We do this where I work. I think it used to work okayish, but can't say I'm much of a fan now that we've scaled more.

The main issue is that issues which could be resolved in hours by a team that's full-time tend to drag on for days with a fractional workforce.

There's generally 50/50 chance your message will be answered in 24 hours, and if a meeting needs to be scheduled that often happens several days into the future because it's the only time to get everyone needed together. As an example, we've spent the last 8 weeks trying to hire a contractor, and the reason for this is that it's been so difficult to get the various fractional team members to progress anything in a timely manner. Now the dude we've been looking to bring in has found another gig so we're going to have to start the interview process all over again.

Another issue for us is that there's just far more happening in the company now, and it's become much harder for the fractional team to absorb the context they need to be useful. Yet, their seniority can mean that their voice has more weight, despite being some of the least informed.

On the plus side, you can get some really good people in with solid resumes. And those people can be very useful to have around when you're seeking investment since they provide some degree of trust over the seniority and competency of the team. I think very highly of our fractional team, but I think it's something that only works very early on as a way to build confidence with investors and get some solid experience behind the critical early decision making.

i tried these fractional hires, they performed much much worse than a dedicated full time hire, it just slowed us down. Their productivity is low, they don't have time to understand the business, product, team, etc. I tried 2 times, one fractional CMO and one fraction CTO, bought with amazing stats on paper. Even though they were smart guys and capable, just because their attention is split into multiple places, they can't immerse themselves enough in your business.

I'm genuinely curious how "fractional hires" differ from contractors, temp or part-time employees. Is it more geared toward executive/leadership roles?

In my current role, working for a sister-company under a corporate umbrella, many positions split time between multiple sister companies. I think it is beneficial for the corporate bottom-line but I personally do not think it benefits the sister-companies as much.