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<span class="badge bg-secondary" style="background-color:#000 !important; padding: 5px;">fCTO</span>
<span class="fs-4">Fractional CTO + CISO</span>
</a>
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<div class="p-3 pb-md-4 mx-auto">
<h1 class="mb-4">
What is a fCTO?
<small class="text-body-secondary" style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 200;">
(fractional CTO)
</small>
</h1>
<p class="fs-5">
Smile :), it's just a <b>perspective</b>. It's something I wish I
had had when I was a founder of a venture-backed startup
(RIP Meenta.io - Techstars 2018). Startups are almost always
working with limited funding, limited time, and limited staff.
</p>
<p class="fs-5">
Having a trusted reference who has experience building systems and solutions
would have made a huge difference in how I approached tech challenges.
</p>
<p class="fs-5">
The mission of a startup is always large and game-changing.
Any founder who wants to take on a problem is facing
headwinds, from day one.
</p>
<hr>
<h2 class="mt-5">
What did I need? <small class="text-body-secondary"
style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 200;">(...when I was an active founder)</small>
</h2>
<p class="fs-5">
When I was selecting a startup technology stack for my last startup,
I used what I knew best. This is just practical. When new challenges
came up, I defaulted to the solutions that I could implement fast,
and customize quickly.
</p>
<p class="fs-5">
In retrospect, what I needed was a framework to think about the
tech stack as set tool and patterns that would change to meet the stage
of the company, and would change with different perspectives. I
needed a better way to approach those early decisions.
</p>
<h2 class="mt-5">
What would I have done differently?
</h2>
<p class="fs-5">
Simple answer. I would have outsourced some of the decision-making.
Just a bit. Assuming I had been given (a gentle push), I would have
gone to my network sooner (LinkedIn, Advisors etc). Often CEOs have advisors.
CTOs and technical founders are heads down, in the weeds, and don't socialize
their tech challenges. The mental exercise of scoring my decisions,
even if these decisions seem small and trivial, would have helped lay
the foundation. In a startup, small decisions have large impacts.
</p>
<h2 class="mt-5">
How to get this perspective?
</h2>
<p class="fs-5">
There are several simple things I recommend for a founding team:
</p>
<ol>
<li class="fs-5 pb-md-4">
<b>Review our network of advisors and investors</b> for people who can
either provide technical feedback or make introductions to helpful
(and responsive technical founders). (A fast way to find these
people is to ask your investors for introductions to their technical
due diligence people. Every investor has someone)
</li>
<li class="fs-5 pb-md-4">
<b>Outline your tech stack in non-technical terms.</b> Make your tech stack,
in some form, something that your CEO and founding team can describe.
(Or brag about). This does not mean they need to know the pros/cons of a
specific technical requirement, you just need to surface the tech stack
into a team/founder-level set of conversations.
</li>
<li class="fs-5 pb-md-4">
<b>Set up a framework to score your tech decisions.</b> I will be honest, this
is not easy, as it will seem like a distraction. But just like learning
to drive your organization with OKRs and performance metrics, putting
the time into how to make tech decisions can have a huge impact over time.
Expect to iterate on it over time. Expect to tweak your scoring for your
industry and funding stage.
</li>
</ol>
<p class="fs-5">
...or hire a fractional CTO.
</p>
<h2 class="mt-5">
Impact?
</h2>
<p class="fs-5">
The simplest sign that this approach is working, is that your job
descriptions will get shorter. Seems strange, but the better you
understand the ROI of tech decisions, the clearer and more concise
your hiring, either via Upwork, Freelancer, or a plain old FTE
developer.
</p>
<h2 class="mt-5">
Advanced Stuff
</h2>
<p class="fs-5">
The preceding is fairly general, intentionally. Your business will have
specifics that add complexity. Your moat and competitive advantage is serious
work. Getting intentional about your tech decisions does not happen overnight,
it takes time and needs to get battle-tested. The good news is there the growth
of fractional resources has grown, and the gig economy has expanded into this area.
</p>
<p class="fs-5">
You will know you are done, and have a mature framework for making these decisions,
and then you prepare for your first cybersecurity audit. If you have done the work,
you will find the answers, and have a clear sense of ROI, risk, and recovery process
on your business. Your SOC2 auditor will love you!
</p>
<p class="fs-5">
And your AWS/GCP bill (might) be lower!
</p>
<h2 class="mt-5">
How I help
</h2>
<p class="fs-5">
I offer fractional CTO services (aka fCTO). This can range from advisory work
to SOC2 prep, all the way to full MVP and POC solutions to help with fundraising
or proving a concept. I am a coder at heart, and firmly believe that the
connection between people and tech is the domain of the CTO, and an important
perspective for startups.
</p>
<p class="fs-5">
I am happy to do an introduction call and help you answer your questions.
</p>
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Schedule a Call
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</div>
<div class="card">
<div class="card-body">
<h5 class="card-title">
Not all CTOs are the same.
</h5>
<p class="card-text">
The CTO Levels framework supported by <a href="https://kathkeating.com/" target="site">Kathy Keating</a>,
Scott Graves, is a great way to better understand how a given fractional resources can fit into your
organization. Their framework breaks down the range of challenges at different
headcount and revenue stages.
</p>
<p class="card-text">
<i>
I work well in startups from <a href="https://ctolevels.notion.site/CTO-Levels-6b06e6afe01844edaedfd396987d559f">level 0 to 5</a>.
</i>
</p>
<a href="https://www.CTOLevels.com" class="btn btn-primary">Read more on www.CTOLevels.com</a>
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