Fractional CTO
Set technical direction, assess architecture, guide engineering, and evaluate hiring or vendor decisions. A senior partner works with you and your team through an agreed level of involvement.
Technology leadership
CTOSide · Technology and product advisory
Fractional CTO and
product leadership
Experienced leadership for founders who need to turn business plans into products, technology decisions, and a capable team.
Discuss your businessFor founders and business leaders
Where does your business need support?
A fractional leader takes responsibility for an agreed part of the work, with reserved capacity. The role starts with the decisions your business needs to make.
Before you commit to a build
You understand the customer and see an opportunity. Now you need to decide what the first product should do, how to test the idea, and who should build it.
Decisions we can help with
- What must the first release prove?
- Which features can wait?
- Should we hire, use an agency, or buy an existing tool?
What the work can produce
A product brief, a focused first-release scope, and a delivery approach with its assumptions made explicit.
Our services
Senior support across the decisions that shape your product and business. Choose a focused role or combine technology and product leadership.
Product leadership
Translate business goals and customer needs into a workable roadmap. Clarify priorities, define what needs to be built, and give the team a shared understanding of the next release.
Product strategy and deliveryAI & automation
Identify where AI can improve a business process or product. Evaluate feasibility, data requirements, costs, and risks before committing to an implementation.
AI advisory and implementation planningFrom strategy to delivery
How business goals become a working product
Product and technical leadership shape one roadmap. The delivery team builds it, and real results guide what comes next.
Leadership roles and implementation capacity are defined in your engagement.
Founder
Business goals
Customers, budget and intended outcomes
Product leadership
What should we build?
Customer needs, priorities and scope
CTO leadership
How should we build it?
Architecture, people and technical trade-offs
Shared decision
One agreed roadmap
Priorities · Owners · Resources · Review points
Delivery team
Build & release
Implement the agreed work
Founder + team + CTOSide
Review results
Customer feedback and business outcomes
Working with CTOSide
Leadership that fits your stage
You may be planning a first product, reviewing an existing development team, or preparing to grow. The starting point is a conversation about the business and the decisions you need to make.
We agree on the role, scope, availability, and fees before paid work begins. An engagement can be a focused assessment, ongoing fractional CTO support, or a combined CTO and product role.
View engagement optionsFind a starting point
Which engagement fits your situation?
Follow the question that best describes your business. We confirm the scope together before work begins.
What needs attention?
“I need to understand what’s wrong.”
Get an independent view of your product, technology, and delivery risks.
Focused reviewProduct & technology assessment“I need someone to lead.”
Which decisions need ongoing ownership?
Exploring a specific AI or automation opportunity? See AI advisory.
The work you receive
A practical record of decisions, priorities, and progress
Deliverables depend on the role and scope. These are examples of the working documents we can create and maintain with your team.
- Product & technology assessment
- What exists today, where the risks are, and which questions need to be resolved before more money or time is committed.
- A prioritized roadmap
- The work that matters next, its intended outcome, dependencies, and owner. Reviewed as the business learns.
- Decision records
- The options considered, the reason for a recommendation, its trade-offs, and the point at which it should be reviewed.
- Progress & risk reviews
- A shared view of completed work, blockers, spending considerations, and decisions that need founder input.
Agree on the working relationship
Before work begins, we define responsibilities, availability, communication, and review points. For US and other remote teams, that includes overlapping hours and response windows.
About CTOSide
Why we started
CTOSide grew out of conversations with startup founders who approached Reza Sahebozamani about taking on a CTO role. Many knew their market well and needed someone to lead the technology and product work.
Our goal is to make that partnership available at the stage it is needed, with a defined role and clear accountability. We help founders build the understanding, team, and working practices their business needs for the next stage.
Our story and goalsBefore we begin
Common questions
Understand the role, how it works with your team, and how an engagement is scoped.
Read all questions and answersWhat to bring to the first conversation
A short description of the business, your current team, and the decision that feels most urgent. You do not need to prepare a technical specification.
What happens next
We discuss the context, assess whether there is a useful fit, and agree on a next step. Any paid work starts with a written scope and fee.
Contact CTOSide
Tell us about your business and the technology or product decisions you need help with.