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 isn't working — wrong hire, no strategy, board getting impatient — they've burned twelve months of runway. There's a better way to think about this decision.
The real cost of getting the 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 the total cost is considerably higher than the headline. Worse, a CMO joining at Series A typically needs three to four months to get up to speed, another quarter to build a team, and then — if the board dynamic is wrong or the strategy doesn't land — you're managing a difficult exit that costs another six months. Eighteen months in, you've spent a great deal and still don't have a working demand engine.
What a fractional engagement does differently
It isn't a consultant writing strategy decks you'll never read. The model that works is embedded, part-time leadership — typically two to three days a 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 in leadership meetings five days a week, you've outgrown the model. Similarly, if your board expects a named CMO in the fundraising narrative, the optics of fractional may work against you. Know your context and be honest about it.
- Pre-Series A or early Series A — fractional almost always wins on cost and speed
- Series A with fewer than ten marketing staff — fractional with embedded team management
- Late Series A into Series B — assess carefully; this is the transition point
- Post-Series B scaling — a 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 foundations: ICP, messaging, demand gen, and a team plan. That's a fractional engagement. When the foundations are set and you're scaling headcount, then you hire for the seat.
The companies that make this work treat the fractional engagement as a strategic investment with a clear handover plan — not as a stopgap while they work out what they really need.
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