A fractional CTO is someone who takes on the duties 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.
The good news, is that fraction CTOs are perfect for early-stage projects, offering:
So as a part-time member, what exactly are the critical 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
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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