Most Series A founders make the same mistake. They close their round, feel the pressure to build a 'proper' team, and immediately open a CMO role at £150–180K base. By the time they realise it's not working — wrong hire, no strategy, board getting impatient — they've burned 12 months of runway. There's a better way to think about this.
The cost of getting your first marketing hire wrong
A full-time CMO at Series A isn't just a salary. Add employer NI, pension, equity, benefits, and a likely recruiter fee, and you're looking at a total cost closer to £220K per year. Worse, a CMO who joins at Series A typically needs 3–4 months to get up to speed, another quarter to build their team, and then — if the board dynamic is wrong or strategy doesn't land — you're managing a difficult exit that costs you another 6 months. Eighteen months in, you've spent half a million and still don't have a working demand gen engine.
What a Fractional CMO actually does differently
A fractional engagement isn't a consultant writing strategy decks you'll never read. The model that works is embedded, part-time leadership — typically 2–3 days per week — with full accountability for the marketing function. You get someone who has done this before, across multiple companies, who can move immediately. No onboarding curve. No 'learning the business' quarter. Day one, they're diagnosing. Week two, they're executing.
When you need a full-time CMO instead
Fractional isn't always the answer. If you're approaching Series B, building a large in-house team, and need someone five days a week in leadership meetings, you've outgrown the model. Similarly, if your board expects a named CMO in your fundraising narrative, the optics of 'fractional' might work against you. Know your context.
- Pre-Series A or early Series A — fractional almost always wins on cost and speed
- Series A with under 10 marketing headcount — fractional with embedded team management
- Late Series A / Series B — assess carefully, may be the right time to hire full-time
- Post-Series B scaling — full-time CMO is likely the right call
The question to ask before you hire
Before opening any marketing leadership role, ask: 'Do we need strategic thinking, tactical execution, or both — and do we need it five days a week?' Most Series A companies don't. They need someone sharp, part-time, who can build the foundation: ICP, messaging, demand gen, and a team plan. That's a fractional engagement. When those foundations are set and you're ready to scale headcount, then you hire for the seat.
The companies I see make this work are the ones who treat the fractional engagement as a strategic investment with a clear handover plan — not a stopgap while they figure out what they really need.
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