Do I need a fractional CTO or just another developer?

A developer adds capacity to build what you have already decided to build. A fractional CTO decides what is worth building, whether the architecture will hold, what to fix first, and who to hire next. If your problem is that work is not getting done, you may need developers. If your problem is that you cannot tell whether the work getting done is the right work — or whether the product underneath it is sound — that is a leadership gap, and it is what a fractional CTO is for.

I built my product with AI tools or no-code — is it ready for real customers?

Sometimes, and sometimes not — the honest answer is that you cannot know without a look. AI-built and no-code MVPs are excellent for proving demand, but they often carry hidden issues in security, data handling, and cost-to-run that only surface under real load. We assess what you have built, tell you plainly what is production-grade and what is not, and give you a prioritized path to harden it. Our Vibe to Production assessment is built for exactly this situation.

How does a fractional CTO work with my existing developers or agency?

We lead them, not replace them. That means setting technical direction, reviewing the work and the architecture, tightening the engineering process, and giving you an honest read on whether the team or agency you have is the right one for where you are headed. Many founders bring us in precisely because they cannot evaluate the people building their product — a fractional CTO closes that gap.

How much does a fractional CTO cost for a small team?

Develomentor offers two fixed-scope starting points for founders — a Vibe to Production assessment at $7,200 and a Small Business Health Check at $11,200 to $18,600 — each with a written deliverable and a readout session. Ongoing fractional leadership is a monthly retainer scoped to the days per month you actually need. Every engagement is priced in writing before you commit, and all of it is materially less than a full-time CTO hire.

How quickly can an engagement start?

Most engagements begin within one to three weeks of a discovery call, and the fixed-scope assessments often start the same week. On the first call we will tell you whether we are the right fit and give you a realistic start date.

Fractional CTO for Founders and Small Teams

Senior tech leadership at the inflection points that define your company's trajectory — without the cost or search time of a full-time CTO hire.

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Trusted by Leading Organizations

The Challenge

You know something is off with your engineering team but you cannot pinpoint what. Work takes longer than it should. Estimates are always wrong. Your developers say things are on track, but the product never quite ships the way you described it.

Or maybe you have no team yet. You used AI tools to build something that works — and now you need to take it to production. You have no idea whether it is secure, whether it will scale, or what it will cost to run.

You are not alone. These are the two of the more common situations we see.

01

Architecture decisions with no senior voice in the room

02

Your first senior engineering hire is a $400K bet

03

An AI strategy your investors will actually believe

What We Do For You

A Senior Technical Voice in the Room

Our Fractionals are embedded in your planning meetings, architecture calls, planning reviews, and most importantly, in your code base. Decisions are made with years of hard-won judgment instead of guesswork, on a budget that fits a small team.

See How We Work

Hire the Right Engineers, the First Time

Bad hires cost early-stage teams months they cannot afford. We help write the roles, screen the candidates, run the technical interviews, and tell you plainly whether each one can build what you actually need.

Read Case Studies

Vendor and Tool Decisions You Won't Regret

Platform choices made in year one shape your engineering costs for the next five. Our Fractionals help you evaluate build-versus-buy, negotiate with vendors, and avoid the lock-in traps that quietly eat your margin.

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"Working with Grant Ingersoll as our fractional CTO was transformative. His vast expertise combined with his unique ability to seamlessly move between technical and business topics were critical to us hiring the right team, building our next generation application and controlling our costs. His team’s product roadmap workshop played a critical role in defining our development work and making certain our dev teams knew what to execute on and, more importantly, why to execute on it."

Louis Carter — CEO of Most Loved Workplace

"Grant and team have played a critical role in reshaping development at Franchise Business Review via critical hiring decisions, a focus on planning and process, and a deep sense for both technical and business goal alignment. Grant and Vivek’s product roadmap workshop has played a key role in shaping the future of our products and how we deliver to customers."

Eric Stites — CEO of Franchise Business Review

What We Handle

Data Architecture Consulting

Culture Advisory

Hiring CTOs & CPOs

Product Strategy Consulting

Engineering Leadership Coaching & Mentoring

Measuring Engineering Team Productivity

Get Started

Two fixed-scope engagements. Both include a written deliverable and a 90-minute readout session.

Solo Founder

Vibe to Production

$7,200

You built something with AI tools. Find out if it’s ready for real users — before they do.

Discovery sessions on product roadmap and business goals
Architecture & code quality review
Security & operations assessment
Data governance review
1-year Aikido Security subscription
Prioritized recommendations deck
90-minute readout & Q&A

Book a Discovery Call

Small Business

Small Business Health Check

$11,200 – $18,600

You have a product in market and a team you’re not sure how to evaluate. Get the complete picture.

Everything in Vibe to Production
Team evaluation
Vendor, 3rd Party Integrations & tech agreements review
AI strategy review
Data Science and Business Analytics review
Prioritized recommendations deck
90-minute readout & Q&A

Book a Discovery Call

Most clients transition to an ongoing fractional CTO engagement after their initial assessment.

Led by Grant Ingersoll

Grant founded Develomentor and leads the firm, supported by a team of senior practitioners with deep experience across engineering, product, and AI strategy.

CTO, Wikimedia Foundation — 18 engineering teams, 150+ people
Co-founder & CTO, Lucidworks — scaled to 80+ engineers
Author, Taming Text · Apache Lucene committer · Apache Mahout co-founder

Fractional CTO for Founders & Small Teams — FAQ

Common questions from founders and small teams weighing senior technology leadership.

Do I need a fractional CTO or just another developer? A developer adds capacity to build what you have already decided to build. A fractional CTO decides what is worth building, whether the architecture will hold, what to fix first, and who to hire next. If your problem is that work is not getting done, you may need developers. If your problem is that you cannot tell whether the work getting done is the right work — or whether the product underneath it is sound — that is a leadership gap, and it is what a fractional CTO is for.: A developer adds capacity to build what you have already decided to build. A fractional CTO decides what is worth building, whether the architecture will hold, what to fix first, and who to hire next. If your problem is that work is not getting done, you may need developers. If your problem is that you cannot tell whether the work getting done is the right work — or whether the product underneath it is sound — that is a leadership gap, and it is what a fractional CTO is for.
I built my product with AI tools or no-code — is it ready for real customers? Sometimes, and sometimes not — the honest answer is that you cannot know without a look. AI-built and no-code MVPs are excellent for proving demand, but they often carry hidden issues in security, data handling, and cost-to-run that only surface under real load. We assess what you have built, tell you plainly what is production-grade and what is not, and give you a prioritized path to harden it. Our Vibe to Production assessment is built for exactly this situation.: Sometimes, and sometimes not — the honest answer is that you cannot know without a look. AI-built and no-code MVPs are excellent for proving demand, but they often carry hidden issues in security, data handling, and cost-to-run that only surface under real load. We assess what you have built, tell you plainly what is production-grade and what is not, and give you a prioritized path to harden it. Our Vibe to Production assessment is built for exactly this situation.
How does a fractional CTO work with my existing developers or agency? We lead them, not replace them. That means setting technical direction, reviewing the work and the architecture, tightening the engineering process, and giving you an honest read on whether the team or agency you have is the right one for where you are headed. Many founders bring us in precisely because they cannot evaluate the people building their product — a fractional CTO closes that gap.: We lead them, not replace them. That means setting technical direction, reviewing the work and the architecture, tightening the engineering process, and giving you an honest read on whether the team or agency you have is the right one for where you are headed. Many founders bring us in precisely because they cannot evaluate the people building their product — a fractional CTO closes that gap.
How much does a fractional CTO cost for a small team? Develomentor offers two fixed-scope starting points for founders — a Vibe to Production assessment at $7,200 and a Small Business Health Check at $11,200 to $18,600 — each with a written deliverable and a readout session. Ongoing fractional leadership is a monthly retainer scoped to the days per month you actually need. Every engagement is priced in writing before you commit, and all of it is materially less than a full-time CTO hire.: Develomentor offers two fixed-scope starting points for founders — a Vibe to Production assessment at $7,200 and a Small Business Health Check at $11,200 to $18,600 — each with a written deliverable and a readout session. Ongoing fractional leadership is a monthly retainer scoped to the days per month you actually need. Every engagement is priced in writing before you commit, and all of it is materially less than a full-time CTO hire.
How quickly can an engagement start? Most engagements begin within one to three weeks of a discovery call, and the fixed-scope assessments often start the same week. On the first call we will tell you whether we are the right fit and give you a realistic start date.: Most engagements begin within one to three weeks of a discovery call, and the fixed-scope assessments often start the same week. On the first call we will tell you whether we are the right fit and give you a realistic start date.

Ready to talk?

Tell us where you are and what decisions you are facing. We will get back to you within one business day.

Fractional CTO for Founders and Small Teams

The Challenge

01

Architecture decisions with no senior voice in the room

02

Your first senior engineering hire is a $400K bet

03

An AI strategy your investors will actually believe

What We Do For You

A Senior Technical Voice in the Room

Hire the Right Engineers, the First Time

Vendor and Tool Decisions You Won't Regret

What We Handle

Data Architecture Consulting

Culture Advisory

Hiring CTOs & CPOs

Product Strategy Consulting

Engineering Leadership Coaching & Mentoring

Measuring Engineering Team Productivity

Get Started

Vibe to Production

Small Business Health Check

Led by Grant Ingersoll

Fractional CTO for Founders & Small Teams — FAQ

Do I need a fractional CTO or just another developer?

I built my product with AI tools or no-code — is it ready for real customers?

How does a fractional CTO work with my existing developers or agency?

How much does a fractional CTO cost for a small team?

How quickly can an engagement start?

Ready to talk?

Who We Work With

Fractional Leadership

How We Work

About Us