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Full-Time vs. Fractional
Executive: Real Numbers

Pick a role, city, and hours per week. See exactly what each option costs โ€” salary, benefits, recruiter fees, and what you save.

Salary data based on 2025โ€“2026 market averages ยท 20 US cities ยท No signup required

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5 hrs/wk 20 hrs/wk 40 hrs/wk
20 hrs/week

Your cost comparison

Full-Time Hire โ€” Annual Cost
Salary + 30% benefits
$385,000
$313K โ€“ $438K range
Recruiter / Search Fee
20โ€“30% of first-year salary
$65,000
One-time, non-refundable
Fractional Hire โ€” Annual Cost
Standard engagement ยท 12โ€“16 hrs/wk
$108,000
$96K โ€“ $120K range
Estimated first-year savings
$342,000
Save 76% vs. full-time ยท No recruiter fee
3โ€“6 mo
Full-time time-to-hire
1โ€“2 wks
Fractional time-to-hire
Start generating value 12โ€“22 weeks faster with fractional

What You're Actually Comparing

โŒ Full-Time Executive
๐Ÿ’ฐ
$308,000/year base salary Plus 30% benefits = $385,000 total
๐Ÿ”
3โ€“6 month executive search Recruiter fee: $65,000 non-refundable
๐Ÿ“ˆ
Equity: 0.5โ€“1.5% company ownership Significant long-term dilution
โš ๏ธ
Cost of bad hire: $500K+ Severance, lost productivity, rehire costs
๐Ÿ”’
Long-term commitment Difficult to exit without legal/HR exposure
โœ… Fractional Executive
๐Ÿ’š
$9,000/month ยท all-in No benefits, no payroll taxes, no equity
โšก
Matched in 48 hours No placement fee. No recruiter.
๐ŸŽฏ
Zero equity dilution Fractional executives don't take equity
๐Ÿ›ก๏ธ
Low risk, easy to exit 30-day notice if it's not working
๐Ÿ”„
Scale up or down Adjust hours as your needs change
๐Ÿ”ฅ

The cost of a bad full-time executive hire

Harvard Business Review estimates a bad C-suite hire costs 6ร— their annual salary in lost productivity, team disruption, severance, and rehire costs. For a $275K CFO, that's $1.65M+ at risk. A fractional hire eliminates this exposure entirely โ€” 30-day notice, no severance, no legal exposure.

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