WAVECT vs OTHER FRACTIONAL CPOs

Wavect or another fractional CPO. We run as fractional CPO too. The difference is the technical call sitting in the same head as the product call.

We run fractional CPO engagements: the product-only slice of our combined CTPO role. Roadmap, prioritization, customer discovery, kill-the-feature judgement. That is exactly what most other fractional CPOs bring too, and if your engineering leadership is already solved, a product-only fractional is a clean, focused fit. What they typically do not carry is the technical call in the same head: feasibility, cost, and architecture trade-offs sitting next to the roadmap decision. Both Kevin and Christof carry both. We own product here and leave engineering to the [Fractional CTO](/services/fractional-cto/), but the two seats share one brain when you need them to. If product and engineering are still one tangled question, the comparison shifts.

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“Our last fractional CPO wrote a beautiful roadmap. Then engineering said half of it was a six-month rebuild. The product call and the feasibility call were never in the same room.”

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How they actually differ

Six dimensions where Wavect and a product-only fractional CPO actually diverge.

WAVECT DIMENSION ALTERNATIVE

Two founders carrying product management depth (discovery, roadmap, prioritization, kill-the-feature judgement) AND senior engineering depth in the same head. 75+ shipped products across the team.

EXPERTISE IN THE ROOM

Typically deep product expertise (discovery, roadmap, metrics, stakeholder management). The technical feasibility call is usually carried by the client or a separate CTO.

Retainer tiers post-PMF: CPO-on-Call for the product call, embedded fractional CPO at 1 to 2 days a week. Fixed-scope diagnostics (product due diligence, discovery plus roadmap) when that is the right shape.

ENGAGEMENT SHAPE

Monthly advisory retainer, typically 10 to 20 hours per month, often indefinite.

CPO-on-Call from EUR 2,500 per month. Embedded fractional CPO at EUR 12,000 per month. Product Due Diligence at EUR 8,000 fixed, Discovery plus Roadmap at EUR 3,500 fixed.

PRICING MODEL

EUR 150 to EUR 400 per hour. Hours billed.

Founder-operator plus a small senior team when scope demands.

WHO YOU ACTUALLY TALK TO

One advisor on scheduled time blocks. You handle execution with your team.

We own the product scope: roadmap, prioritization, discovery. Engineering ownership stays with the Fractional CTO, by design, with both seats sharing one head.

SCOPE OWNERSHIP

Product scope shaped with the advisor. Technical feasibility stays on your side.

Retainer tiers are a freier Dienstvertrag, cancellable. Fixed-scope diagnostics are a Werkvertrag: a signed scope we are legally bound to deliver.

WHAT IF IT FAILS

Hours billed are hours owed. No outcome guarantee.

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The real difference, in practice

A fractional CPO owns the product call: roadmap, prioritization, customer discovery, and the judgement to kill a feature before it ships. That is real, senior work, and if your engineering side is already led, a product-only fractional is a clean fit and often cheaper per hour than us.

Our difference is that the product call does not have to leave the room to get a feasibility answer. Both founders carry product-management depth and senior engineering depth in the same head. The person deciding what belongs on the roadmap is the same person who can tell you what it costs to build. You are not coordinating a CPO and a CTO who disagree about scope every Tuesday.

Scope stays honest: the fractional CPO owns product. Engineering ownership lives with the Fractional CTO. Before product-market fit, when the product question and the build question are inseparable, the Fractional Co-Founder carries both. The fractional CPO is the post-PMF shape: the founder is ready to delegate the product call and keep the technical lane separate.

If your product direction needs an owner and your engineering is already covered, a product-only fractional wins on focus and price. If the product and technical questions are still one question, you want the combined head. That role is closer to a CTPO; see how we run the product slice and the technical slice, and the matching Wavect vs another fractional CTO comparison.

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When each is the better call

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When Wavect is the better call

  • You are post product-market fit and ready to delegate the product call: roadmap, prioritization, customer discovery owned by someone senior, not improvised between sprints.
  • The product decision keeps colliding with feasibility. You want the person setting the roadmap to also know what it costs to build, in the same head.
  • You want pushback on scope that comes with an understanding of the technical reality behind it, not a roadmap written in isolation from engineering cost.
  • You want one accountability line for the product side that can sit cleanly next to a Fractional CTO seat, with both informed by the same operator.
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When another fractional CPO is the better call

  • You need deep domain product experience in your specific industry that Kevin and Christof do not carry. Examples: regulated fintech product, medical-device product management under FDA pathways, marketplace pricing at scale, enterprise procurement workflows. Industry-specific product track record matters more than the product-plus-technical mix we bring.
  • You need a CPO who has owned product for a 100-plus-person product organisation with multiple squads and a full PM hierarchy. Wavect's track record is small senior teams shipping fast, not large product orgs with layered roadmaps.
  • You want a long-term named-individual product advisory relationship that survives multiple CEO transitions and pivots. Our default shape is scoped retainer and diagnostic engagements, not a multi-year personal CPO seat.
  • You want a pure product advisor with no implementation view at all, someone who shapes the roadmap and never touches the build conversation.

If the bullets on the right describe your situation, another fractional CPO is the right pick. If the bullets on the left describe it, talk to us.

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Relevant Wavect work

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FAQs

Most fractional CPOs are product-only: roadmap, prioritization, discovery, metrics. That is exactly what we own in a fractional CPO engagement too. The difference is that both Kevin and Christof carry the technical call in the same head, so the roadmap decision and the feasibility answer do not live in separate rooms. There are real cases where another fractional is the better fit: when your industry needs domain-specific product expertise we do not carry (regulated fintech, medical-device, large marketplaces), or when you need someone who has run a 100-plus-person product org. If the call is general product depth with a technical reality check on a small senior team, that is us.
No. The fractional CPO owns the product call: roadmap, prioritization, customer discovery. Engineering ownership lives with the Fractional CTO. The two seats are deliberately separate so accountability stays clean. The edge is that the same operator can carry both depths, so the product and technical conversations stay aligned without two advisors disagreeing every Tuesday. Before product-market fit, when the two questions are inseparable, the Fractional Co-Founder carries both at once.
Per hour, the advisory rate of EUR 150 to EUR 400 is real. Per shipped outcome, the math depends on whether your product and technical decisions are happening in the same conversation. If your roadmap call lives in one Zoom and your feasibility call lives in another, the cost of a roadmap that engineering cannot build is usually more than the per-hour delta.
Post product-market fit, when the founder is ready to delegate the product call. Before PMF, the product question and the build question are usually one question, and the Fractional Co-Founder carries both. Once the product has traction and the founder wants a dedicated owner for roadmap and prioritization while keeping engineering in a separate lane, the fractional CPO is the right shape.
Discovery plus Roadmap at EUR 3,500 fixed, or Product Due Diligence at EUR 8,000 fixed. Both are fixed-scope diagnostics, a Werkvertrag we are legally bound to deliver, and most founders comparing fractional CPO services start with one of them before moving to a retainer tier.
Yes, that is the intended shape. The fractional CPO owns product, your CTO or our Fractional CTO owns engineering, and the scopes stay clean. When both seats are ours, the same operator depth keeps the product and technical calls aligned. See the matching Wavect vs another fractional CTO comparison for the technical side.
Last reviewed: byKevin Riedl wiki ↗
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