Remote / Hybrid • CET Timezone

Fractional CTO in Amsterdam

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

Why Amsterdam Startups Choose Fractional CTO

Amsterdam is Europe's international business hub. The city attracts tech companies thanks to its English-speaking environment, excellent infrastructure, and access to international talent. Industries like FinTech, Travel Tech, E-commerce, Logistics, and Enterprise SaaS thrive in the ecosystem built around Booking.com and other major tech companies.

However, Amsterdam's ecosystem creates unique challenges: high competition for talent with major tech companies, Dutch financial regulator requirements (DNB/AFM), and high investor expectations. Many startups find that traditional full-time CTO hiring—costing €140K-€220K+ plus equity—is impractical at early stages.

Challenge

Challenges for Amsterdam Startups

Competition for talent with Booking.com and other major companies
Need for GDPR and Dutch regulatory compliance
DNB/AFM requirements for FinTech startups
Need for rapid scaling after funding rounds

High salary expectations in the market
Competition for talent with Booking.com and other major companies
Need for GDPR and Dutch regulatory compliance

DNB/AFM requirements for FinTech startups
Need for rapid scaling after funding rounds
High salary expectations in the market

How Fractional CTO Solves These Challenges

Access to experienced CTO without Amsterdam salary premiums (€80K-€150K+ 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 Dutch market understanding

What I do

Build MVP

Turn your startup idea into a working product

Tech stack selection for rapid development
Attract remote and local engineers
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 Dutch and 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 Amsterdam's candidate market
Build hybrid teams (local + remote engineers)
Establish engineering culture

Pricing

Packages for Amsterdam Startups

Contract Length:

Currency:

Advisor CTO

$3,600per month

6 hours per week, 24 hours per month

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

2 strategic sessions per month (90 minutes each)
Technical stack and architecture audit
Slack support (48-hour response time)
Hiring support: candidate reviews and recommendations

What's included:

6-month technical roadmap
Architecture guidelines document

Outcome:A clear plan and recommendations for technology and team development without the overhead of a full-time CTO.

Contract term:1 month

Growth CTO

Scale CTO

$12,000per month

≈3 days per week, 80 hours per month

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

Everything from Growth CTO package
Participation in executive meetings and investor discussions
Building engineering management team (leads, engineering managers)
Due diligence support for fundraising
Organizational design: team structure, processes, rituals
Technical debt strategy and refactoring roadmap
Vendor and partner negotiations (AWS, third-party services, contractors)

What's included:

Engineering handbook and team culture code
Leveling and compensation framework
Engineering metrics dashboards (DORA, velocity, code quality, etc.)
Incident management and on-call rotation

Outcome:A mature engineering organization with clear processes, metrics, and a culture of product ownership.

Contract term:from 6 months

How Remote Work Functions with Amsterdam Startups

Working hours overlap: 5 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 Amsterdam available for Scale CTO and higher packages. Available for board meetings and investor presentations (remote or in-person).