A fractional CTO offers a cost-effective solution for optimising your technical team and processes and providing guidance to navigate complex challenges. While this approach works well for many companies, there are scenarios where a fractional CTO may not be the right fit.
As SaaS CEO, when should you avoid hiring a fractional CTO?
It starts with the product
Every business's first focus should be reaching product-market fit. If your product hasn’t reached that stage yet, your primary focus should be validating your idea, not scaling your technology. A fractional CTO can provide strategic guidance, but their expertise will be underutilised without understanding the market’s needs. There is a substantial risk the team will build the wrong thing. At this stage, the company should invest their money in alternatives rather than involving a fractional CTO. Instead, prioritise market research, customer feedback, and proof of concept (POC) development before considering high-level technical leadership.
Look for a skilled engineer with experience bootstrapping a POC. If they mention auto-scaling solutions hosted on one of the large cloud providers, they are not the right fit at this stage. Scaling shouldn’t be the main priority early on. Focus on building a successful product first. Scalability becomes relevant once you have a proven track record. The company needs a pull developer who can quickly iterate to see what brings value to customers.
Peter Eysermans
Honesty to the stakeholders
A fractional CTO is, by definition, a temporary presence. If your customers or investors expect a full-time executive committed to your company, it’s crucial to communicate the fractional CTO’s role upfront.
Misrepresentation can lead to trust issues. Fractional CTOs are there to solve specific problems and set you up for long-term success, not to blend into the organisation indefinitely. Avoid hiring a fractional CTO unless there is a clear need for technical leadership. How do you know there’s a need? There are clear signs: your engineering team takes months to ship new features, new releases are riddled with bugs and require multiple iterations to function correctly, and while your customer base is growing, your product struggles to keep up. Despite numerous efforts, the team can’t improve performance, and there’s no clear technical direction—every week, a new technology is introduced as the next big solution. If these challenges sound familiar, it’s time for someone to take the lead.
A fractional CTO can provide the guidance your company needs to navigate these complexities and establish a strong technical foundation.
Strategic or operational?
The role of a CTO evolves depending on the stage and size of the company.
While the position is fundamentally strategic, its scope can vary widely. A CTO may focus exclusively on high-level strategy in larger organisations, leaving operational tasks to other team members. However, a CTO often wears multiple hats in smaller companies, blending strategic oversight with hands-on involvement. At this stage, it’s crucial to have a CTO who addresses technical challenges and aligns technology with the broader business goals. They can seamlessly transition from debugging complex issues and building proof-of-concept features to optimising development processes and collaborating with stakeholders.
So, is the CTO’s role strategic or operational? Primarily, it’s strategic. If your company needs someone deeply involved in day-to-day operations, you’re likely looking for an individual contributor, architect, or software engineer—not a CTO.
Individual developer or fractional CTO?
A CTO’s primary responsibility is to lead and align technical teams with the company’s vision, not to build the product themselves. A fractional CTO won't be the right fit if your company doesn’t have a technical team yet. At this stage, focus on hiring a skilled individual contributor who can develop your product’s first version. Involving a fractional CTO can be valuable for defining the initial application architecture or validating the work of the individual contributor. A pragmatic approach is essential for early product versions. These initial builds should prioritise solving the core problem and validating it in the market based on the customer's immediate needs rather than being designed to serve thousands of hypothetical users.
A fractional CTO can step in once the product is ready to scale. They are crucial in bridging the gap between a solo developer and a cohesive technical team, ensuring knowledge sharing, seamless growth, and alignment with the product's vision.
Agency or fractional CTO?
For fixed-scope projects—like building a simple app or launching a company website—you likely don’t need a CTO. Specialised agencies or technical project managers are better suited for these tasks. A CTO’s role is strategic and focused on shaping the long-term technical direction by balancing priorities and avoiding overly complex solutions that exceed the company’s current needs.
Agencies typically focus on fulfilling the specified requirements as outlined. A CTO considers the company’s vision and goals, refining and adjusting the requirements to ensure they align with the broader objectives.
Yannick De Pauw
A fractional CTO in the enterprise
Fractional CTOs are best suited for small to medium-sized projects or companies. If the scope of your project is too large or requires constant oversight, a part-time leader may struggle to meet your needs. Large enterprises require a full-time CTO who can dedicate their energy to overseeing complex systems, large teams, and multi-year roadmaps.
A fractional CTO won't add much value if your company hesitates to change or simply wants to maintain the status quo. Their role is to drive innovation and strategic improvements, not to retain and sign off on outdated practices. They aim to future-proof the product and company by creating a clear strategic roadmap. This involves evaluating whether the current technical direction aligns with the application’s long-term goals and requirements.
Replacing your CTO
Fractional CTOs excel at strategic oversight but shouldn’t be expected to work within a team to inspire or replace an underperforming CTO. Coaching or mentoring might be a better alternative if your goal is to elevate an existing CTO.
A fractional CTO is not a shield to avoid internal conflicts or hard decisions. If your company lacks alignment or faces leadership disputes, a fractional CTO can help to navigate these challenges. But it must be clear that they are there to foster progress, not to act as a buffer.
If your current CTO goes on vacation, a one-to-one replacement by a fractional CTO is rarely feasible. However, an interim role might be suitable if planned well, ensuring critical operations continue without disruption. A fractional CTO is typically brought in to address specific challenges, while an interim CTO temporarily fills a leadership role to maintain continuity during a transition.
Adding a CTO to speed up the project
A fractional CTO won’t magically make you meet an unrealistic deadline. They can, however, create a realistic plan of action to help you prioritise and manage expectations. They have experience assessing what is technically possible and will challenge all functional expectations. If you’re looking for a quick fix, reconsider whether your expectations align with the role’s purpose. Be prepared to cut scope and prioritise one feature over another.
Outsourcing your performance reviews
One task you should never outsource is performance reviews. We’ve seen cases where a company loses a technical leader and then asks an external party to evaluate their technical team during annual reviews. This is a mistake. Performance reviews should be conducted by someone who has been with the company for a while and has worked closely with the evaluated employee.
It’s far better to have a reviewer who has collaborated with the employee—even if only to some extent—than to bring in a newcomer who has been with the company for just a few months. Constructive feedback is difficult to give, but for it to be meaningful and authentic, it must come from someone who understands the person’s work firsthand. Only those who have worked closely with the employee can provide relevant, insightful, and actionable feedback.
Conclusion
A fractional CTO can be a game-changer when leveraged correctly, but they’re not a one-size-fits-all solution. Before hiring one, evaluate your company’s stage, needs, and goals. Be transparent about their role with stakeholders, and use their expertise strategically. The right fractional CTO engagement can drive growth and innovation—but only when the conditions are right.
Are you unsure if a fractional CTO is what your company needs? An audit can provide a holistic view of your software development process and team, highlighting pain points in your current workflow and helping you make an informed decision.
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