--- title: Fractional CTO Services For Startups, $997/Week @ Varstatt url: https://varstatt.com/x/founders/fractional-cto description: "A fractional CTO for startups and non-technical founders: I make the technical calls and build your product. $997/week, no equity, cancel anytime." section: Services (https://varstatt.com) --- # Fractional CTO Who Builds Your Product The technical calls and the code from one person, for founders before the first hire. $997/week, no equity. **What's included:** - ✅ Senior developer - ✅ Full code ownership - ✅ Continuous progress - ✅ Stop anytime - ❌ Meetings overhead - ❌ Scope creep - ❌ Agency markup - ❌ Billing surprises **Get started:** - [Start a Project](https://varstatt.com/start?cta=agent) - [Ask Jurij](mailto:jurij@varstatt.com) ## Portfolio - **Redesign & V2 development of SOAPNoteAI, an AI charting assistant for busy clinicians** — [soapnoteai.com](https://soapnoteai.com) - **Free, AI-powered technical discovery & development roadmap in 15 minutes** — [varstatt.com/discovery](https://varstatt.com/discovery) - **Initial launch of TenderPilot, an AI-powered tendering software for Australian SMEs** — [tenderpilot.ai](https://tenderpilot.ai) - **MVP & initial launch of MyCointainer, an ultimate crypto staking platform** — [mycointainer.com](https://web.archive.org/web/20200423203535/https://www.mycointainer.com/) ## Advice Alone Doesn't Ship | Route | What It Is | The Catch | |---|---|---| | Advisor plus Developer | A few hours of advice a week and a developer who builds | Two bills, and you translate between them | | Technical Co-Founder | A share of the company for someone you have just met | Few to find, and a long search | | Full-Time CTO | A salary that takes most of a seed round | Paid before there is a team to lead | | Agency or Freelancer | They build to a spec | Writing the spec is the part you need help with | | **Varstatt** | Decides and builds, by the week | One task at a time | ## What You Get | Part | Note | |---|---| | Built | Sign-in by email link, live on a test site. Yours to review before the next task starts. | | Decided | Payments through Stripe Checkout, not a custom form: less to build, and no card data on your servers. *Easy to swap later. Your call.* | | Risk | Uploads have no size limit yet, so one large file can stall the app. Queued as the next fix. | | Next | Invite teammates, the top of your list. | In writing, no meetings to run. The repo, cloud accounts and keys are [yours from day one](https://varstatt.com/principles/philosophy/client-owns-everything). ## Who It's For **Right For** - Non-technical founders with an idea or a deck - A first version with no technical owner - Technical founders who want an architecture partner - Founders who'd rather pay by the week than in equity **Better Elsewhere** - A team of engineers to lead: hiring, 1:1s, board updates *A full-time CTO* - Advice without code *An advisor* - Stacks outside JavaScript and TypeScript *A developer of that stack* ## How It Works A simple, predictable and transparent process that eliminates development headaches. 1. **Subscribe** — After subscribing, you get a dedicated task board. It becomes your product roadmap. 2. **Setup** — I make the first technical choices and set up the accounts in your name, each choice written down with its reason. 3. **Plan & Develop** — You set the priorities. I turn them into tasks and work through them one by one. 4. **Review & Refine** — You review the work and give feedback. I revise until you're fully satisfied. 5. **Progress** — You approve finished work. I move to the next priority, about one major feature a month. 6. **Maintain** — You report issues anytime; I handle them first. When you hire a team, I stay on or hand over. ## Pricing — Retainer One weekly price for the decisions and the build. No equity, no contract. - **Price:** $997 / week - **Plan:** A CTO's judgment and a senior builder in one person. - **Includes:** - 🧑‍💻 10+ years shipping software - 🗣️ Direct access to developer - 🗂️ Dedicated task board - 📦 1 task at a time, unlimited revisions - ⚡ Each task in ~72 hours on average - 🪪 Full code & assets ownership - 🩹 Bug fixes & ongoing maintenance - 🎁 Free week 0: onboarding and setup - 🛑 Pause or cancel anytime - **CTA:** [Get Started](https://varstatt.com/start?cta=agent) - **Questions:** jurij@varstatt.com ## FAQ ### How much does a fractional CTO cost? $997/week for the decisions and the build. No hourly billing, no equity. [Pause or cancel](/principles/partnership/exit-freedom) anytime. The [build cost tool](/discovery/build-cost) sizes your scope in weeks. ### What does a fractional CTO do here? Fractional, outsourced or CTO as a service: here it's one seat with three jobs. - **Decide:** stack, architecture, build or buy, what comes first. - **Build:** working code, shipped weekly. - **Watch:** what breaks, what's irreversible, what can wait. Not included: hiring, team management, board updates, investor decks. ### Fractional CTO vs full-time CTO? Same work before the first hire. Hire full-time once there are engineers to lead. ### I'm not technical. Do I need one? If no one makes the technical calls, yes. Each call comes with its reasons in plain words, and you decide. Start with the [project scope tool](/discovery/project-scope). ### When should a startup get one? Before the first line of code: the stack and the data model cost the most to undo. Later works too, when a first version has no technical owner. ### Fractional CTO vs co-founder? Same scope, paid by the week instead of in equity. ### AI reviews code now. Why a CTO? Here it's decisions plus the build, not reviews. AI makes me 2-3x faster at the typing. It doesn't decide what comes first or carry it to production: [that's still the hard part](/jurij/p/domain-experts-still-need-tech-partners). ### What happens when I need a team? Hire them. I stay as the senior engineer or hand over. The handover is built in from day one: [access, docs, history](/jurij/p/isnt-a-solo-developer-a-bus-factor-of-one). ### What's the tech stack? JavaScript and TypeScript on the [default stack](/principles/delivery/default-stack): React, Next.js, Node.js, Firebase. For other stacks, I say no rather than learn on your dime. ### What if it doesn't work out? I revise until you're satisfied. If it still isn't working, [cancel with no penalty](/jurij/p/what-happens-when-a-client-wants-to-stop-or-pause). The code and accounts stay yours. ### How do I get started? Fill in the [project form](/start?cta=fractional-cto-faq), about a minute. I reply the next working day; if it fits, with a first plan and a call invite. ## Testimonials > "Jurij understand the core problem, insists on building the right experiences for the customers." > — [Kunal Modi, Founder @ SOAPNoteAI](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jurijtokarski/details/recommendations/) > "Working with Jurij is an absolute joy, consistently exceeds expectations." > — [Janis Ozolins, Content Creator](https://x.com/OzolinsJanis/status/1875168034249146609) > "Consistently delivered quality code in great time, very hard working & precise." > — [Bartosz Poźniak, CEO @ MyCointainer](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jurijtokarski/details/recommendations/) > "The kind of engineer that every company on the planet would be lucky to have." > — [Hosam Mazawi, COO @ LemonUnit](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jurijtokarski/details/recommendations/) ## [Founders × Varstatt](https://varstatt.com/x/founders) Fractional CTO fits founders best: people building a product without a technical co-founder. - **Fractional CTO (this page)** "No one makes the technical calls." The calls and the code, every week. - **[Prototype](https://varstatt.com/x/founders/prototype-development)** "An idea nobody has clicked." The core flow on a live link in one week, one payment. - **[MVP Development](https://varstatt.com/x/founders/mvp-development)** "An idea, ready to test with paying users." The smallest real product, launched in week 6. - **[SaaS Development](https://varstatt.com/x/founders/saas-development)** "Ready to build the whole product." Launched in week 6, then built on real feedback. - **[PWA Development](https://varstatt.com/x/founders/pwa-development)** "Phones, without three separate apps." One app that installs from a link. - **[Vibe Coding Rescue](https://varstatt.com/x/founders/project-rescue)** "An app stuck, unsafe, or left by its developer." The bleeding stopped and a plan, in one paid week. - **[App Modernization](https://varstatt.com/x/founders/app-modernization)** "A V1 that holds the product back." V2 built beside it, until every user moves. - **[Tech Due Diligence](https://varstatt.com/x/founders/tech-due-diligence)** "A raise or a purchase on the calendar." What diligence will find, ranked, in one paid week. Not a founder? [See what Varstatt offers you](https://varstatt.com/x). ## About Varstatt is run by [Jurij Tokarski](https://varstatt.com/jurij), product engineer since 2011. Contact: [jurij@varstatt.com](mailto:jurij@varstatt.com) / [X](https://x.com/jurijtokarski) / [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jurijtokarski/) Sole proprietorship headquartered in Rzeszów, Poland. VAT ID: PL8133854722.