Fractal / For founders / ROI Calculator
Should you hire Fractal?

On the edge.

Payback in 6 months. ROI 1.15x.

Calibrated on Fractal's methodology
What Fractal earns or saves you per year, four levers combined
$124k
What you pay Fractal per year, retainer × 12 months
$108k
Net result value created minus retainer paid, per year
+$16k
Time recovered Cash discipline vs Internal hire Fundraise lift (paper)
Book a 30-min call → Build a Scope of Work
Email me a copy. Verdict, breakdown, and a permalink to revisit. We only follow up if you reply.

Cautious median assumptions. The fundraise lever is paper, weighted by close probability and a 60% illiquidity discount. If you're not raising, leave the toggle off.

Tweak your inputs, the answer updates live
Your business
$1M
Drives the burn cut tier and the internal hire baseline.
$150k/mo
Drives lever 2 (cash discipline). Higher burn = bigger absolute savings.
10h/wk
Drives lever 1 (time recovered). Median seed founder: 10-12h.
The decision
The most lever-affecting input. Most founders sit in scenario A.
If off, the fundraise lever sits at zero. The other three carry the math.
$3M
$15M
6 months
$9k/mo
Each tier is a defined scope, not a discount knob. The math suggests one based on your inputs.
More currency, industry, cash, ownership
$1.5M
70%

Common questions.

What does the retainer actually buy me, week to week?

One extra senior finance hand on your team. Embedded, not a vendor relationship.

Concretely: monthly close, cash and runway management, investor updates, board prep, raise prep, cap table modeling, vendor renegotiation, unit economics. The work that usually clutters your calendar moves to ours.

Median founder gets 8 to 12 hours per week back, plus the experience of a senior finance lead who has seen these decisions on other tech mandates.

How flexible is the engagement?

Month-to-month, with a 30-day notice period. No multi-year contract, no success fee, no exit fees.

You scale up to Intensive during a fundraise quarter, scope down to Foundations during quieter ones, or pause if your priorities shift. When you eventually hire full-time finance, we run a clean 30 to 60 day handover.

Are there public programs that can subsidize the retainer?

Sometimes, yes. Several programs subsidize advisory services for tech startups. Eligibility depends on your stage, sector, and incorporation, so the fit varies case by case.

Some founders end up covering a meaningful portion of the retainer through public funding. We help identify what applies during the discovery call.

When is Fractal not the right fit for me?

Three patterns where the math doesn't hold:

  • Pre-revenue, no raise planned, less than 4h/week on finance. You're probably too early. The levers don't have enough to grip on. Wait, or revisit when traction or fundraise enters the picture.
  • Profitable or cash-neutral, no fundraise plan. Without burn or raise, Fractal's levers don't express. The ROI is tight. Fractal helps when there's velocity, not steady-state.
  • ARR over 8M or internal finance team in place. At your stage, the Fractal format is no longer the right one. The calculator stops there.
Where do the assumptions come from?

From Fractal's calibration on real client mandates, complemented by public salary benchmarks (Hays, Glassdoor) and round close rate data (PitchBook, Carta). The model is recalibrated as new mandates close.

Why 12 months and not 24?

Seed founders rarely plan 24 months ahead, and half of Fractal's measurable benefits manifest in the first 12 months. Extending to 24 would add assumptions without adding decision signal.

Ready to discuss your specific case?

Book a 30-min call →