Services · Fractional CTO
Fractional CTO Services
Senior technology leadership for small and mid-size businesses that do not have a technology leader. Led by Pate Bryant, Code and Trust's CTO, backed by the Code and Trust team. Retainers from $1,750/month.
What is a fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO is a senior technology leader who works for your business part time, on a retainer, instead of as a full-time executive. They make the decisions a chief technology officer would make: what to build or buy, who to hire, which vendors to trust, and how to explain the technology to investors and the board. You get the judgment without the full-time hire.
Who hires a fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO fits small and mid-size businesses that depend on software but have no technology leader on staff. The decisions still have to be made, about platforms, developers, vendors, and spend, and without a CTO they land on an owner or operator who has a different job. A fractional CTO takes those decisions on.
No one on staff owns technology
The business runs on software, but the decisions about it fall to an owner or operations lead who has a different full-time job.
About to spend real money on software
You are weighing a custom build, a new platform, or an agency proposal and want someone senior on your side before you sign.
Developers with no technical manager
You have an in-house developer, a freelancer, or an outside team, and nobody to set standards, review their work, or tell you whether it is on track.
Facing investors, a board, or a buyer
Due diligence or a board meeting is coming and you need the technology story, and the answers behind it, ready.
What our fractional CTO services include
Code and Trust's fractional CTO services cover four areas: technology strategy and architecture, hiring and team leadership, vendor and agency oversight, and investor and board support. Each retainer is sized to the work your business needs.
Technology strategy and architecture
- →Stack and platform decisions
- →Build versus buy calls on new software
Hiring and team leadership
- →Interviewing and evaluating developers
- →Managing an in-house or outside development team
- →Setting code review standards
Vendor and agency oversight
- →Reviewing proposals before you sign
- →Checking quality as the work is delivered
Investor and board support
- →Support through technical due diligence
- →Technology updates for the board
Fractional CTO vs. full-time CTO vs. outsourced CTO
A fractional CTO makes the decisions a full-time CTO would make; the difference is how much of their time the business buys. A full-time CTO is an executive employee. A fractional CTO works part time on a retainer. Outsourced CTO is often a synonym for fractional, and some use it to mean a leader supplied by an outside firm.
| Model | How it works | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Fractional CTO | A senior technology leader working part time for your business on a monthly retainer. | Businesses that need senior technology judgment but not a full-time executive. |
| Full-time CTO | An executive employee, usually with salary, benefits, and equity, giving the business all of their time. | Businesses where technology is the product and there is a team large enough to lead every day. |
| Outsourced CTO | Often used to mean the same thing as fractional. Some use it for leadership supplied by an outside firm rather than an individual contractor. | Businesses that want a named leader with a firm and its team behind them. |
How a fractional CTO engagement works and what it costs
A fractional CTO engagement with Code and Trust runs on a monthly retainer from $1,750/month, sized to how much technology leadership your business needs. We agree the scope and the price in writing before the work starts.
Talk it through
Tell us where the business is, what software it runs on, and what technology decisions are waiting on someone.
Agree the scope and price
We agree the scope and the price of the retainer in writing before anything starts.
Lead
Pate Bryant steps in as your technology leader, working with your people and your vendors, backed by the Code and Trust team.
Who leads a Code and Trust fractional CTO engagement?
Code and Trust's fractional CTO engagements are led by Pate Bryant, Code and Trust's CTO. You work with one named technology leader, backed by the Code and Trust team, a custom software firm founded in 2018, for the work that needs more hands than one person has.
Fractional CTO: common questions
Fractional CTO questions usually come down to what the role is, what it costs, and how it compares to hiring. Code and Trust's fractional CTO retainers start from $1,750/month, are sized to the work, and are led by Pate Bryant, backed by the Code and Trust team.
What is a fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO is a senior technology leader who works for your business part time, on a retainer, instead of as a full-time executive. They own the technology decisions a CTO would own: strategy and architecture, hiring and managing developers, overseeing outside vendors, and answering technical questions from investors and the board.
How much does a fractional CTO cost?
Code and Trust's fractional CTO retainers start from $1,750/month. The retainer is sized to how much technology leadership your business needs, and the price is agreed in writing before the work starts.
What is the difference between a fractional CTO and a full-time CTO?
A full-time CTO is an employee who gives the business all of their working time, usually with a salary, benefits, and equity. A fractional CTO gives the business part of their time on a retainer. A fractional CTO fits a business that needs senior technology judgment but does not yet have the team or the budget for a full-time executive.
How many hours does a fractional CTO work?
It depends on what the business needs. A company planning a single platform decision needs less time than one hiring a team or managing an agency through a large build. Code and Trust sizes each retainer to the work in front of you and agrees the scope in writing before it starts.
What does a fractional CTO do in the first 90 days?
The first stretch is about learning what you have and deciding what matters most: the current systems and stack, the vendors and contracts, the people writing code, and the business goals technology has to serve. From there a fractional CTO sets the roadmap, makes the build versus buy calls, and puts standards in place for hiring, code review, and vendor scope. The order depends on what is most urgent for your business.
Can a fractional CTO manage an outside agency?
Yes. Vendor and agency oversight is one of the core parts of a Code and Trust fractional CTO engagement. That means reviewing proposals before you sign, and then checking the quality of the work as it is delivered.
Related services
Related services pick up where a fractional CTO's decisions lead. When the roadmap calls for new software, Code and Trust builds it as custom software development. When an existing build has stalled, a software project takeover starts with an audit. When old systems are holding the business back, legacy modernization replaces them.
Need a technology leader without the full-time hire?
Tell us where your business is and what is waiting on a technology decision. We will tell you whether a fractional CTO is the right fit, and if it is, what the retainer would cover.