Remote / Hybrid • PST Timezone

Fractional CTO in Seattle

Expert technical leadership for Seattle startups. CTO services in PST timezone. Build, scale, and transform your product without full-time CTO costs.

Why Seattle Startups Choose Fractional CTO

Seattle is the largest tech hub in the Pacific Northwest with a unique engineering culture shaped by Amazon and Microsoft. The city excels in cloud infrastructure, enterprise software, e-commerce, gaming, and AI/ML. There's a strong tradition of building scalable distributed systems and enterprise solutions.

While Seattle is more affordable than San Francisco, competition for engineering talent is high due to tech giants' presence. Seattle CTO salaries range from $280K-$420K+ plus equity. Startups struggle to compete with Amazon, Microsoft, and Google for talent. Fractional CTO provides access to experienced technical leadership with deep cloud expertise without the full financial burden.

Challenge

Common Challenges

Competition for talent with Amazon, Microsoft, and Google
High expectations for infrastructure and cloud architecture quality
Need for enterprise solutions for B2B clients
Complex security and compliance requirements

Washington Privacy Act and corporate compliance requirements
Competition for talent with Amazon, Microsoft, and Google
High expectations for infrastructure and cloud architecture quality

Need for enterprise solutions for B2B clients
Complex security and compliance requirements
Washington Privacy Act and corporate compliance requirements

How Fractional CTO Solves Them

Access to experienced CTO without Seattle salary premiums ($170K-$320K+ savings annually)
Start immediately—no 3-6 month hiring process
Deep expertise in AWS, Azure, and cloud architecture
Remote-first approach to building distributed teams
Experience in enterprise sales and B2B product development

What I do

Build Your MVP

Turn your Seattle startup idea into a working product

Cloud tech stack selection for Seattle market
Launch in 3-4 months with solid foundation
Architecture for B2B and enterprise clients

Scale Your Product

Grow your Seattle startup to Series A and beyond

Scale cloud infrastructure (AWS/Azure)
Enterprise-level security and compliance
Prepare for Seattle investor due diligence

AI Transformation

Integrate AI/ML into your Seattle startup

ML systems on AWS SageMaker and Azure ML
AI for enterprise automation and analytics
MLOps and production model deployment

Technology Audit

Technical assessment before fundraising

Cloud architecture and infrastructure review
Prepare for Seattle VC due diligence
Risk map and recommendations

Technical Due Diligence for Investors

For Seattle investors evaluating startups

Comprehensive technical risk assessment
Cloud infrastructure scalability analysis
Reports for investment committees

Team Building

Hire your first 5-10 engineers

Compete with FAANG for Seattle talent
Build hybrid teams (local + remote engineers)
Attract experienced engineers from Amazon/Microsoft

Pricing

Packages for Seattle 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 with Seattle Startups Works

Time overlap: 8 hours overlap with your PST workday for synchronous calls and discussions
Communication rhythm: Weekly strategic calls with founders. Bi-weekly team syncs. Daily communication via Slack. Emergency availability for critical issues.
In-person visits: Quarterly visits to Seattle available for Scale CTO packages and above. Available for board meetings and investor presentations (remote or in-person)