01 / Fractional CMO & Growth

Fractional CMO for Founder-Led Companies in the UK.

Strategic oversight across growth, marketing and narrative, without carrying the overhead.

In one line

A fractional CMO is senior marketing leadership without the full-time cost: the strategy and the hands-on work of an experienced operator, for the share of their time your stage actually needs. UK firms often call the same role a fractional or part-time marketing director.

The problem

You need the judgement of someone who has run growth before, but not the salary, the equity or the twelve-month notice period. Most founders solve this with an agency that executes without owning anything, or a junior hire who needs the strategy handed to them. Both leave you making the decisions you hired for.

What you get
  • The growth plan itself: which channels, what they cost, and what "working" looks like at 30, 60 and 90 days
  • Ownership of the decision layer, so someone other than you is accountable for what marketing does
  • Hands-on delivery where it matters, not just a deck and a retainer invoice
  • The measurement underneath it, so you can tell which decision produced which result
Who it's for

Founder-led companies past the point where marketing can be a side-of-desk job, but before a full-time CMO is the right cheque. Usually somewhere between first traction and a Series A.

Sectors I know best

Fintech and payments. At oneBanking, a crypto-native banking app, I built the brand system, content production, live-event process and sales follow-up. See the case study →

Web3 and token launches. The Owners Club token went live on centralised and decentralised exchanges with $9.5M in day-one volume. Token launch work →

Games. Owners Club reached 108,111 registered players, with 21,720 active in the first 90 days. See the case study →

Trading and education. At P&D Group, ad spend monitoring and a rebuilt sales process lifted lead generation by more than 25%. See the case study →

Where I've done it

Owners Club / Invincible GG
Fractional CMO end-to-end for a Web3 game and its token: CEX and DEX launch, live ops, app-store growth, IAP monetisation, through to a recovery from a live security event. See the case study →

How it starts

Start with the scorecard. It's free, it takes five minutes, and it means I've read where you're leaking before we speak. Send the result over and I'll come back within two working days.

The first twenty minutes are free and always will be. That's how we both work out whether this is a fit.

If it is, the usual next step is the Growth Diagnostic: two weeks going through your data, your funnel, your spend and your positioning, or your launch plan if you're not live yet. It ends in a written analysis and a 90-day plan with channels, budgets and milestones attached. We walk it through live, and you keep the plan either way. £750, invoiced after the call, credited toward your first month if we go further.

From there it's shaped around the problem, whether that's a single launch, a raise, or an ongoing fractional role.

Related reading

What does a CMO really cost? The number founders get wrong →

Fractional CMO, agency or full-time hire? →

What a fractional CMO actually changes in 90 days →

Fractional COO, the operating side of the same job →

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of seven. They're all the same job from different angles.
One
person who owns the decision layer
Questions
What is a fractional CMO?
Senior marketing leadership without the full-time cost. You get the strategy and the hands-on work of an experienced operator for the share of their time your stage actually needs, without the salary, the equity or the twelve-month notice period.
How is this different from hiring an agency?
An agency executes without owning anything, and a junior hire needs the strategy handed to them. Both leave you making the decisions you hired for. The point of a fractional CMO is that someone other than you is accountable for what marketing does.
When is it too early for a fractional CMO?
When marketing can still honestly be a side-of-desk job. This fits founder-led companies past that point but before a full-time CMO is the right cheque, usually somewhere between first traction and a Series A.
Is a fractional marketing director the same as a fractional CMO?
In practice, yes. UK firms often say fractional or part-time marketing director for the same role: a senior marketer who owns the plan and the results for a set number of days a month. The title matters less than whether they decide and deliver, or only advise.
How much does a fractional CMO cost in the UK?
Market rates run from £750 to £1,400 a day, or roughly £3,000 to £16,000 a month on retainer, depending on stage and days. A full-time CMO on a £150,000 salary costs about £220,000 in year one. The full breakdown is in our fractional CMO cost guide.
Do you work with fintech, Web3 and gaming companies?
Yes, those are the sectors I know best. Recent work includes oneBanking in fintech, the Owners Club token launch with $9.5M in day-one volume, and 108,111 registered players for the Owners Club game. AI and other founder-led businesses fit too where the problem is growth.

Not sure this is the one you need?

Most projects don't need seven vendors, they need to know which of the four dimensions is actually leaking. The scorecard tells you in five minutes, free, and I'll have read it before we speak.

Request a call → Score your growth readiness →