Fractional CTO Services
Your business runs on technology. It shouldn’t have to run you ragged.
Does This Sound Familiar?
A Fractional CTO gives you senior tech leadership - without the full-time salary, hiring process, or guesswork.
You're a 10-person company doing the work of 30. Technology decisions are getting made by whoever happens to know the most about it — which is usually you, even though that's not supposed to be your job.
You've outgrown the tools you started with, but nobody has time to figure out what comes next.
You've got vendors, subscriptions, and software nobody fully understands.
You're making six-figure decisions based on whoever pitched you last.
Your team wastes hours every week on manual work that should be automated.
You’re running a SaaS company with a real product, but no real technical leadership.
You don't need a full-time CTO. You need the right person in the room at the right moments.
Here’s how we work together
Here's what you actually get:
Tech Strategy That Makes Business Sense We align your technology decisions with your business goals — not the other way around. No shiny object chasing. No over-engineered solutions for a 15-person company.
Vendor & Tool Oversight We evaluate what you're paying for, cut what you don't need, and make sure the tools you keep are actually working for you. We sit in the room when vendors pitch you. We’ll advise you on tools we’ve used, and listen in when you’re considering tools that we haven’t.
Workflow Automation Most small businesses are leaving significant time and money on the table through manual, repetitive work. We find it, fix it, and free your team up to focus on what they do best.
Team Support & Hiring When you need to hire a developer, IT support, or any technical role, we write the job description, interview the candidates, and help you make the right hiring decisions. We even have a team of people behind us to pick up the slack!
Ongoing Advisory You'll have a direct line to someone who can answer "should we do this?" before you commit — whether that's a new platform, a system migration, or a security concern. We’re always here to talk, and we’ll explain everything to you so you know you’re making the right decisions.
This is a good fit if…
You're running a business with 5–20 employees and technology is becoming a bottleneck
You've recently acquired or are integrating a new business and need tech due diligence or cleanup
You're a founder who's technical enough to be dangerous but needs a real strategy
You have a team making tech decisions without a clear owner, and it's starting to show
You’re a small SaaS company with a team of contractors handling development, but no true tech leader
Not a fit: If you're looking for someone to just "manage IT" or respond to help desk tickets, that's not this. This is for business owners who want a strategic partner, not a contractor.
What makes us different
Most fractional CTOs come from big tech. We built Lightened Tech Solutions specifically for small and mid-sized businesses — the ones that don't have a dedicated tech team, don't have time for jargon, and need solutions that actually fit their budget and their reality.
We're not going to recommend a $200K platform overhaul when a $300/month tool and a cleaner process would do the job.
We tell you what we think, not what you want to hear.
"He was able to give us a lot of clarity and depth on where we should go next — quick wins to implement immediately, as well as things that will make an overwhelming difference for our end users. He clearly laid out a 30-60-90 day roadmap that was strategic, helpful, and approachable."
— Mike Balcom, Co-Founder, Stride CRM
Not sure if this is what you need?
That's exactly what the first conversation is for. We'll spend 30 minutes learning about your business, and you'll walk away with a clearer picture of where technology is holding you back — whether you work with us or not.
No pressure. We’re happy to just have a conversation and tell you that you don’t need us, just as much as we are to have you as a client. We’re here to help, not sell