with a written report is a different commitment from ongoing weekly involvement. I do not publish rates, because quoting a number before understanding the work is not useful to either of us. Tell me what is happening and I will tell you what it would take.
- Fractional CTO or VP Engineering — which do I need?
- A VP Engineering runs the team, the process and the delivery machine day to day. A fractional CTO sets technical direction and carries the decisions that reach the board and the balance sheet. Hiring one when you needed the other is one of the more expensive mistakes available at US comp levels, and I will tell you which gap I think you have.
Need a fractional CTO?
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.