Alternative · Fractional Executives

An alternative to a fractional CXO
for the days they are not in

Fractional CFOs, CTOs and CMOs bring deep expertise on a part-time cadence. Between their days, the alternative to a fractional CXO is a board for the questions that cannot wait — and a second opinion on their advice.

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In short

No. A great fractional executive owns a workstream and does the work — not just the thinking. SynthBoard is a structured thinking room for the questions between their days, not a substitute for an executive who ships.

Last reviewed October 1, 2026

An example

One ask, start to finish.
What comes back is a memo.

How a board takes a call like this: her read, who sits, what they ask first, then the call — with how sure they are, who disagreed and the first step.

Fractional Executives

Example · Board of 3

Should we restructure our pricing now, or wait until our fractional CMO is in next week?

Chief of staff

This one needs a board: The CFO, The Engineer and The Marketer. The CFO pressure-tests unit economics, runway, and capital allocation. Each researches alone first, then they react to one another — and on a decision, two of them take opposed sides.

The CFOFinancial Controller
The EngineerTechnical Builder
The MarketerBrand Builder

Asked first

Is the money for this already in the bank, or still promised?

In the bankPromisedNot yet

The board’s call

Wait for the fractional CMO before restructuring pricing.

Pricing changes are reversible but expensive to thrash — wait the week. Two prep sessions turn the fractional's day from exploration to commitment.

Confidence72 · Moderate

The Marketer disagreed

“If the pricing change is competitor-driven, the urgency calculus shifts”

First step Use the week to run two SynthBoard sessions on pricing.this week

Board of 3 · up to 135 credits on the card · an example, not a recorded run

Other asks people bring here

Several asks in one message become several rooms, each with its expert and its own price on the card. Keep or drop any, then convene them together.

What is the steel-man case against the technical architecture our fractional CTO is recommending? — The Engineer, up to 85 credits
How would another fractional CFO frame our runway question differently? — The Marketer, up to 85 credits
Which two of these three financial decisions should I push to next week vs. handle now? — The Operator, up to 85 credits

What you get

What she handles.
On this kind of call.

Executive lenses, the day the question arrives

The CFO, The Engineer, The Marketer, The Operator and The Skeptic, proposed by your Chief of Staff for the call in front of you.

A second opinion on your fractional’s advice

When your fractional CFO recommends a path, put it to a board that does not share their priors — with someone assigned to argue against it.

A written record between visits

The memo keeps the question, the call and the dissent, so your fractional walks in with context, not catch-up.

Why SynthBoard

Why SynthBoard for this.
Not one voice. A board.

There between the days

Fractional execs are in one or two days a week. Your Chief of Staff is there for the other five, and talking to her costs nothing.

Per call, on the card

A board shows its price on the card before it runs — up to 135 credits for a 3-seat board on Free — and a board never bills above its card. Fractional CXOs typically charge $3k–$25k+ a month.

No last-company lens

Fractional execs bring strong opinions from their last company. A board has no last company, and its seats are spread across different AI models.

Reads your systems first

Your Chief of Staff reads the tools you connect — 62 integrations, including your accounting and CRM tools — and says what she read.

Who sits

The experts for this call.
Each one holds a position.

Your Chief of Staff proposes who sits for the call, and every board is built with someone whose job is to argue against the obvious answer. Name an expert and they take a seat; tell her who you want on your board and they sit by default. How many seats a board has depends on your plan.

Financial Controller

The CFO

Revenue is a story. Cash is a fact. Show me the month the money runs out.

The CFO Financial Controller

Best on: Pricing, runway, discounts, and a hire you can barely afford.
Won’t let you: Confuse revenue with cash, or a signed deal with a paid one.

Try asking The CFO

Start with

The CFOOpen on every plan, Free included

Pick an expert

Hover, tap or tab throughSwipe, then tap one

GPT
Claude
Gemini
Grok

Seats are spread across model families: GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and more.

In their words

Your fractional CFO is on the work two days a week. The decisions arrive on all seven. A board covers the gap.

The CFO Financial ControllerThe CFO on the cadence mismatch

Questions

Fair questions.
Straight answers.

What people ask before they bring this call to a board.

Does SynthBoard replace a fractional CXO?

When should I use SynthBoard alongside a fractional?

For the in-between questions. To test the fractional’s recommendation against experts who do not share their priors. To prepare for their next visit, so the day goes to decisions instead of exploration.

When is a fractional CXO still irreplaceable?

When someone has to execute — close the books, stand up the data platform, run the marketing function. When you need years of operator pattern recognition in one function, or someone to manage a team. SynthBoard is the thinking room; the fractional is the hands.

How does the price compare?

SynthBoard is priced per call; a fractional is priced per month. Free to start — 150 credits every month + 250 to start. Talking to your Chief of Staff costs nothing. A board shows its price on the card before it runs — up to 135 credits for a 3-seat board on Free — and a board never bills above its card. Paid plans are $20, $50 or $99 a month (1 credit = $0.01 USD). Fractional CXOs typically charge $3k–$25k+ a month, with senior fractional CFOs and CTOs higher.

What does SynthBoard NOT do that a fractional CXO does?

No execution, no team management, no ownership of a function, no introductions. It can read your tools and draft, but a write is a preview you confirm — it does not close the books or ship the platform.

Can SynthBoard help me evaluate a fractional candidate?

Yes. Put “fractional now, or wait for a full-time hire?” to a board before you commit, and use the memo to scope the brief — what the fractional should own and what success looks like in 90 days.

SynthBoard (synthboard.ai) is one place for your business, your life, and every hard call. Your Chief of Staff keeps what you tell her on file, and 24 named experts on different AI models take the calls — one expert for a consult, a board with opposed seats for the hard ones — and hand back a memo with the call, the dissent and the first move. How it works.