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title: "What is a Fractional Co-Founder?"
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language: en
description: "A product-minded technical operator who joins your company part-time on a co-founder-like contract until you can afford a full-time replacement."
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ROLES

# Fractional Co-Founder

A product-minded technical operator who joins your company part-time on a co-founder-like contract until you can afford a full-time replacement.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-24 by [Kevin Riedl](/team/kevin-riedl/) [wiki ↗](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q139796365)

Fractional Co-Founder is Wavect’s flagship service and it is exactly what it sounds like. We embed at the level a co-founder would: product strategy, technical architecture, sprint planning, customer calls, board prep. In role terms it is usually a fractional [CTPO](/glossary/ctpo/), product and technology under one neck. We do not show up with a tracked-hours timesheet. We show up with the outcome.

Pricing is 400 EUR per week, cancel any week, no notice, no exit fee. If we do not blow you away, the last week is refunded. We do this because the wrong fit costs both sides too much. A two-week trial that ends cleanly is a better outcome than a six-month contract that limps.

Worked example of when this is the right shape: a non-technical founder has revenue but keeps hiring agencies that build the wrong thing because nobody on the inside can challenge the brief. A fractional co-founder sits between them and the builders, owns the roadmap, makes the architecture calls, and tells the founder when the feature they are emotionally attached to is the wrong bet. That posture, owner not contractor, is the entire difference from a [fractional CTO](/glossary/fractional-cto/), which covers technology authority but does not carry the product and ownership weight.

The Austrian legal nuance: this is engaged as a freier Dienstvertrag, not a Werkvertrag, because we owe ongoing judgement and availability rather than one fixed deliverable, and unlike a real co-founder there is no equity grant or cap-table entry by default. The honest trade-off, and where founders get it wrong: this is not a body to grind tickets (hire a contractor for that) and it is not a substitute for the founder’s own conviction. If you need someone to sit on a hard architecture decision with you at 11pm on a Sunday under a clear [SoW](/glossary/sow/), this is the shape of engagement you want. Past PMF and looking for a CTO instead? See [Fractional CTO Austria](/services/fractional-cto/).

// FAQ

## FAQs

### How is this different from a fractional CTO?

A fractional CTO is a technical leader on a part-time contract. A fractional co-founder is the same plus product strategy, customer conversations, and a willingness to act like an owner instead of a contractor. The work overlaps; the posture does not.

### Do you take equity?

Default is cash. Equity is on the table for the right company at the right stage, but we will not pressure either side into it on the first call.

### What happens when we outgrow this?

We help you hire your full-time replacement and step out cleanly. That is the goal from day one.

Related terms

- [CTPO](/glossary/ctpo/)
- [CTO](/glossary/cto/)
- [Fractional CTO](/glossary/fractional-cto/)
- [Fractional CPO](/glossary/fractional-cpo/)
- [SoW](/glossary/sow/)
- [Product Engineer](/glossary/product-engineer/)

Related services

- [Fractional Co-Founder](/services/fractional-cofounder/)

Related case studies

- [Hyperstate AI](/case-studies/hyperstate-ai/)
- [Afoma](/case-studies/afoma/)
- [MyMerch](/case-studies/mymerch/)

Related comparisons

- [wavect-vs-fractional-cto-services](/compare/wavect-vs-fractional-cto-services/)
- [wavect-vs-in-house-hiring](/compare/wavect-vs-in-house-hiring/)

Talk to us

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