There’s an overlooked pool of experienced software engineering talent that is very cost-effective for bootstrapped SaaS founders.
I’m talking about experienced software engineers right here in the U.S. who want to work part-time for startups, not full-time.
Fractional engineers are highly productive and want to contribute part-time to startups and solve hard problems, but at a price you’d imagine for full-time senior engineers overseas.
Praveen Ghanta, founder of Fraction and former CEO of HiddenLevers, shares how he turned his experience scaling a bootstrapped SaaS company into a fast-growing fractional talent marketplace.
After HiddenLevers reached $8M ARR and sold for over $100M, he realized senior fractional engineers were the secret to delivering efficiently without expensive full-time hires.
Fraction now serves over 100 SaaS clients with a vetted pool of 500 senior U.S.-based engineers and CTOs.
Typical engagements run 10–30 hours a week, solving scaling challenges in vertical SaaS, AI engineering, DevOps, and legacy conversions.
Fraction has reached $10M ARR in just three years while keeping half its own team fractional.
Practical SaaS companies use Fraction to save costs, speed development, and even prepare for M&A due diligence with fractional CTOs.
Which is why Fraction is one of a few sponsors of the Practical Founders Podcast.
Praveen says that most SaaS founders are unaware of the vast pool of senior engineering and CTO talent in the U.S. that is eager to work this way:
“There are a lot of very experienced engineers who get into a senior developer role, but if they’re not going to become the manager of the team, there’s not a really good and obvious career path for them.
“They start to get bored because they know their job inside and out, and it’s relatively easy for them to keep delivering.
“So working on a startup on the side is actually a way for them to enrich their career and see new things and have that creative satisfaction, but at the same time, not take the risk. Some folks want to be full-time at the startup, but there’s risk in being at a startup.”
They aren’t cheating their employers or other fractional clients. They are seeking new challenges and extra income—but don’t want to commit full-time to a risky startup.
Praveen has seen firsthand that AI tools have boosted the productivity of fractional senior developers by 4x in the last 18 months.
Check out this practical interview with Praveen Ghanta on the Practical Founders Podcast.
