The founder had been searching for a CTO for eight months.
Eight months of recruiter calls. Eight months of technical interviews. Eight months of candidates who were either too senior and expensive, or too junior and inexperienced, or just not quite the right fit.
"We'll know when we find the right person," he told me. "We'll feel it."
I asked him what problems he needed this mythical CTO to solve.
Silence.
"It just feels like we should have one," he finally said. "We're a tech company. We need technical leadership."
That's when I realized the problem wasn't finding the right CTO. The problem was not knowing what he actually needed.
The Role Confusion
Let me tell you about three startups I worked with in the same quarter.
Startup A had a brilliant CTO. Former engineer at a FAANG company. Multiple successful exits. He wrote code that looked like poetry and could explain architecture decisions with perfect clarity. The only problem: the startup hadn't found product-market fit yet, and their technical needs were basic. They were paying CTO-level money for work that could have been done by a competent senior developer at half the cost.
Startup B had a "Technical Lead" who was, in practice, acting as a CTO. He'd helped define the product vision, made all the architecture decisions, and was the public face of the company's technical brand. But his title said "Lead Developer," which meant when they went to raise their Series A, investors asked where their CTO was.
Startup C had a fractional CTO—an experienced technical advisor who came in one day a week. He helped them make decisions, reviewed their architecture, and gave them strategic guidance. When they needed to actually build something, they hired developers who reported to the founders, not to the fractional CTO.
All three had the same problem: they were using titles to solve problems that required different solutions.
What Each Role Actually Does
The confusion isn't accidental. These roles overlap in complicated ways.
A Lead Developer builds things. They might lead a team, make technical decisions within their domain, and mentor other developers. But their primary contribution is execution. They write code, review code, and make the technical day-to-day work happen.
A CTO builds and leads the technical organization. They think about hiring, culture, technical strategy, and long-term architecture. They represent the technical function at the leadership table. They're executives first and builders second—if they build at all.
A Tech Consultant helps you solve specific problems and makes you better at making decisions. They're outside your organization, which gives them perspective but also limits their involvement. They're there for guidance, not execution.
The roles aren't interchangeable. They're not even on the same axis.
The Decision Framework
Here's how to think about what you actually need.
Your Situation | What You Probably Need |
|---|---|
Pre-product-market fit, building an MVP | Strong individual contributor (maybe a tech co-founder) |
Founders are non-technical, need to evaluate technical work | Tech consultant for guidance, lead dev for execution |
Engineering team of 5+, need technical leadership | CTO or VP of Engineering |
Specific technical problem you can't solve internally | Tech consultant or specialized contractor |
Preparing to scale, need technical strategy | Fractional CTO or technical advisor |
When You Actually Need a CTO
The startup that needs a CTO looks different from the startup that thinks it needs one.
A real CTO need comes when:
- You have an engineering team that needs leadership and direction
- You're making architectural decisions that will constrain your future options
- You need someone to represent technical interests at the executive level
- You're building a technical organization, not just shipping a product
- Investors or customers are asking for a CTO
A perceived CTO need that isn't real:
- You need someone to write code (that's a developer)
- You want credibility on your website (that's marketing, not hiring)
- You don't have product-market fit yet (that's a different problem)
- You can't afford a real CTO (a bad CTO is worse than no CTO)
I've seen startups hire CTOs too early, before they had the engineering team to lead. The CTO ended up doing IC work they were overqualified for, and the company paid executive salaries for junior output.
When You Actually Need a Tech Consultant
Tech consultants shine in specific situations.
You need a consultant when:
- You're making a decision that's expensive to undo and you want outside perspective
- Your team is stuck on something and needs a fresh set of eyes
- You have no technical background and need someone to translate
- You're evaluating a technical acquisition or partnership
- You need to audit your technical debt without the defensiveness of internal review
- You're at an inflection point and want strategic guidance
You don't need a consultant when:
- You just need someone to write code (hire a developer)
- The problem is within your team's capability (let them grow)
- You're looking for ongoing operational management (that's a different role)
- You want someone to blame if things go wrong (consultants won't take that risk)
When You Actually Need a Lead Developer
This should be the most common need, but it's often overlooked because it doesn't sound prestigious enough.
You need a lead developer when:
- You have work that needs to be done and nobody to do it
- You need someone to mentor and grow your junior team
- You want technical decisions made by someone who understands the code
- You need execution, not strategy
You don't need a lead developer when:
- You have no one for them to lead (hire ICs first)
- You need strategic direction (that's a CTO or consultant)
- You want someone to manage the business side (hire a COO)
The Hidden Trap: Role Mismatch
I've watched startups suffer because they got the role wrong.
A marketplace startup hired a brilliant CTO who wanted to build systems. But what they really needed was someone who could integrate with third-party APIs and move fast. The CTO kept wanting to build "the right way," while the startup needed to ship features that would help them find product-market fit. They were speaking different languages.
A fintech company hired a senior developer who wanted to lead. But they had no team to lead. The developer got bored, then frustrated, then left. What they needed was a consultant who could help them make decisions, not a full-time leader without a team.
The wrong role in the right seat creates problems that are hard to solve. The wrong person in the wrong role makes those problems worse.
The Hybrid Reality
Here's what most founders don't realize: these roles blend in practice.
A good consultant will sometimes act like a lead developer and just fix something that needs fixing. A good lead developer will sometimes act like a consultant and give strategic advice. A good CTO will sometimes act like a developer when the team is stuck and needs someone to unblock them.
The differences are about primary responsibility and time commitment, not about what they're capable of doing.
And that's where the confusion comes from. The same person could serve multiple functions at different stages of your company's growth. The question isn't "what title do I need?" It's "what function do I need right now, and how much of it do I need?"
The Cost of Getting It Wrong
Getting the role wrong is expensive.
Hiring a CTO when you need a developer means paying executive salaries for work that doesn't require it. It also means the work probably won't get done as well, because a good CTO doesn't want to be doing IC work.
Hiring a developer when you need a CTO means your technical organization lacks direction. The developers will ship features, but they might be the wrong features, built the wrong way, for a system that doesn't scale.
Hiring a consultant when you need ongoing management means you'll get great advice but no one to execute it. The problems keep coming back because there's no one there to handle them day to day.
Not hiring anyone when you need help means the founder ends up doing work they shouldn't be doing. The technical debt accumulates. The decisions get made without guidance. The problems compound.
The Right Question to Ask
Instead of asking "Do I need a CTO?", ask "What problem am I trying to solve?"
If the problem is "we need someone to write code," hire a developer.
If the problem is "we need someone to make technical decisions and lead our team," consider a CTO or tech lead.
If the problem is "we need outside perspective on a specific challenge," hire a consultant.
If the problem is "we need all of the above but can't afford all of them," think about what you need most right now and what can wait.
The title comes last. The function comes first.
Need Help Figuring It Out?
At Startupbricks, we help founders understand what they actually need—not what they think they need. Sometimes that means recommending a consultant. Sometimes it means helping them hire their first developer. Sometimes it means acting as a fractional CTO while they figure out what comes next.
If you're not sure what role you need, let's have a conversation.