Remote / Hybrid • CET Timezone

Fractional CTO in Berlin

Expert technical leadership for Berlin startups. CTO services in CET/CEST timezone. Build, scale, and transform your product without full-time CTO costs.

Why Berlin Startups Choose Fractional CTO

Berlin has established itself as Europe's startup capital. The city is home to thousands of tech companies, from early stage to unicorns, with excellent access to venture capital, international talent, and corporate partnerships. Industries like FinTech, E-commerce, Mobility, Enterprise SaaS, and AI/ML thrive in this ecosystem.

However, Berlin's ecosystem creates unique challenges: competition for senior engineers is high, investor expectations for technical maturity are rising, and compliance with GDPR and German regulations requires expertise. Many startups find that traditional full-time CTO hiring—costing €150K-€250K+ plus equity—is impractical at early stages.

Challenge

Challenges for Berlin Startups

High competition for senior technical talent in Europe
Need for GDPR and German regulatory compliance
Investors expect high technical maturity
Need for rapid scaling after funding rounds

BaFin requirements for FinTech startups
High competition for senior technical talent in Europe
Need for GDPR and German regulatory compliance

Investors expect high technical maturity
Need for rapid scaling after funding rounds
BaFin requirements for FinTech startups

How Fractional CTO Solves These Challenges

Access to experienced CTO without Berlin salary premiums (€100K-€200K+ annual savings)
Start immediately—no 3-6 month hiring process
Scale engagement up/down as you progress through funding rounds
Expertise in building distributed teams with remote-first focus
Global best practices with European market understanding

What I do

Build MVP

Turn your startup idea into a working product

Tech stack selection for European talent market
Launch in 3-4 months with scalable foundation
GDPR-compliant architecture from day one

Scale Product

Grow from seed stage to Series A

Handle 10x growth without outages
Manage technical debt and refactoring
Prepare for European VC due diligence

AI Transformation

Integrate AI/ML into your startup

LLM integrations and GPT-powered solutions
ML systems for competitive advantage
Strategy, implementation, and MLOps

Technology Audit

Technical assessment before raising capital

Code quality and architecture review
Prepare for European VC due diligence
Risk map and recommendations

Technical Due Diligence for Investors

For investors evaluating startups

Comprehensive technical risk assessment
Team and product scalability analysis
Reports for investment committees

Team Building

Hire your first 5-10 engineers

Navigate Berlin's international talent market
Build hybrid teams (local + remote engineers)
Establish engineering culture

Pricing

Packages for Berlin Startups

Currency:

Advisor CTO

$3,600per month

~6 hours per week of dedicated time

For early-stage startups with an MVP or an idea that need oversight and support without full-time involvement.

How we work:

Bi-weekly strategy session with founders (90 min)
Technical stack and architecture review - are you building on the right foundation?
Code review of critical decisions and risky PRs
Candidate screening: resume review, interview structure, hire/no-hire recommendations
Infrastructure and tooling spend review - are you overpaying for cloud and third-party services?
Async access via Slack (48-hour response time)

What you walk away with:

Technical assessment report - honest evaluation of your codebase, infrastructure, and risks
Technology roadmap - prioritized recommendations for the next 6 months
Hiring scorecard - what to look for in your first 3-5 engineers

Outcome

Confidence that your technical decisions are sound and a clear plan to build on - without costly mistakes.

Month-to-month, cancel anytime

Growth CTO

Scale CTO

$11,000per month

~20 hours per week of dedicated time

For Series A+ startups with 15-20+ engineers preparing for the next funding round.

How we work:

Everything from Growth CTO package
Daily involvement in engineering operations - standups, planning, escalations
Executive team participation - board prep, investor meetings, due diligence support
Engineering management development - coaching team leads into engineering managers
Organizational design - team topology, processes, rituals, communication structures
Vendor strategy - cloud cost optimization, service negotiations, contractor management
Technical debt strategy - refactoring roadmap balanced against product delivery

What you walk away with:

Engineering handbook - culture, standards, processes, expectations
Leveling and compensation framework - career ladders and salary bands
Engineering metrics dashboard - DORA metrics, velocity trends, code quality
Incident management playbook - on-call rotation, severity definitions, postmortem process
Technical due diligence package - investor-ready architecture and security documentation
Security and compliance assessment - SOC2, GDPR, HIPAA readiness evaluation
Engineering headcount plan and infrastructure budget forecast

Outcome

A mature engineering organization ready for due diligence and the next funding round.

3-month minimum commitment

How Remote Work Functions with Berlin Startups

Working hours overlap: 2-3 hours overlap with 9:00-18:00 CET daily—sufficient for meetings and calls. Outside this window, available asynchronously via Slack and email, enabling work without downtime.
Communication rhythm: Weekly strategic call with founders. Bi-weekly team sync. Daily communication via Slack. Emergency availability for critical issues.
In-person visits: Quarterly visits to Berlin available for Scale CTO and higher packages. Available for board meetings and investor presentations (remote or in-person).