What a fractional CTO costs in Miami
These are the prices I actually charge, $295 for one session, from $995 a month for ongoing advisory, $249 an hour beyond that, so a few days a month of fractional CTO work ends up roughly $4,000 to $8,000. The first 30 minutes are free.
How it's billed
The advisory is a monthly fee for a session every week and WhatsApp and email between them, I don't count hours in that month, and you stop when it stops being useful. The hourly rate is only for fractional CTO work on top of it. It's just me, I'm not an agency, so I work with a small number of founders at a time.
Four ways to start, cheapest first
Intro call · free
30 minutes, you tell me what's stuck and I tell you what I'd do and if I'm the right person for it, I won't pitch you anything.
Strategy session · $295
One hour on one decision and a written action plan after, like an architecture call, build or buy, or a technical review before a raise or a sale. If you go on to the advisory it counts toward your first month.
Advisory · from $995/mo
A session every week and WhatsApp and email in between, for when you need someone technical to ask while you decide things. How the weekly sessions work.
Fractional CTO · ~$4-8k/mo
The CTO role itself, a few days a month, billed by the hour beyond the advisory retainer, and we agree the scope for your company before I bill anything. What the engagement covers.
What changes the price
Most of it is how many days a month you need me, the difference between the low end and the high end is only that, the rate doesn't move. Then it depends if you have a team, one call a week with a solo founder is a different job from architecture reviews, code review and hiring interviews with five engineers, and if something is on a deadline, due diligence before a sale or a raise, an agency handover, a migration, it's more hours in less time at the same rate. If there's an inherited codebase with no documentation I have to read it first, I'd be a charlatan if I gave you technical advice without understanding it in depth, so a first read fits inside the strategy session and a full review is scoped and billed by the hour. The rate is the same whether you raised a round or you're bootstrapping. I priced it so a bootstrapped founder can afford the entry point, because that is the path I took.
Fractional or full-time
A full-time CTO costs multiples of a fractional retainer with equity on top, and then the months to find one, and if you hire the wrong one the severance. With fractional there's no equity, and you can stop any month.
The downside is I'm not in every meeting. If your technical decisions need somebody there every day, hire full time and pay the salary, I think that's the right call. But if it's more about the big decisions, I would say a few days a month of me is the better deal, because one wrong decision on the architecture or a hire can cost you a year.
When you shouldn't hire me
If it's one of these I'll tell you on the intro call and I won't take the money.
If you want a developer to give tasks to, that's a hire or an agency, I don't sell or place developers and I don't take a margin on anybody's salary. Same if you want somebody to build the product for you. And if you want technology completely off your desk you need a full-time CTO or a technical co-founder, not a fractional one, because I can't care about the product for you.
Sometimes one strategy session is enough, you get your answer and you don't need the monthly, and that's fine with me.
Questions about price
How much does a fractional CTO cost in Miami?
With me it starts at $295 for one strategy session, and ongoing advisory starts at $995 a month. A fractional CTO is usually a few days a month, scoped for your company and billed at $249 an hour beyond the advisory retainer, so it ends up roughly $4,000 to $8,000 a month. A full-time CTO costs multiples of any of this, before equity. The first 30-minute intro call is free.
What is the cheapest way to start?
The intro call, it's free. After that the cheapest paid step is the strategy session, and it counts toward your first month if you go on to the advisory.
Is there a contract or a minimum commitment?
No. The advisory is month to month and you can cancel any month, the strategy session is one time with nothing attached. There's no minimum and no notice period.
What does the $249 an hour cover?
The work beyond the advisory retainer, which is most of what a fractional CTO does, so architecture, hiring, code reviews, getting ready for due diligence, and we agree the scope before I bill any of it.
When is a fractional CTO the wrong choice?
If you need somebody there every day, or a developer to give tasks to, or someone to take technology off your desk completely, I wrote more about it above.
Ask me your number
Tell me how many engineers you have and what's stuck, and I'll tell you which of the four makes sense and what it would cost.