Question 1

How much does an embedded CFO or CTO cost at Oakfyn?

Accepted Answer

FinanceOS starts at €4,000 per month (the “Sparring” tier). The most-chosen operator tier is €10,000 per month, and a fully embedded CFO is €17,000 per month. Every engagement runs as a monthly retainer and is cancellable month-to-month after the first 90 days. Tech and Build engagements are scoped to size.

Question 2

What is the difference between Oakfyn and a traditional management consultancy?

Accepted Answer

A traditional consultancy delivers analysis and recommendations from the outside. Oakfyn is operationally embedded: we work inside your Slack, your tool stack and your meetings, run the cadence and ship the artefacts ourselves. You introduce us as your CFO, CTO or AI engineer — not as outside advisors.

Question 3

What do FinanceOS, TechOS and BuildOS mean?

Accepted Answer

FinanceOS is an embedded fractional CFO service (reporting, cashflow, board, capital strategy, M&A). TechOS is an embedded fractional CTO (architecture, releases, AI adoption, engineering leadership). BuildOS is the AI and automation layer: scoped projects, built in days and fully handed over to your team.

Question 4

Interim CFO or full-time CFO — when does each make sense?

Accepted Answer

An embedded interim CFO makes sense while the role is not yet full-time, or to bridge a specific phase (fundraising, M&A, turnaround). Once the function is permanently full, Oakfyn helps scope the hire, run the search and hands over a working finance function.

Question 5

What company size is Oakfyn a fit for?

Accepted Answer

The sweet spot is roughly €500k to €15M ARR, mostly post-revenue Seed to Series B. We engage earlier when the founders are technical and the numbers are complex.

Question 6

How quickly can Oakfyn start and deliver first results?

Accepted Answer

The work starts in week one and the first tangible artefact lands in week three. A full embedded engagement typically runs twelve to twenty-six weeks. AI and automation projects ship to production in six to ten weeks.

Question 7

Does Oakfyn work with companies outside Germany?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Oakfyn runs active engagements across the EU, the UK and the US. We work remote-first, with on-site weeks in Berlin and Miami when it accelerates the work. Working languages are English and German.

Question 8

Does Oakfyn lock clients into long contracts?

Accepted Answer

No. Engagements have a 90-day minimum and are then cancellable month-to-month with 30 days notice. Individual Build projects run flat over a fixed window. There are no long notice periods.

Question 9

How is pricing structured?

Accepted Answer

Most engagements run as a monthly retainer with a fixed scope and a written exit point. Capital events (raises, M&A, IPO readiness) use a base plus a success-aligned component. We publish the rate card before the contract.

Question 10

What is the typical timeline?

Accepted Answer

Twelve to twenty-six weeks for a full embedded engagement. First artefact in week three. We do not run discovery months — the work starts in week one.

Question 11

What does “embedded” really mean?

Accepted Answer

We are inside your Slack, your Notion, your repo, your CRM, your data warehouse. We attend the meetings, run the cadence, write the artefacts. Your team sees us in the daily, not in a steerco.

Question 12

Do you work internationally?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Active engagements across the EU, UK, and US. Remote-first with on-site weeks in Miami and Berlin when it accelerates the work.

Question 13

How are AI and automation projects scoped?

Accepted Answer

We start with one workflow, in production, in six to ten weeks. No pilots. No isolated sandboxes. The system runs against your real data, with evals and guardrails, owned by your team at handover.

Question 14

Do you offer ongoing sparring after a project?

Accepted Answer

Some founders keep one of us on retainer for the hard quarters — capital events, M&A, the first 100 hires. Light, monthly, surgical. Only when it earns its place.

Question 15

Are you registered tax advisors / Steuerberater?

Accepted Answer

No - FinanceOS sits one layer above. We have tax advisors in our network working side by side with Oakfyn. As a compliant provider we keep the services separated from those of our partners. We own the operator-grade view: management accounts, cashflow, board reporting, capital strategy. The two functions complement each other.

Question 16

How embedded are you really?

Accepted Answer

Slack channel, your tool stack (DATEV / Pennylane / Stripe / HubSpot etc.), your shared drive. We attend your weekly leadership and all board meetings within scope. You introduce us as your CFO.

Question 17

What stage do you work with?

Accepted Answer

Mostly post-revenue Seed → Series B. We’ve done earlier when the founders are technical and the numbers are knotty, but the sweet spot is €500k → €15M ARR.

Question 18

Can we hire someone full-time later?

Accepted Answer

That’s usually the goal. We help you scope the role, write the JD, run the search, and hand over a finance function that doesn’t collapse the day they start.

Question 19

Minimum commitment?

Accepted Answer

90 days. After that, month-to-month with 30 days notice. We don’t lock anyone in.

Question 20

Will you write code?

Accepted Answer

When it’s the highest-leverage thing in the room, yes — usually proofs-of-concept, infra spikes, the first ADR-worthy refactor. We’re not your hands-on senior engineer; we coach the ones you have and hire.

Question 21

Tech stacks you cover?

Accepted Answer

Modern web, cloud-native (AWS / GCP / Azure), Postgres-class data, event-driven workloads, AI workloads. We’re stack-agnostic on principle — opinions only where they earn their keep.

Question 22

What about an existing CTO?

Accepted Answer

Common. We come in as VP-level support, take a defined slice (AI adoption, hiring, platform), or run a 1:1 coaching cadence. Never on top of someone’s head — always with their consent.

Question 23

Can you take on engineering leadership briefly?

Accepted Answer

Yes — interim CTO mandates of 3–6 months while you run the search. Same engagement model, slightly larger commitment.

Question 24

Minimum commitment?

Accepted Answer

Compass is six weeks flat. Embedded CTO is 90 days then month-to-month. No noisy notice periods.

Question 25

How is this different from hiring a freelancer?

Accepted Answer

A freelancer builds and disappears, often with the working knowledge in their head. A Build engagement ends with a working system, full source, written docs, a recorded walkthrough and thirty days of support. The hand-over is the work, not a freebie at the end.

Question 26

What if I don’t know exactly what I need?

Accepted Answer

That’s normal — and the discovery call is built for it. Bring the painful workflow. We’ll scope it together, propose two approaches, and you pick.

Question 27

Is two calls really enough?

Accepted Answer

For a scoped build, yes. We’re in a shared Slack channel between calls, and you see work-in-progress the whole time. Bigger projects get more cycles — same shape, repeated.

Question 28

I’m not technical. Can I actually run this?

Accepted Answer

Yes — we tune the hand-over to the team you actually have. The walkthrough video, the runbook, the docs are written for the human who will operate it on a Tuesday morning. If you can run Notion, you can run a Build engagement.

Question 29

What about ongoing changes?

Accepted Answer

Three options: (1) change it yourself with the docs, (2) keep us on a small monthly retainer, (3) book another scoped sprint when the next idea is clear. We push for option one. Most clients land between one and two.

Frequently asked questions

Pricing, model & fit

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Finance · Embedded CFO

Tech · Embedded CTO

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