Fractional CTO Services
Senior technical leadership without the full-time commitment. For 20 years, Coalesce has helped growing companies make better technology decisions, build stronger teams, and ship products that scale.
Since 2006
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$125M+ client revenue supported
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4+ year avg. client relationship
You need technical leadership, not just another developer. Whether you're a founder without a technical co-founder, a CEO navigating a digital transformation, or a growing company that's outpaced its current tech leadership, we provide the strategic guidance to get you where you need to go.
When you need a CTO but not full-time
Hiring a full-time CTO is expensive, time-consuming, and risky if you're not sure what you need. A fractional engagement gives you senior technical leadership on your terms, with the flexibility to scale up or down as your needs change.
You're making technical decisions without technical expertise.
Build vs. buy. Which framework. When to hire. These decisions have long-term consequences, and getting them wrong is expensive. You need someone who's made these calls before and knows what actually matters.
Your dev team needs direction, not just management.
Good developers want to build the right things the right way. But without technical leadership setting architecture standards, prioritizing technical debt, and making trade-off decisions, teams spin their wheels or build in the wrong direction.
You're talking to investors, partners, or acquirers.
Technical due diligence is coming. You need someone who can speak credibly about your architecture, your roadmap, and your team's capabilities. We've been on both sides of that table.
Services
Technical Strategy
Roadmap development, build vs. buy decisions, and technology selection aligned with your business goals.
Team Building & Hiring
Defining roles, writing job descriptions, interviewing candidates, and building a technical culture that retains talent.
Architecture Review
Evaluating your current systems, identifying risks and bottlenecks, and planning for scale.
Vendor & Partner Evaluation
Assessing development agencies, SaaS tools, and technology partners to ensure you're getting what you're paying for.
Due Diligence Support
Preparing for investor or acquirer technical reviews, documenting systems, and addressing red flags before they're found.
Interim Leadership
Filling the gap while you search for a full-time CTO, or providing ongoing part-time leadership for the long term.
Process
1. Discovery
We start by understanding your business: goals, constraints, existing systems (if any), and what success looks like. No 200-page audits.
2. Strategy
A prioritized roadmap based on your constraints. What's urgent vs. important. What we can ship in weeks vs. what needs architectural work. Clear trade-offs, not hand-wavy estimates.
3. Build
AI-augmented development with human review at every decision point. Whether we're starting fresh or working in your existing stack, you get senior engineers. No handoffs.
4. Launch
QA, deployment, and monitoring. We don't ship and disappear.
5. Iterate
Ongoing partnership, not a handoff. We stick around to make it better.
Recent Case Studies
Coalesce brought a rigorous development approach, meticulous attention to detail, and creative suggestions to the process. The team was clearly invested in the project's success and has become a trusted, valuable collaborator.
Morgan Brown
Inman News
FAQ
How is this different from hiring a CTO?
A fractional CTO gives you senior leadership at a fraction of the cost and commitment. You get strategic guidance without the $300K+ salary, equity dilution, and risk of a bad full-time hire. Scale up or down as your needs change.
How much time do you typically spend with clients?
It varies. Some clients need 5-10 hours per month for strategic guidance. Others need 20-30 hours during critical periods like fundraising, major hires, or architecture decisions. We flex to what you actually need.
Can you manage our development team?
Yes. We can provide hands-on technical leadership including sprint planning, code reviews, architecture decisions, and 1:1s with your developers. We integrate with your team, not replace them.
Do you write code?
When needed, yes. But the value of a fractional CTO is strategic, not tactical. If you need more hands on keyboards, we can bring in our engineering team or help you hire.
Where is your team located?
We're headquartered in New York City, with senior engineers across the Americas and Europe. Our distributed team means faster turnaround without sacrificing quality or communication.
How do you price this?
Monthly retainers based on expected time commitment. No long-term contracts required. We scope an initial engagement, prove value, and adjust from there.
Ready for technical leadership that scales with you?
We support $125M+ of client revenue annually with a lean team of senior engineers. Let's talk about what you're building.