Fractional CTO for small software companies
You have a product, developers or an agency building it, and nobody senior on your side to make the technical decisions. I fill that seat part-time: decisions, reviewing the work, helping you hire, and telling you in plain terms where the product stands.
I have been building software for more than fifteen years, run my own online businesses since 2002, and consulted for almost ten years for a company that grew into one of Germany's largest. I'm all in on AI, and I know what it changes about how a small team should work.
I usually reply within one working day.
What a fractional CTO does for you
The job, in the parts that actually matter for a small company.
Makes the technical decisions with you
Which stack, which vendor, build or buy, fix or rebuild, hire or outsource. You get a recommendation with the reasons, in writing, so you can come back to it later.
Reads what your developers deliver
I look at the code and the pull requests, not just the status reports. That is how problems get caught while they are still cheap: a database design that will not scale, a security hole, a feature built on a wrong assumption.
Helps you hire and manage developers
Job descriptions that attract the right people, technical interviews, and a clear brief so a new developer is productive from the start.
Keeps the roadmap honest
What is worth building next, what can wait, what should never be built. I ask the questions a technical founder would ask, and I tell you when a plan is bigger than the team.
Gets the team working AI-first
Small teams that use AI tools properly ship several times faster than teams that don't. I set up the tooling, the review habits and the guardrails, so the speed does not turn into a mess.
Watches costs, hosting and security
Hosting bills that grow quietly, backups nobody has tested, access that nobody revoked. The unglamorous things that hurt small companies most.
How I work
You don't need to have everything figured out before we talk. An idea, access to the repo, a screen recording or a list of problems is enough. I look at what is there, tell you what I would do and what it costs, and then I build it.
I use Claude Code, Codex and my own agent workflows for reading code, planning changes, writing tests, refactoring and debugging. It is not vibe coding. It is senior engineering with a much faster loop.
AI-first, and I still read the code
I use Claude Code and Codex to go through your codebase and pull requests quickly, so a part-time role is enough to actually know what is going on in the product. I bring the same tooling to your team, with the review habits that make it safe.
I stay in control
AI writes a lot of my code. I still make every technical decision, read every change before it ships, and test it. Fast, but meticulous: the speed is only worth something if what goes live is right.
The way you want to work
Some clients want to look at every change before it goes live, others want me to deploy. Some want a weekly call, most prefer written updates. I work well asynchronously, and I still ask the important questions when they come up.
I think like an owner
I still run my own online products. So when I build or fix yours, I think about traffic, conversion, revenue and support as much as about the code, and I tell you when something is not worth building.
Ways to work with me
Fixed price, a flat monthly rate, or hourly. It's always me doing the work, not an agency. If you're not sure, describe what you need and I'll suggest one.
Examples of my work
Where the experience comes from.
Built and run SaaS businesses
I have built SaaS products for website translation, email outreach and AI content, plus a data-heavy car marketplace for Europe, and I ran an SEO and affiliate business with over 100 websites, a million visitors a month and a small team. I know what it costs to run software as a business.
Almost ten years with one company
I consulted for almost ten years for a company that eventually grew into one of Germany's largest, and saw how technical decisions play out over years.
Cutting a backend bill to about 150 dollars a month
A company was paying four figures a month for a backend split across PHP and Ruby on Rails. Moving it into one Laravel app brought hosting down to about 150 dollars a month.
What clients say
"He doesn't need micromanagement - he's fully capable of making decisions and driving the project forward, which has freed me up to focus on other parts of the business."
"Vincent is reliable, technically skilled, and a valuable partner for keeping our site running optimally and moving forward."
"He also turned customer discussions into clear technical requirements and documented his work so the rest of the team could build on it."
Questions
How much of your time does this take?
Less than you would think, because I read code fast and keep the calls short. If it turns into a full-time job, you are probably ready for a full-time hire, and I will tell you so.
Do you also write code?
If you want me to. Many companies want the decisions and the reviews from me and the building from their own developers. Some want both.
Can you work with our agency?
Yes. I review what they deliver, talk to them on your behalf when needed, and tell you when something is off.
Is this the same as a part-time CTO or CTO as a service?
Yes. People use these names for the same thing: a senior technical person on your side for part of the time, instead of a full-time CTO.
Do you also cover AI, like a fractional chief AI officer?
Yes. Deciding where AI helps your company and where it does not is part of the role. I work AI-first myself.
Do you help with hiring?
Yes. Writing the job description, reviewing candidates, and doing the technical interview.
We are not a Laravel shop. Does that matter?
Not much. Laravel is my main stack, but the decisions a small company needs made are mostly the same in any stack, and I have worked with React, Node.js, Python and Go.
How do you charge?
Fixed price for a job with a clear outcome, a flat monthly rate for ongoing work, or hourly. Describe what you need and I'll suggest one.
Get in touch
What the company does, who is building the product today, and what you need decided next. A few sentences are enough.
If you would rather talk first, book a 30-minute call.