The Leadership.
Fractional Executive.
You don't hire fractional because you can't afford the real thing. You hire fractional because you're in a specific situation that a permanent hire would handle badly, too slowly, or at the wrong cost.
CPO or CTO — depending on where your gap is.
Product
Fractional CPO
When product decisions are slowing the business, the founding CEO is still running product by default, or you need a senior operator to build the function before making the permanent hire.
Urgency
Hiring a full-time CPO takes three to six months. The problem is costing money now. Or your VP just left and someone needs to hold the function while the search runs.
The founder bottleneck
You're still running product by default. You need to exit that role but you're not ready for the permanent hire. A fractional runs the function properly while you develop that picture.
The board signal
Investors want to see product leadership maturity. A promoted PM with a title change doesn't move the needle. A credible senior operator in the function does.
The transformation mandate
The business is making a hard turn: AI adoption, security as a core function, full product reset. No one internal has done this before. You need the expertise for this phase.
Technology
Fractional CTO
When engineering needs senior technical leadership: architecture decisions, team structure, technical direction. A fractional chief technology officer for the phase where the gap is in technology, not product.
The architecture inflection
You're scaling and the codebase is starting to limit speed. No one internal is senior enough to decide what to rebuild, what to keep, and how to sequence it without breaking delivery.
The technical credibility gap
Enterprise customers or investors are asking technical questions that need a credible senior voice. Your team builds well but no one can sit in those rooms and own the answers.
The founding technical leader
You're a strong engineer who built the product. You've never run an engineering organisation. You need someone to install the operating system, then leave.
What we do
As a fractional executive — CPO or CTO — we integrate into the organisation and operate as a principal, not an advisor. We own the function for three to twelve months: team structure, hiring, operating rhythm, decision frameworks, and leading the high-stakes work directly.
What it produces
A functioning delivery engine that keeps running after we're gone. The measure of a successful engagement is that our departure doesn't cause a regression.
What it isn't
We are not parachuting in to diagnose and leave. Our name is on the outcome.
“Having someone own the thinking with you rather than just advise sporadically feels different.”
“The biggest thing we were stuck on: what were we building, for who, and what was the direction? That’s something that has now concretely changed: we gained clear focus. We’re now very targeted in the what, for who, and why. The product marketing side was something we lacked a lot in. There was a big gap in how to translate what we had to an ICP: that’s something we really struggled with and where Raphaël helped the most.”
What you are committing to
Typical shape, not a fixed package
How long
Typically three to twelve months.
Your time
One to two days a week, inside your team.
What you keep
A product function that runs without us.
Three months when there is a function to fix and someone to hand it back to. Twelve when it has to be built from nothing and the person who will run it has not been hired yet. The gap between those is a hiring plan, not a stage, so the length is something we work out together before it starts.
On the record
“… He doesn't jump to solutions. He gets to the crux of the problem first, builds solid hypotheses, and does the foundational research to back them up. The rigor was real. …”
Where is the gap?
Tell us where the leadership gap is and what it is costing. We will say whether a fractional CPO or CTO is the right shape, or whether it is not.
No obligation either way. We will come back with a tailored answer, or tell you it is not us.
Or write to us directly at contact@sha-rp.com.