Fractional CTO Services
I provide technical leadership to companies at critical scaling inflection points. 29 years building software. 16 years in leadership helping teams scale. 7 years at executive levels as Director and CTO.
I do not just advise. I build.
A build and a rescue, both hands-on.
PRXY GOLF LEAGUE
A Dioscuri engagement, structured around the company's constraints. Brought in as Founding CTO and sole technical founder to take connected golf technology from concept to a working MVP in 5 months on minimal capital, device to cloud, every layer built hands-on.
What I built, personally:
- On-device computer-vision model measuring ball distance from the flagstick in real time, plus multi-camera capture and image-stitching.
- Two Blazor apps: a management portal and a Course Portal, built and ready for when courses come online.
- A cross-platform mobile app for iOS and Android, written in C# (Uno Platform), sharing one C#/.NET codebase with the Blazor apps.
- Proved the on-device hardware path end-to-end: designed the power-management circuitry, sized the battery, wrote ESP32 firmware in .NET nanoFramework, and hand-built the first two prototype boards.
- Fusion 360 enclosures with 3D-printed test-fit iterations, plus LTE connectivity for field units.
- Cloud and messaging on GCP + PostgreSQL, a Mosquitto MQTT broker, and Twilio Verify OTP.
Rescued a Failing AR Product
A Unity-based AR application with Android and iOS mobile clients had become unstable, and the instability was costing the company customers. I came in, rapidly assessed the tech stack, then stabilized the app hands-on, and the turnaround was immediate.
The app is markedly improved since before.
one of the client's largest customersWho I Work With
VCs and Investors
De-Risk Portfolio Company Technical Execution
I partner with VCs to provide fractional CTO services to portfolio companies at critical inflection points. Pre-investment due diligence, post-Series A scaling, pre-Series B credibility building, or technical crisis management. I help de-risk technical execution and accelerate time to the next milestone.
Your portfolio companies get CTO-level leadership without the $400K+ permanent hire. You get regular progress reporting and companies positioned for sustainable growth.
Learn more about VC partnerships →Founders and CEOs
Fractional CTO Leadership for Growth-Stage Companies
You need CTO-level technical leadership but aren't ready for a permanent executive hire. Your technical co-founder is overwhelmed, your systems can't handle growth, or you need to establish engineering credibility for your next raise.
I provide strategic guidance and hands-on execution to stabilize operations, scale your team, design scalable architecture, and position your company for the next phase of growth.
Partner Organizations
Technical Expertise for Your Clients
If you're a consultancy, investment firm, or advisory practice that needs technical assessment capabilities, I provide fractional CTO services you can offer to your clients.
Technical due diligence, second opinions on architecture decisions, crisis intervention, or execution support for companies navigating technical challenges. I work alongside your team to deliver outcomes while you maintain the primary client relationship.
Not Sure Where You Fit?
Whether you're exploring fractional CTO services for the first time or your situation doesn't fit neatly into one category, let's talk. I'll help you determine if and how a fractional CTO engagement makes sense for your needs.
Signature Outcomes
Right-Size Your Technology (Before It Burns Your Runway)
Most fractional CTOs push complexity: bigger cloud infrastructure, larger teams, custom solutions for everything. I optimize for capital efficiency and speed to revenue.
The Over-Engineering Problem
Early-stage companies often burn unnecessary capital on technology:
- $50K/month on AWS when $500 would serve your current users
- Hiring engineer #8 when you need better technology choices, not more people
- Building custom solutions when existing platforms get you to market in weeks instead of months
- Kubernetes infrastructure for an application serving 100 customers
This isn't technical excellence. It's premature optimization that shortens your runway and delays revenue.
Sometimes Simpler Is Smarter
The best technical decision is often the one that preserves 6 months of runway while proving your model with real paying customers. I evaluate your technology against your actual stage:
Burning cash unnecessarily?
Identify where to simplify, reduce infrastructure costs, right-size your team. Cut burn rate 30–50% while maintaining velocity. Sometimes you need 1–2 excellent engineers with smart tool choices, not a large team building everything custom.
Right-sized for your stage?
Optimize what you have, establish clear metrics for when you'll need to scale, create an efficient growth path. Plan the migration before you need it.
Ready to scale?
Design distributed systems and build engineering teams that support 10x growth, but only for the pieces that actually need it. Keep everything else lean.
The Result
Extended runway. Reach profitability faster. Scale only what needs to scale, when it needs to scale. The companies that win aren't always the ones with the most sophisticated tech stack. They're the ones that reach profitability before they run out of money.
Does This Sound Familiar?
Whether you're a VC watching a portfolio company struggle, a founder facing these challenges directly, or a partner serving clients with technical issues, these scenarios represent critical moments where fractional CTO leadership makes the difference.
Your site crashes during your biggest launch of the year.
You've grown 300% in the past six months, but your system wasn't built for this scale. Customers are frustrated, sales are lost, and you're losing sleep wondering when the next outage will hit.
Your development team spends more time fixing bugs than building features.
What used to be quick fixes now take weeks. Your engineers are constantly firefighting, and new feature development has ground to a halt. You're falling behind competitors who seem to ship faster than ever.
You want to hire senior developers, but they take one look at your codebase and walk away.
Your tech stack is a patchwork of quick fixes and outdated technologies. The few candidates who stay demand salaries you can't afford, and the ones you can afford lack the experience to untangle the mess.
Nobody on your team fully understands how your core systems work.
The original developers have moved on, documentation is sparse or nonexistent, and making changes feels like defusing a bomb. You're afraid to touch anything critical because you don't know what might break.
You're getting conflicting technical advice from every direction.
Your lead developer wants to rewrite everything in the latest framework. Your DevOps engineer insists the problem is infrastructure. Your product manager is pushing for more features. You need someone to cut through the noise and tell you what actually matters.
Your development velocity has slowed to a crawl.
What used to take days now takes weeks. Simple changes require extensive testing because no one knows all the dependencies. Your team is talented but overwhelmed, and you're not sure if you need more people, better processes, or a completely different approach.
Here's How I Help
If any of these situations feel familiar, you're not alone. I've seen just about every scenario during my time leading technical teams. Here's how I approach them:
Rapid Assessment & Reverse Engineering
I dive deep into your existing systems to understand what you actually have, not just what you think you have. Through code analysis, architecture review, and team interviews, I create a comprehensive map of your technical landscape, including the undocumented parts that only live in developers' heads.
Strategic Prioritization
Not all technical debt is created equal. I help you identify which issues are genuinely blocking growth versus which ones just feel urgent. I focus on the 20% of problems causing 80% of your pain, creating a roadmap that delivers immediate stability while building toward long-term scalability.
Team Building & Development
Your people are your greatest asset. I work with your existing team to establish clear technical leadership, and I can help you develop mentorship programs and career development paths. When hiring is necessary, I help you attract senior talent by improving your technical reputation and creating an environment where experienced developers actually want to work.
Scalable Architecture Design
I design systems that grow with your business, not against it. Whether you need to handle 10x traffic, support multiple product lines, or expand internationally, I create architecture that scales efficiently without constant rewrites.
Process & Documentation
I establish engineering practices that prevent future chaos: automated testing, code reviews, deployment pipelines, and, crucially, documentation that actually gets maintained. Your team learns to work smarter, not just harder.
Fractional Leadership, Full-Time Impact
You don't need the overhead of a full-time CTO to get strategic technical leadership. Through flexible retainer engagements, I provide executive-level guidance when and where you need it most, without the six-figure salary, equity, or lengthy hiring process.
Let's Talk
Ready to discuss your situation?
For VCs & Investors
Explore how I can support your portfolio companies through technical scaling challenges and de-risk your investments.
Schedule Partnership DiscussionFor Founders & CEOs
Discuss your specific technical challenges and whether a fractional CTO engagement makes sense for your stage.
Schedule a Discovery CallFor Partner Organizations
Explore how we might work together to serve your clients' technical needs.
Schedule Partnership DiscussionPrefer to Email or Call Directly?
Tim Newsom
Initial conversations are exploratory. We'll determine together whether fractional CTO services make sense for your situation. No obligation, no pressure.