Your $60K junior hire actually costs $160K.

You think you save budget.
You actually burn your most expensive asset: your focus.

Most solo founders miscalculate.

Here is the real cost breakdown.

1. The junior hire ($60K)
You write specs. You review PRs. You fix their bugs.

→ 20h/week of founder time = $100K/year opportunity cost
→ Real total: $160K

Hire only if you have a senior to supervise them.
If you are solo, you just hired an expensive shadow.

2. The senior hire ($180K)
You pay for execution certainty. You also pay for speed.

→ One senior ships what 3 juniors can't
→ They adapt when you pivot
→ But they burn 18 months of runway in 12

Fit very well post-PMF when speed beats cost.
Pre-PMF? You bet $180K that your roadmap won't change.
Most founders lose that bet.

3. The Fractional CTO ($96K)
You pay for high-leverage decisions without the overhead.

→ You get strategic direction at a fraction of the cost
→ You avoid $100K-$5M rebuild mistakes
→ You keep equity and extend runway

But fractional doesn't write code.
Fractional doesn't unblock your team daily.
Fractional ensures the features you ship actually matter.

If you need a plan, hire fractional.
If you need hands, hire builders.

Most pre-PMF founders need both.

Hire for:

1. The stage you're in (not the stage you want)
2. The gap you have (strategy vs. execution)
3. The supervision capacity you can actually provide

Choose your pain.