What are Fractional Portfolio Services?
- Part-time, on-demand leadership:
access to a senior portfolio/product/tech leader for a few hours to a few days per week. - Strategy plus execution support:
help set direction, define priorities and metrics, and unblock delivery. - Cost-effective and flexible:
pay for a “slice” of executive capability and scale up/down as your needs change. - Early-stage advantage:
brings senior judgment earlier than a full-time hire would be possible, reducing costly missteps.
but not ..
- a full-time executive hire
(you’re not paying for a permanent C-level seat). - a consulting slide-deck exercise
(it’s practical leadership and decision support, not just recommendations). - a staff augmentation
(they don’t replace your team or act as an extra pair of hands for tickets). - a “takeover” of ownership
(founders/leadership still own decisions; the fractional leader guides, supports and enables). - a one-size-fits-all package
(scope should be tailored, time-bound, and adjusted as the company evolves).
Clients, especially startups, benefit because they get access to:
- Strategic guidance from an experienced leader at a fraction of the cost.
- Immediate direction and help shaping products, metrics, and execution.
- Flexibility to scale support up or down as needs change.
It’s a way to access high-level capability early, long before the budget exists for a full executive hire.
Think about this as your pathway to long-term strategic direction, avoiding a lot of the common
missteps that early startups to growing and maturing companies commonly make, by accessing the knowledge and wisdom of people who has been there and done it, and who wants to share their knowledge and prepare you to “do it right”, and be ready and prepared the day when you you need it, instead of a costly
afterthought or “panic” exercises to “set things straight”.
What can EmberLabs® offer?
- Fractional experience in the areas of tech (CTO/CIO/CPTO/..) and in HR (CHRO) roles.
This gives you access to senior technical and HR leadership long before you are ready for a full-time executive hire.
A C* typically covers a large range of areas, with some common examples below:- Defining long-term technology strategy and aligning it with the business goals.
- Guiding hiring, mentoring, and building a strong engineering culture built on ability, respect and and trust.
- Being a “ballplank” to the business and board to quickly assess ideas and consider options and feasibility at early stages.
- Support contract and investor negotiations, avoiding common pitfalls (we talk out of experience).
- Support by understanding the individual teams and their needs, from DevOps, Dev, networking, customer support, extending
to cross-team disciplines such as legal, compliance, HR, sales, operations as we have direct, first-hand experience in the areas.more specifically on the tech side:
- Translating technical decisions into clear business impact for founders and investors.
- Designing scalable architecture and choosing the right tools and platforms supporting operations and products.
- Establishing engineering processes, security practices, and technical roadmaps using proven standard practices.
- Being the “tech navigator and facilitator” between practical business needs, regulatory, legal and compliance requirements.
(let’s find a way and make it happen!)and similar examples for HR-related:
- Fractional functional HR from start on an on-demand basis to get you started and set up with legal, compliance and other practical aspeccts of functional HR
- Fractional recruitment for when you need hiring, evaluation and screening of possible employees.
- Need an contracted recruiter that works specifically for you?
We can help you with this too, as a fractional service.
Still unsure?
If you have a little time to spare, and want explore your situation, and what could be done to move you forward faster and better prepared, getting access to the headstart that many startups and growing companies miss?
Privacy and non-disclosure are implied.
Let’s talk! What’s there to lose?
The backing story of the Fractional C*’s?
You will find it here…
Tech: Chris Sprucefield’s background.
HR: Susan Sprucefields background.