Should you hire a fractional exec? Lessons from CROSSIP and ThatRound

Why I turned to a fractional CFO

When building CROSSIP, we were getting close to breakeven, closed an internal round to buy plenty of runway, and expanded our sales to over 20 countries. I had fulfilled my role in raising funding for the business and helping us to get on the financial “straight and narrow” and I was confident in my Co-Founders and the team in place and ready to become less operationally involved. Still, I was drowning in financial oversight that wasn’t moving the business forward, nor was it allowing me to commit elsewhere. The role was too small for a full-time CFO — but too critical to ignore.

So, I hired a one day per week fractional CFO. Best. Decision. Ever. It freed me to focus fully on launching ThatRound — and showed me the power of “just-in-time” exec support.

What exactly is a fractional exec?

A fractional executive is a senior leader engaged part-time — often one to three days a week on contract. It’s renting the expertise you can't yet hire full-time.

Roles include:

Fractional CFO — investor-ready financials, cash-flow forecasts, data-room prep
Fractional CMO — branding, GTM strategy, campaign execution
Fractional CTO — product scaling, tech architecture, infrastructure decisions

In the UK, many startups raise under SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme) and EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) use fractional execs. These government-backed schemes give investors tax relief for backing early-stage companies — but investors (and HMRC) also expect governance and financial rigour. A fractional CFO can bridge that gap without blowing the payroll whilst helping with the necessary documentation when applying for advanced assurance.

Full-time vs fractional exec — quick comparison
Factor	Full-time exec	Fractional exec
Cost	£90k–£150k+ salary + NI, pension, benefits	£800–£1,200 per day; 2–8 days/month
Availability	5 days/week, dedicated focus	1–3 days/week; shared across clients
Expertise depth	Deep involvement across functions	High-impact in defined areas
Commitment	Long-term employment	Short to medium-term contract
Onboarding	Slower to integrate; stronger culture fit	Faster start; culture embedding takes effort
Flexibility	Lower — changes require HR process	Higher — scale days up/down as needed

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Why founders should consider it

Here’s why I believe fractional execs can be transformative for startups, particularly those looking to raise:

Fundraising readiness
The time from launch to Series C in the UK has nearly doubled to 9.6 years, and seed-to-Series A now runs over two years (1). This isn’t a minor shift — it’s a strategic problem when investors demand traction and diligence and that’s where the senior experience of a CFO can make all the difference.
Investor confidence and financial prudence
Only 928 UK startups raised equity for the first time in 2024 — down nearly 40% from the 2021 peak (2). With investors more selective, a fractional CFO can make your model, metrics, and pitch investor-ready faster than you can alone, whilst you avoid a six figure salary that will curb your runway.
Access to high-quality expertise
Sectors like AI, healthtech, and fintech are growing, accounting for over $7B of investment in H1 2025 (3). these sectors face increasing scrutiny and regulation so finding top-tier talent to help guide the business can be critical. Fractional gives you the expertise you need — without the long hire timeline.

The risks (and how I mitigated them)

Fractional isn’t without its trade-offs:

Split attention — they’re sharing time across clients
Cultural integration — fewer hours make embedding harder
Scope creep — day rates can balloon if not managed
Knowledge dependency — too much retained in their head

My mitigation plan: define clear KPIs, set a trial period, and agree on documentation and knowledge transfer.

My hiring checklist

Here’s what I took into account:

Clear scope and KPIs defined upfront
Founder references checked from past projects
Alignment with fundraising narrative
Three-month trial period to test fit
Knowledge handover plan: documentation, recordings, strategic touchpoints

Final thoughts

Hiring a fractional CFO has allowed me to go all-in on ThatRound while ensuring CROSSIP remained under expert stewardship. It was efficient, transparent, supportive — and the right move at the right time.

For founders juggling fundraising, product, hiring and growth: don’t get stuck running the ledger when you can be scaling your vision. Identify the one blocker holding you back. If a fractional exec could dismantle it — take that hire.

References