Remote / Hybrid • EST Timezone

Fractional CTO in Boston

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

Why Boston Startups Choose Fractional CTO

Boston is one of the world's leading innovation centers thanks to the MIT and Harvard ecosystem. The city is strong in deep tech, healthcare, and research-driven innovation. Industries like BioTech/HealthTech, EdTech, Robotics, Enterprise Software, and AI/ML thrive in this ecosystem with close ties between academia and industry.

However, this concentration creates unique challenges: competition for PhD talent and senior engineers is high, regulatory requirements in healthcare are strict, and investor expectations regarding scientific and technical depth are very high. Many startups find that traditional full-time CTO hiring—costing $260K-$400K+ plus equity—is impractical in the early stages.

Challenge

Challenges for Boston Startups

Competition for PhD and senior engineers with large companies
Strict HIPAA regulatory requirements for healthcare startups
Need for deep technical expertise for deep tech products
Compliance requirements in academic research

Investors expect scientific rigor in technical solutions
Competition for PhD and senior engineers with large companies
Strict HIPAA regulatory requirements for healthcare startups

Need for deep technical expertise for deep tech products
Compliance requirements in academic research
Investors expect scientific rigor in technical solutions

How Fractional CTO Helps Solve These Challenges

Access to experienced CTO without Boston salary premiums ($150K-$300K+ savings annually)
Start immediately—no 3-6 month hiring process
Expertise in healthcare compliance and HIPAA requirements
Expertise in building distributed teams with remote-first focus
Experience with research-driven startups and spin-offs

What I do

Build Your MVP

Turn your startup idea into a working product

Tech stack selection for Boston talent market
Launch in 3-4 months with scalable foundation
Architecture for healthcare and research applications

Scale Your Product

Grow from seed stage to Series A

Handle 10x growth without downtime
Technical debt management and refactoring
Prepare for Boston VC due diligence

AI Transformation

Integrate AI/ML into your startup

ML systems for healthcare and life sciences
Deep learning and computer vision
Strategy, implementation, and MLOps

Technology Audit

Technical assessment before fundraising

Code quality and architecture review
Prepare for Boston 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 Boston talent market and competitive offers
Build hybrid teams (local + remote engineers)
Establish engineering culture for research teams

Pricing

Packages for Boston 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 Boston Startups Works

Time overlap: 5 hours daily overlap with 9am-6pm EST—sufficient for meetings and calls. Outside this window, available asynchronously via Slack and email for uninterrupted workflow.
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 Boston available for Scale CTO packages and above. Available for board meetings and investor presentations (remote or in-person).