Chairborn Circle
Work in fractions. Live in one piece.
A Europe-wide circle of leaders who have owned a result and now choose how to spend their week: two or three seats instead of one, peers to team up with, and real time for their own project, their family and the things they have postponed. Some are years away from deciding, and want to stay close to people who did. Start free. Membership by invitation. The waiting list is open now.
Why fractional
Two sides that need each other, and rarely meet well.
Leaders want control, not just another job.
Most leaders who go fractional do it for control of their week, not for money. In Europe the top reasons are variety of work, choosing the projects and the clients, and continuing to learn.
Companies need part of a great leader.
A growing company rarely needs a full-time CFO or CSO. It needs one who has owned the result before, two days a week, introduced by people who know them.
A fractional week
½ + ⅓ + ⅙ = 1.
Seats, your own business, your passion, your family: different fractions, always one whole life. The boat, an Ironman, ski touring or even day trading. This is one week of one member: a CFO with two seats and a business of her own.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | Seat A | Seat A | Own project | Seat B | Learning | Passion | Family |
| Afternoon | Seat A | Seat A | Own project | Seat B | Giving back | Passion | Family |
| Evening | — | Run | Peer call | — | — | — | — |
3 seat days. 1 day for her own project. Time for her passion. Evenings that are hers.
Every quarter, members redraw their target week. Full work, slow life or anything in between: the ratio is yours, and nobody in the room judges it.
Who it is for
Leaders choosing their next ratio.
You have run a sales, commercial, operational or financial function. Maybe you left your last seat by choice, maybe not. Maybe you are still in it and wondering. Either way, the next step is not obvious, and a job board won't help you think it through.
What you get
Start free. Become a member when it pays back.
Free
Circle 101
- A monthly letter on the senior market across Europe: where fractional work is growing, and what changed.
- Real cases from the circle, and how they were decided.
- An open online session every quarter.
- Paint your week as it is now and the week you want, and see the gap between them.
After a short conversation · annual
Member
- Everything in Circle 101.
- Seats through people. Introductions through Chairborn, and leads other members pass on because they are not right for them.
- Peers in the same company. Work alongside a CFO, CSO or COO from the circle when a company needs more than one seat.
- Your week, on purpose. Your week now against the week you want, a one-minute weekly check-in and a quarterly re-ratio.
- A monthly online working session in a small group, on one real case, ending in a decision.
- Contract templates and seat structures, ready to use with your next company.
- A quarterly working session on AI in the seat.
- A closed channel for what can't wait a month, and evenings where members gather.
Membership is annual. We will announce the membership types when the Circle opens.
How it works
Online first, across Europe. In person where it makes sense.
The rules
A room for candour, not for selling.
Executives only. Companies, investors and vendors don't buy their way in. When we work with companies, we do it separately, and we never hand them the member list.
What is said in the room stays in the room. Members bring real numbers and real names. That only happens when it is safe.
No pitching. Coaches and advisors can be members, but working the room as a list of leads ends a membership.
Bring something. A case, a question, a set of numbers, or an honest look at your week. The room works because everyone puts something on the table.
Ask and give. Ask for help when you need it, give it when you can. A lead that isn't right for you goes to the team for someone in the circle, never into a sales pitch.
Disagreement is expected. If everyone agrees with the person who brought the case, the case was not worth the hour.
Join
Join the waiting list.
Everyone on the waiting list hears first when the Circle opens: one email, and nothing in between.
You're on the list.
We will email you once, when the Circle opens. If you chose Member, we will contact you to set up a thirty-minute conversation when your place comes up.
What comes after
Stay as long as it is useful.
Some members use the Circle to find their next seats through people they met here. Some grow into a bigger role, some slow down, and some take years to decide whether fractional is for them at all. The Circle has no finish line and no exam. All of that is a good reason to be here.
How a fractional career is designed
Running a company? That conversation happens here, separately from the Circle.