Fractional CTO & Technical Leadership | Handwerk Studio

Your technical brain,
without the full-time hire

We're the technical partner in your corner, not a vendor you hire and forget. Strategy, architecture, code reviews, and the decisions that keep your business moving forward.

Book a free call →
From $499/month · cancel anytime

Trusted by growing businesses

Sling EverythingOnline BellTransport Sling EverythingOnline BellTransport

You don’t need a CTO on payroll.
You need one on call.

🚀

Business owners going digital

You have customers and momentum. But technology decisions keep landing on your desk with no one to ask. Whether you're running a traditional business going digital or a startup scaling fast, we give you the technical clarity to move forward.

🤖

Vibe coders scaling up

You've built something impressive with AI tools. Now users are coming and you're not sure if the architecture will hold. We audit what you have and build a roadmap to make it production-ready.

🏗️

Working with developers or agencies

You've brought in a developer or an agency but can't evaluate if the work is any good. We review the code, ask the right questions, and make sure you're not accumulating invisible problems. Works for a 50-year-old logistics firm just as well as a two-year-old startup.

Everything a CTO does,
none of the overhead

A full-time CTO costs $150–250k a year. Our retainer gives you the same quality of thinking and oversight, scoped to exactly what a growing business actually needs.

From $499/month

Month-to-month retainer. Cancel anytime.

  • 📞
    Weekly strategy calls
    1:1 sessions to review progress, make architecture decisions, and unblock anything technical.
  • 🔍
    Code reviews
    We review AI-generated, outsourced, or in-house code for quality, security, and maintainability.
  • 🗺️
    Tech stack decisions
    Which database? Which cloud? Which framework? We guide you to the right choices for your stage and budget.
  • 👥
    Hiring & vendor briefs
    We write technical briefs, interview developers, and evaluate agencies so you hire the right people.
  • 🛡️
    Security & scalability
    We assess your current setup for vulnerabilities, performance bottlenecks, and future scaling risks.
  • Priority async access
    Ping us on Slack or email any time. Urgent decisions get a same-day response.

Up and running in a week

01

Discovery call

We spend 30 minutes understanding your product, your team, and your biggest technical pain points. No charge, no commitment.

02

Technical audit

We review your codebase, infrastructure, and processes. You get a plain-English report with priorities and a clear picture of where you stand.

03

Ongoing retainer

We slot into your workflow with weekly calls, async reviews, and same-day availability whenever a decision needs a senior technical opinion.

We also build

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Remote CTO FAQ

How is this different from hiring a full-time CTO?

A full-time CTO costs $150–250k a year and takes months to hire. Our retainer gives you the same strategic thinking, code oversight, and technical leadership — scoped to what a growing business actually needs. No equity, no benefits, no long hiring process.

What if I only need help for a few months?

That's fine. There's no minimum commitment. Some clients use us for a 3-month sprint to get their architecture right, others stay on for years. You can cancel anytime with no penalty.

Do you write code or just advise?

Primarily advise and review. We do architecture design, code reviews, technical strategy, and vendor evaluation. If you need hands-on development, that's a separate engagement through our custom tools service — and we can scope both together.

How do the weekly calls work?

We schedule a recurring 30–60 minute call at a time that works for you. We come prepared with a review of any code or decisions from the previous week, and you bring whatever's on your mind. Between calls, you have async access via Slack or email.

Can you help evaluate developers or agencies we're considering hiring?

Yes, that's one of the most common things we do. We write technical briefs, review portfolios, sit in on interviews, and evaluate code samples. We'll tell you honestly whether a candidate or agency is the right fit for your project.

Ready to stop guessing on the technical stuff?

Book a free 30-minute call. We'll listen, assess, and tell you honestly whether we're the right fit.