A CMO who owns the number
Not an advisor who visits, and not a big-company CMO renting out a title. I take the marketing seat at startups, and my leadership team ships the work: strategy, execution, budget, and the pipeline target your board is watching.
When this engagement fits
Growth went founder-shaped
Revenue still moves when the founder pushes and stalls when they stop. Marketing exists, but it executes tasks instead of owning outcomes.
Too early for a $400K hire
You need CMO-level judgment now, but a full-time senior hire is premature, and a wrong one costs you a year and the team's trust.
The team needs a leader
Good marketers, no senior operator. They need someone to set direction, raise the bar, and defend the strategy in the exec room.
Twelve months, four movements
Diagnose (first 30 days)
Funnel math, spend, team, and stack. I talk to your customers, your sales calls, and your data, and it ends in a candid findings readout the exec team signs. This phase also reviews your agency and vendor roster: consolidate, renegotiate, or cut.
Build (days 30 to 90)
Strategy set and tied to revenue targets, key hires in motion with role scorecards, first programs live. The highest-cost problem gets fixed first, usually positioning or a funnel stage everyone stopped watching.
Run (months 3 to 9)
Weekly operating cadence, quarterly replanning, and coaching for your existing marketers so the capability stays when I go. The engine compounds; the team levels up inside it.
Hand over (final 60 days)
Playbooks documented, successor hired or promoted and ramped, clean handoff on the date we set at the start. Zero dependency is the deliverable; the advisory seat (monthly council, quarterly replanning, first call) continues after it.
Common questions
How many days a week do I actually get, and what happens on the other days?
Two to three days, in your tools and your meetings. On the other days your team runs the cadence we installed, and urgent calls still get answered. I run at most two seats at once precisely so the days you get are real ones.
Fractional, interim, or full-time CMO: which one do we need?
Interim fills a gap while you search. Full-time makes sense when the engine exists and needs an owner. Fractional fits the stage in between: you need CMO-level judgment now, but the function isn't big enough yet to justify the loaded cost of the hire. If you're already past that point, I'll tell you on the first call and help you write the job spec instead.
What does it cost compared to a full-time hire or an agency roster?
A fixed monthly retainer scoped to days per week, typically a third to a half of a full-time CMO's loaded cost, and usually less than the combined agency retainers it rationalizes. You'll have a number after the first call, in writing, with everything included.
What if we already have a marketing team?
Better. Most of my engagements lead an existing team. They keep their jobs; they get a leader, clearer scope, and usually a promotion path by the time I leave.
How is this different from an agency?
An agency executes channels. I own the function: what to do, what not to do, who to hire, and what to tell the board. Agencies often stay on; they just finally get a real brief.
Let's talk about the seat
Twenty minutes. Bring your pipeline number and your biggest doubt.
Book a working call
Candid, useful, and free of pitch. If we're not a fit, you'll leave with a plan anyway.