Fractional CTO

A Fractional CTO is a senior technology executive engaged part-time on a monthly retainer to set engineering direction, make architecture and vendor decisions, and lead an organization’s technical team without the cost of a full-time hire.

What a Fractional CTO does

Owns the technology roadmap, picks the right architecture for the organization’s stage, makes build-vs-buy calls, mentors senior engineers, runs code and design reviews, evaluates vendors and tooling, oversees security and compliance, and represents technology to the board, funders, or auditors.

Who it serves best

• Non-technical founders who need someone qualified to evaluate developer work and hold vendors accountable.
• Scaling startups whose initial architecture has run out of room before the next round of funding.
• Nonprofits with growing tech footprints that can’t justify a full-time hire.
• Organizations between technical leaders who need stability and a credible search partner.

Typical engagement

Monthly retainer engagements ranging from a few hours a week to a few days a week, with the executive embedded in leadership meetings, board updates, and engineering planning. Hello World offers Fractional CTO engagements starting at $5,000 per month.