Fractional CTO for Early-Stage Startups in India
Senior engineering judgment for founders who need it before they can justify a full-time CTO — the stack, the architecture, the agency you're paying, and the first engineers you hire.
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Any of this sound familiar?
When a fractional CTO makes sense
Early-stage startups usually need a CTO's judgment long before they need a CTO's hours. A fractional CTO fits when the technical decisions are high-stakes but not yet full-time: choosing a stack, deciding between an agency and in-house engineers, reviewing what a vendor delivered, or preparing the technical story for investors.
What the role covers
- Stack and architecture decisions, written down with the reasoning
- Overseeing agencies and freelancers — reviewing estimates, code and delivery
- Engineering hiring: defining roles, running technical interviews, onboarding
- Roadmap input: what to build, what to buy, what to postpone
- Security and data-handling basics before they become an incident
Background
Five years of production engineering at Bigbasket and Acko on platforms serving more than ten million users — architecting Acko's Safebuy insurance engine (50,000+ policies a month), leading a rewards program end to end across frontend and microservices, and owning checkout performance and a real-time charges engine at Bigbasket. Also a guest speaker on generative AI system design and enterprise adoption at Bennett University. It's hands-on experience of what breaks when a product grows, which is most of what an early-stage CTO is for.
What you get
Every engagement is scoped to what your business actually needs, then quoted as one fixed number on a free call — before anything begins.
A standing engineering lead for decisions, reviews and hiring.
- A weekly call plus async access for decisions
- Architecture and pull-request reviews
- Vendor and agency oversight
Your first engineers, assessed by someone who has worked with good ones.
- Role definition and job description
- Technical interview design and interviews
- Onboarding plan for the first month
An independent assessment of a codebase and the team behind it.
- Architecture, security and scalability review
- Engineering process and delivery risks
- Written report for founders or investors
Anything bigger or unusual is scoped on a call — you get a fixed quote before work starts.
Real work, live where you can check it
No stock screenshots and no invented testimonials — these are builds you can open yourself.
Tell me what you need
A mobile number is enough to start — I'll come back within one working day with a straight answer on what it would take and what it would cost.
Questions people actually ask
A technical co-founder is a long-term commitment with equity and full-time ownership of the product. A fractional CTO gives you senior judgment for a few hours a week, paid monthly, while you decide whether and when to bring in a full-time technical leader.
When it helps — a proof of concept, a critical fix, or setting up the architecture the team will build on. For larger builds, hands-on development can be scoped separately.
Yes. Defining the role, designing and running technical interviews, and planning onboarding for the first hires are all part of the work.
Usually a few hours a week — a regular call plus asynchronous reviews and questions. It flexes up around big decisions or hiring rounds.
Book a free consultation
30 minutes, no cost, no obligation — pick a slot that works for you.
- ›Sign in with Google to book instantly
- ›Or just email/WhatsApp if you'd rather
- ›We'll follow up with a free draft, not a sales pitch