When does a startup need a CTO?

One of the first inquiries I get from non-technical founders is, when do I need a CTO? To answer that, you first need to understand how a CTO fits into your organization. If you are building a company reliant on technology and you don’t have a technical co-founder, I’d tell you that you’d need a CTO from day one. There are various models available in the industry to get the CTO expertise needed to drive the technology strategy with limited budget. E.g. Hiring a fractional CTO or a solid tech lead who has inspiration to become a CTO with proper mentorship. These approaches have pros and cons associated with them and require proper planning and management to get the expected results.