How many hours per week is a fractional CMO engagement?

Typically 10-20 hours per week, structured around what your startup needs most. The engagement flexes with your needs — not a rigid retainer model.

How is a fractional CMO different from a marketing agency?

An agency executes campaigns. A fractional CMO owns marketing outcomes and pipeline metrics, attribution, and revenue impact.

Do you work with our existing marketing team members?

Absolutely. I provide the strategy, direction, and management your existing team needs to perform at a higher level.

Fractional Marketing Leadership

You need a VP of Marketing.
You don't need the $250K salary.

Q: What happens when we are ready to hire a full-time marketing leader?

I help define the role, screen candidates, and onboard your new hire. They inherit a working system — pipeline attribution, content engine, channel strategy.

Your startup needs strategic marketing leadership — pipeline strategy, attribution, messaging, hiring. But you're not ready for a full-time VP and a junior hire won't solve the problem. Get an experienced marketing executive on a fractional basis: strategy, execution, and accountability at a fraction of full-time cost.

Book a Strategy Session →

No obligation. 30 minutes. Let's see if it's a fit.

$250K

Average full-time VP Marketing salary + equity + benefits — vs. fractional at 60-80% less

6-18

Months is the typical window where fractional leadership delivers the most value — before you need full-time

Day 1

No ramp time. No 90-day plan. Executive-level marketing strategy and execution starts immediately.

You're too early for a full-time VP. But you're too late to keep guessing.

The founder-does-everything phase worked at $0-1M ARR. But now you need pipeline strategy, attribution, messaging, and a marketing hire plan — and you can't afford the $250K VP who could build it. A junior marketing manager can execute tasks but can't set strategy. A full-time VP burns cash you need for runway.

Fractional leadership fills the gap: executive-level strategy, hands-on execution, and a clear path to your first full-time marketing hire — at 60-80% less than a VP salary. You get the thinking and the doing, without the burn rate burden.

How It Works

Executive marketing leadership, embedded in your team — without the executive price tag.

Strategy Sprint

We start with a 2-week diagnostic: ICP audit, channel analysis, pipeline assessment, messaging review, and competitive positioning. You get a clear, prioritized GTM strategy — not a 40-page deck, an executable plan with revenue targets.

Build & Execute

I embed with your team part-time — leading pipeline strategy, building attribution, running content, managing channels, and owning the marketing outcomes. You get VP-level execution: weekly pipeline reviews, channel optimization, messaging iteration, and hiring support.

Hire-Ready Handoff

When you're ready to hire full-time marketing leadership, I help you define the role, screen candidates, and onboard your new VP or Head of Marketing. They inherit a working system — not a blank slate. Clean handoff, zero momentum loss.

What Fractional Leadership Covers

The full scope of a VP Marketing — focused on what moves your pipeline:

Pipeline Strategy & Attribution — Build the measurement framework so every channel, every campaign, and every dollar is traceable to revenue. Board-ready reporting included.
Messaging & Positioning — Refine your ICP, sharpen your value proposition, and build the narrative that distinguishes you from every other startup in your category.
Content & Demand Gen Engine — LinkedIn thought leadership, SEO content, email nurture, lead magnets — built and managed as a system, not a collection of one-offs.
Conversion Optimization — Landing pages, demo requests, trial flows, email sequences — every conversion point audited and optimized for pipeline, not vanity metrics.
Marketing Hire Playbook — When it's time to hire, I help define the role, write the job description, screen candidates, and onboard your first marketing leader. They step into a running engine.
Founder Leverage — Every hour you spend on marketing tactics is an hour you're not building product, selling, or fundraising. I take marketing off your plate so you can focus on what only you can do.

Fractional vs. Full-Time vs. Junior Hire

Three ways to solve the marketing leadership problem. Two are expensive mistakes.

Junior Marketing Hire

$60-90K salary. Can execute tasks — can't set strategy. Needs direction you don't have time to give. Posts on social, writes some content, runs some ads. No pipeline ownership, no attribution, no strategic thinking. You're still the marketing department.

Full-Time VP Marketing

$200-280K salary + 1-3% equity + benefits. 4-6 month ramp to full productivity. Great when you're at $5M+ ARR with a team to lead. Premature when you need strategy and execution but can't support the full cost structure. Burns runway you don't have.

✓ Fractional CMO

60-80% less than full-time VP. No ramp — strategy and execution from day 1. Pipeline ownership, attribution, content engine, hiring plan. Scales up or down as you need. Designed to build the system, then hand it to your first full-time marketing leader when you're ready.

Is Fractional Right for You?

The sweet spot is clear — and it's probably where you are right now.

🎯

$500K–$5M ARR

You have revenue, you have some traction, but marketing is still mostly the founders. You need strategy and execution that builds pipeline without burning $250K on a hire you can't fully utilize yet.

🔄

Post-Fundraise / Pre-Scale

You just raised and investors want to see pipeline efficiency. You need to build the marketing function from scratch — but strategically, not haphazardly. Fractional leadership builds the right foundation the first time.

🧭

Founder Wearing the CMO Hat

You've been doing marketing yourself — posting, writing, sending emails. It's working, but it's not scalable. You need someone who can take ownership, build the system, and free you to focus on product and sales.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many hours per week is "fractional"?

Typically 10-20 hours per week, structured around what your startup needs most. Some weeks are heavier on strategy and planning, others on execution and team support. The engagement flexes with your needs — not a rigid retainer model.

How is this different from an agency?

An agency executes campaigns. A fractional CMO owns marketing outcomes. Agencies report on deliverables — we own pipeline metrics, attribution, and revenue impact. You get one person who thinks like an executive, not an account manager managing subcontractors.

What's the minimum engagement?

We typically start with a 3-month engagement — long enough to build the foundation, short enough to prove value fast. Most clients continue month-to-month after that, or transition to a full-time hire with our help. No long-term lock-in.

What happens when we're ready for a full-time marketing hire?

That's the goal. I help you define the role, write the JD, screen candidates, and onboard your new hire. They inherit a working system — pipeline attribution, content engine, channel strategy, reporting — not a blank page. The transition is planned from day one.

Do you work with existing team members?

Absolutely. If you already have a content writer, SDR, or marketing coordinator, I provide the strategy, direction, and management they need to perform at a higher level. Fractional doesn't mean solo — it means leadership that elevates the team you already have.

What industries do you specialize in?

B2B SaaS, dev tools, AI/ML platforms, and tech-enabled services. If you're selling to other businesses and your buyers are on LinkedIn, we're in the right zone. The playbook adapts — the fundamentals of pipeline, attribution, and messaging don't change.

Marketing leadership that builds pipeline — not burn rate.

Book a 30-minute strategy session. We'll assess your current marketing, identify the highest-impact opportunities, and determine if fractional leadership is the right fit — no obligation, no pitch deck, straight talk.