Fractional CTO for Non-Technical Founders
You have the vision, the customers, and the grit. You do not have a technical co-founder. Don Bora steps in as your Fractional CTO so you can make confident technology decisions, hire the right builders, and ship a product that holds up in front of investors and users.
Talk To DonWhat is a Fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO provides part-time technical leadership for your startup. Instead of hiring a full-time Chief Technology Officer at $300K+ per year, you get experienced guidance for a fraction of the cost. Typically 10-20 hours per month.
For non-technical founders building technology products, this is often the smartest first hire. You get strategic technology oversight without committing to a full-time executive before you're ready. Our Feasibility First approach means we tackle the hardest technical questions upfront so your product is rooted in reality, not assumptions.
Why Startups Need Fractional CTO Services
Up to 70% of startups face technology-related challenges that threaten their success. Common problems include:
- Building on the wrong technology stack
- AI-built prototypes that can't scale to production
- Development teams without senior technical guidance
- Technical debt that slows every new feature
- Struggling to communicate technical plans to investors
- Vendor lock-in from platforms you can't leave
A fractional CTO helps you avoid these pitfalls. Or dig your way out if you're already stuck.
What We Do as Your Fractional CTO
Feasibility First
Validate the hard technical questions upfront. Define your stack, architecture, and roadmap rooted in reality.
AI Prototype Review
Evaluate code from Cursor, Bolt, Lovable, or Replit. Identify what's salvageable.
Team Building
Help hire developers, set up processes, and establish engineering culture.
Investor Prep
Translate technical plans into investor-ready materials. Answer due diligence questions.
Vendor Evaluation
Assess development agencies, tools, and platforms. Avoid bad decisions.
Code Review
Review architecture and code quality. Identify security issues and technical debt.
Who This Is For
This service is built for non-technical founders. Not agencies. Not CTOs who want a second opinion. Founders who are building a real software product and do not have the technical background to make the dozens of decisions a product demands every week.
- The solo non-technical founder who has customers and traction but is guessing on every technical call
- The founder with an AI-built prototype that works in demos but cannot scale, secure, or integrate with real systems
- The founder preparing to raise who needs a credible technical story in the deck and on the due-diligence call
- The founder managing a dev shop who suspects they are being oversold or undercut and has no way to check
- The founder about to make the first engineering hire and wants someone senior in the interview loop
- The founder whose technical co-founder just left and needs interim leadership before replacing them
When You Need a Fractional CTO
If any of the following sound familiar, it is time. Do not wait until the technical debt or the bad hire forces your hand.
- You are about to sign a development contract over $25K and cannot evaluate it
- Your AI-built prototype is breaking in front of real users
- Investors are asking technical questions you cannot answer
- Your developers are shipping slowly and you do not know if that is normal
- You are interviewing engineering candidates and cannot gauge their skill
- You keep hearing "we need to refactor" and do not know what that means
- Security, compliance, or HIPAA is coming up and no one owns it
- Your product roadmap is a wish list, not a plan
What Don Brings
Fractional CTO work at Eight Bit Studios is led by co-founder Don Bora. Don has been shipping production software for 17+ years. He is based in Chicago and works with founders across the country.
Before Eight Bit, Don led engineering work for companies like Vivid Seats, Allstate, Cars.com, and Nielsen. Since founding Eight Bit Studios in 2009, he has served as technical lead or Fractional CTO for startups including ScoutLogic (background screening and compliance), Perfume Lens (AI-powered fragrance discovery), and CoGo (AI relationship guidance), plus healthcare platforms like Health.vet and My CheckUp Health.
He is not a deck-and-dashboard CTO. Don reads the code, writes the code when it matters, sits in the standups, and tells you straight when a vendor is selling you something you do not need. See the range of products the team has shipped on the apps page.
- 17+ years shipping production software across enterprise and startup
- Chicago-based, with a secondary presence in Dallas, remote-first for founders everywhere
- Hands-on, not just management. He will open the repo and walk the code with you
- Investor-ready. He has sat through seed and Series A due diligence calls and knows what partners actually ask
- AI-native. He uses modern AI tooling daily and knows where it helps versus where it bites
In Practice
"My brother feared the cost of care more than the illness itself. He delayed treatment until it was too late."
— Sue Rezin, Founder & CEO, MyCheckUpHealth
After 15 years as an Illinois State Senator tackling healthcare policy, Sue Rezin saw the system's failure hit home. The working middle class was being caught in a financial squeeze where illness forced people to drain their savings. She founded MyCheckUpHealth to bypass the opaque insurance system with transparent cash pricing and fast booking for basic care.
A healthcare marketplace connecting patients with transparent pricing — designed for the working middle class that insurance leaves behind. Eight Bit provides fractional CTO leadership and development.
See the work →Frequently Asked Questions
What does a Fractional CTO do for a non-technical founder?
A Fractional CTO acts as your technical co-pilot. For a non-technical founder, that means translating your product vision into architecture decisions, choosing the right stack, hiring and managing developers, reviewing code quality, evaluating vendors, and protecting you from decisions that cost six figures to unwind. You get the technical judgment you do not have in-house, without the cost of a full-time executive.
When should a non-technical founder hire a Fractional CTO?
Hire one before you sign a big development contract, before you hire your first engineer, or the moment your AI-built prototype starts breaking. Also hire one if you are preparing for a seed round and investors are starting to ask technical due-diligence questions. If you are making technical decisions and guessing, you are already overdue.
How much does a Fractional CTO cost?
Most Fractional CTO engagements run $5,000 to $15,000 per month depending on scope and hours. Hourly rates typically fall between $150 and $300. Compare that to a full-time CTO hire, which usually lands between $300K and $500K per year in total comp once you include salary and equity. A fractional arrangement gives you senior judgment at a fraction of that cost.
What's the difference between a Fractional CTO and a technical co-founder?
A technical co-founder takes equity, works full-time, and is bonded to the company long-term. A Fractional CTO is a paid engagement. You get senior technical leadership now without giving up 30 to 50 percent of your company to someone you met three months ago. Many founders use a Fractional CTO to ship the first real version of the product, then decide whether they actually need a full-time technical co-founder.
What's the difference between a Fractional CTO and a technical advisor?
A technical advisor gives occasional strategic input, usually a few hours a month over coffee or a call. A Fractional CTO is hands-on and accountable. They attend team meetings, review code, make architecture calls, interview developers, and own the outcome of technical decisions.
Can a Fractional CTO help me raise venture capital?
Yes. Investors ask hard technical questions during due diligence: how does this scale, what is the stack, who built it, is there technical debt, is the AI defensible. A Fractional CTO prepares you for those conversations, sits in on investor calls when you want backup, and gives your pitch deck the technical credibility that non-technical founders often struggle to project.
What does Don Bora bring as a Fractional CTO?
Don Bora is co-founder of Eight Bit Studios and has 17+ years of experience shipping production software. He has built and led engineering on apps for Vivid Seats, Allstate, Cars.com, and Nielsen, and currently serves as technical lead or Fractional CTO for startups including ScoutLogic, Perfume Lens, and CoGo. He is based in Chicago and works with founders nationwide. Don is hands-on: he reads the code, attends the standups, and sits in on the hard conversations.
Can a Fractional CTO help rescue an AI-built prototype?
Yes. Many non-technical founders start with Cursor, Bolt, Lovable, or Replit and hit a wall when the product needs real auth, real data, real scale, or a security review. A Fractional CTO audits the code, flags what is salvageable versus what needs to be rebuilt, and maps a path from prototype to production without throwing out the months you already invested.
Do Fractional CTOs work remotely?
Yes. Eight Bit Studios is based in Chicago with a secondary presence in Dallas, but we work remote-first with founders across the United States. Most engagements run over Slack, video calls, and shared docs, with occasional in-person sessions when geography allows.
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Get A Fractional CTO On Your Side
Tell us about your product and where you are stuck. Don will get on a call, no pressure, no sales pitch, and tell you honestly whether a Fractional CTO engagement is the right move.
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