Fractional Field CTO & Pre-Sales Consulting
Your Embedded Sales CTO
Not a consultant who advises and leaves. Not a vendor who delivers and disappears.
A partner who shares the risk, owns the result, and stays until the deal closes.
Takes 30 minutes. No pitch, no pressure - I'll tell you honestly if I'm not the right fit.
0x
Services revenue growth in 1 year
Pre-sales
Built from scratch
50/50
Client & vendor side experience
20+
LinkedIn recommendations from clients, peers, and leaders
Does this sound like your pre-sales?
After 28 years on both sides of the table - as the CIO who bought, and the CTO who sold - I've seen deals lost not on the product, but in the pre-sales room. Teams show up unprepared, sell from the vendor's side, and never turn features into the buyer's trust.
Your sales team shows up with just a demo
In many meetings it plays out the same way: no research on the customer's industry, no understanding of their architecture, no plan for delivery. The customer asks about their project pain, their compliance, their legacy integration - and gets a feature walkthrough, not a solution to their problem.
Your team sells from the vendor's point of view, not the customer's
Too often the pitch is 'here's what we built, here's how it works, buy it.' But the buyer needs to know: does this solve my problem? Reduce my risk? Will my team be able to run it? The conversation stays on the vendor's terms, the customer stays skeptical, and the deal stalls.
You invest 10x more in sales than in pre-sales - and lose because of it
Most B2B tech companies spend $500K+ on sales headcount and $50K+ on pre-sales. But think about where a complex enterprise deal is actually won or lost: in the technical discovery. In the architecture review. In the security assessment. In the moment when the buyer's CTO asks a hard question and your person in the room either answers with credibility - or doesn't. The budget is inverted: you're paying for pipeline, not for trust. And in enterprise B2B, trust is what closes.
Nobody in the room is building trust - they're just presenting features
Your team can demo. They can explain functionality. But can they sit with a buyer's CTO and say honestly: 'I understand your migration concerns. I led a 100+ person IT team for years. I've managed 20+ projects with 1PB+ data volumes. Here's what we did in a similar situation. Here's what we'd recommend for you - and here's what we wouldn't do, and why.' That's not a sales conversation. That's a peer conversation. One that earns trust. One that changes how the buyer sees you - from vendor to advisor. And it's the moment when deals stop stalling and start closing.
The missing role in your revenue team
What is a Sales CTO?
Your CTO builds the product.
Your VP Sales sells it.
Nobody owns the gap between them.
That gap needs its own role. In enterprise software, it's already a growing function — the Field CTO, a senior technical leader who translates complex capabilities into business value.
My version is a Sales CTO: delivered fractionally, on demand, and present until the deal closes.
The Sales CTO is a fractional Field CTO service led by a former CIO who spent 14 years buying enterprise technology and 14 years selling it - now embedded in B2B sales teams to close technical deals.
Role comparison
Who owns the enterprise deal?
The Sales CTO is the only role designed to own both sides of the room.
| Capability | The Sales CTO Owns the gap | Fractional CTO Builds the product | Sales Consultant Teaches the method | VP of Sales Owns the number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What they own | ||||
| Technical credibility | Yes | Yes | No | Partial |
| Commercial ownership | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Investment & risk | ||||
| Cost / year | $60–90K + bonus on closed deals | $90–250K | $50–150K | $250–450K |
| Time to start | 1–2 weeks | 1–2 weeks | 2–4 weeks | 6–9 months |
| Failure rate | Low | Low | Low | High |
Failure rate means the share of hires who underperform or leave within their first 18 months. A full-time VP of Sales carries the highest risk of a costly hire that doesn't work out.
Convinced the gap is real?
Book a Discovery Call →How I Help
One core engagement. A few adjacent ways to work together if that's a better fit.
Main offer
The Embedded Sales CTO
I join your team for 90 days or more. I sit in your calls, your deals, your architecture reviews. I help your sales team turn technical credibility into closed revenue - and I stay until the deal closes, not until the deck is done.
Book a Discovery CallAlso available, if your situation calls for it:
Pre-Sales Build-Out
Build your pre-sales function from zero: team, process, materials, training.
Learn more →CTO-as-a-Service
Part-time CTO for early-stage startups: technical strategy, architecture, team-building.
Learn more →Migration Advisory
Database migration and application modernization advisory.
Learn more →Why Me?
14 years as the customer. 14 years as the vendor. I've sat on every side of the table.
The Founder
My career is split evenly between the two sides of the table. First I led a 100+ person IT division - the customer who evaluates vendors, writes RFPs, and makes the final call. Then I moved to the vendor side, worked as a Pre-Sales Manager and Solution Architect, and later became CTO. Every role taught me the same lesson from a different angle: technology sells when someone in the room can translate it into the buyer's business value.
I'm not an engineer who became a manager. I'm a commercial leader who happens to have deep technical credibility. Pre-sales, sales, and account management bring me genuine pleasure - and that passion is what makes me effective in your deals.
How It Works
Three steps. No lock-in.
Discovery Call
30 minutes. I learn your sales challenges, your buyers, your deals. You learn if I'm the right fit.
90-Day Embed
I join your team. Attend calls. Support deals. Build process. Shared risk - retainer + success fee.
Measure & Decide
Win rate, pipeline growth, deal velocity. Data, not promises. Continue, expand, or part ways - 30 days' notice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Sales CTO?
A Sales CTO is the established Field CTO role, delivered fractionally and on demand. Like a Field CTO, it's a senior technical leader who works externally with prospects and customers - but instead of being a full-time hire, I join your team part-time to sit in your enterprise deals, earn the buyer's trust, and help you close.
How is a Sales CTO different from a fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO asks: 'Is your architecture scalable?' The Sales CTO asks: 'Is your pipeline closable?' A fractional CTO helps you build the right thing. The Sales CTO helps you sell the thing you built.
How much does it cost?
Engagements start at an agreed amount per month on a retainer. If the deal doesn't close, I lose too - this isn't consulting, it's a partnership. Typical engagements run 3-6 months minimum.
What's the first step?
Book a 30-minute discovery call. No pitch, no pressure. I'll listen to your situation and tell you honestly whether I can help - and if I'm not the right fit, I'll say so.
Ready to close more enterprise deals?
Book a 30-minute discovery call. No pitch, no pressure. I'll listen and tell you honestly if I can help.