Dreamware / Services / Strategy & Advisory / Fractional CTO / Technical Leadership
Fractional CTO / Technical Leadership
Part-time technical leadership for growing companies.
About this service
Growing technology companies often reach a point where they need senior technical leadership but aren't ready for a full-time CTO. They need someone who can set technical direction, mentor the engineering team, make architecture decisions, represent technology in the boardroom, and manage the technical risks that founders don't see coming.
A Fractional CTO from Dreamware gives you principal-level technical leadership on a part-time basis: typically one to two days per week, engaged for three to six months and reviewed from there. We become part of your team — attending planning sessions, reviewing code, talking to your engineers, and representing technology to your investors and customers.
We work with Series A and growth-stage technology companies, established businesses building their first serious engineering capability, and founders who need a technical co-founder figure without the equity dilution. The engagement is designed to be hands-on, not advisory-from-a-distance.
How Dreamware approaches this
The engagement starts with a technical review: understanding the current state of your engineering, the quality of the codebase, the strength of the team, and the technical risks and opportunities facing the business. This informs the priorities for the engagement.
We work in close partnership with the CEO or founder. Technical decisions are made together — we bring the technical expertise, you bring the business context. We don't make unilateral decisions or work around the leadership team. We aim to build your team's technical capability so that you're less dependent on us over time, not more.
What you get
- Technical leadership — CTO-level presence in your team and decision-making processes
- Engineering team leadership — direct management or mentoring of engineering leads
- Architecture direction — technical standards, tooling choices, and architectural guidance
- Recruiting support — technical interviews and engineering team structure design
- Investor and board communication — technical narrative for fundraising and board updates
- Risk register — documented technical risks with mitigations
- Roadmap input — technical feasibility and effort assessment for product roadmap items
Investment guide
Fractional CTO engagements typically run $4,000–$8,000 NZD per month for one to two days per week. Minimum engagement of three months. Pricing depends on the seniority and breadth of leadership required and the time commitment. Some engagements include equity arrangements for early-stage companies — this is discussed case by case.
All pricing in NZD excluding GST. Fixed-price engagements where scope allows — we'll confirm pricing after a free scoping conversation.
Ready to get started?
Book a free conversation. We'll tell you honestly what's realistic, what it costs, and how we'd approach it.