Can a company with no engineering team hire a fractional CTO?

Yes, and it is the most common reason people call me. The difficulty with a conventional fractional CTO in that situation is that they choose the route and then you still have nobody to build the vehicle. A seat covers both, so the decision and the implementation come from the same person.

I am a fractional CFO or COO. How do I know if someone is a fit to refer?

The tell is an owner who keeps describing the same operational problem in different meetings, already pays for software that half solves it, and has nobody technical to hand it to. If they can approve five figures a year without building an internal case, they are a fit. If they need a fixed bid or they are price shopping, they are not.

We are smaller than $2M. Is that a hard cutoff?

It is not a rule, it is an honest signal about where the number tends to work. Below roughly $2M in revenue this is usually a large share of what a business can spend on software, and there are better uses of that money. If you are funded, or the build is directly tied to revenue you can point at, the conversation is different.

We have an internal developer already. Does that rule us out?

Not necessarily, but it changes the fit. If you have a team and you want extra capacity, staffing is a better answer than this. If you have one developer holding up a system nobody else understands, and you need direction rather than hands, that is a fit.

Qualification

Who this is for, and who it is not

This works best for owner-operators at businesses roughly $2M to $25M in revenue, with real operational complexity, no internal development team, and the authority to approve five figures a year without asking anyone. If that is not you, the rest of this page will tell you so faster than a call would.

This is probably a fit if

You run a business somewhere between $2M and $25M in revenue, with real operational complexity.
You have no internal development team, and hiring one is not the answer to this problem.
You already use AI somewhere and you have hit the wall where demos stop turning into systems.
You can approve five figures a year without asking anyone.
You have a list of things that need building and nobody to hand it to.

This is not a fit if

You are shopping on price. There is always someone cheaper and I will not compete with them.
You need a fixed bid for a finished app. That is a different product from a different kind of company.
You do not control the budget. If you have to build a case for this internally, send me the person who signs.
You need convincing that AI is worth using. I build with it every day and I am not going to run that argument.
You want a body to manage. A seat is a build stream, not a hire.

The shape of the problem

Most people who end up working with me arrive the same way. The business grew, the software did not, and the gap between the two is now being filled by people doing things by hand. Somebody bought a tool to fix it. The tool fixed part of it. The rest is a spreadsheet, a group chat, and one person who remembers how it all works.

They have usually tried AI already. Something was demonstrated, it looked promising, and then it did not survive contact with the real data. That is not because the idea was wrong. It is because a demo and a system are different objects, and the second one needs architecture, error handling, and someone who will still be there when an API changes.

What they do not have is anyone to hand the list to. Hiring a developer means becoming a company that manages developers. An agency needs a specification they do not have the technical depth to write. That gap is exactly the thing a seat fills.

If you are thinking of referring someone

Most of my work arrives through fractional CFOs, COOs, EOS implementers, and consultants who are not competing for the same scope. If that is you, here is what you need to know to send someone with confidence.

The referral that works is an owner who keeps raising the same operational problem in different meetings, already pays for software that half solves it, and has nobody technical to hand it to. They can approve the spend themselves.

The referral that does not work is someone gathering quotes, someone who needs a fixed bid, or someone who has to sell the idea internally before they can act on it.

What happens after you send them: they get a thirty minute call, and a straight answer about whether a seat is the right tool for their problem. If it is not, I tell them what is, and it does not come back to you as a bad introduction. Pricing starts at $7,500 per month and it is published, so nobody you refer gets surprised by a number.

Questions about fit

Can a company with no engineering team hire a fractional CTO?: Yes, and it is the most common reason people call me. The difficulty with a conventional fractional CTO in that situation is that they choose the route and then you still have nobody to build the vehicle. A seat covers both, so the decision and the implementation come from the same person.
I am a fractional CFO or COO. How do I know if someone is a fit to refer?: The tell is an owner who keeps describing the same operational problem in different meetings, already pays for software that half solves it, and has nobody technical to hand it to. If they can approve five figures a year without building an internal case, they are a fit. If they need a fixed bid or they are price shopping, they are not.
We are smaller than $2M. Is that a hard cutoff?: It is not a rule, it is an honest signal about where the number tends to work. Below roughly $2M in revenue this is usually a large share of what a business can spend on software, and there are better uses of that money. If you are funded, or the build is directly tied to revenue you can point at, the conversation is different.
We have an internal developer already. Does that rule us out?: Not necessarily, but it changes the fit. If you have a team and you want extra capacity, staffing is a better answer than this. If you have one developer holding up a system nobody else understands, and you need direction rather than hands, that is a fit.

If you recognized yourself in the first list

Book thirty minutes. You describe what broke, what it is costing you, and what you have already tried. I tell you whether a seat is the right answer for it.

Book a 30 minute call See what it costs

Or reach me directly: +1 385-208-1781 scott@aetenum.com

If you are comparing quotes on price, I am not your cheapest option and I will not pretend otherwise.