Services/Fractional CMO
★★★★★ 5.0 on G2·★★★★★ 5.0 on Google·Trusted by 50+ startups

Your startup needs a CMO.
Not a $300K salary.

Cactus embeds as your head of marketing — owning strategy, running execution, and building your team — without the full-time overhead. Senior marketing leadership on day one, accountable for growth.

Sound familiar?

  • You're the de facto head of marketing — and you're also the CEO, closer, and product lead.
  • You've tried hiring a junior marketer. They need direction you don't have time to give.
  • You're burning cash on agencies with no strategic owner to tie it all together.
  • You know marketing matters but you're not sure where to invest first.

This is what a Fractional CMO engagement is built to fix.

Senior marketing leadership, embedded in your startup

Not a consultant who shows up with a deck. A hands-on marketing leader who joins your team, learns your customers, and owns the output.

📍

Marketing Strategy & Roadmap

A clear 90-day plan within the first two weeks. Where you play, how you win, what you stop doing.

👥

Team Hiring & Management

We recruit, onboard, and manage your marketing hires — so you get leverage, not more to manage.

📊

Board-Level Reporting & OKRs

KPI frameworks, dashboards, and investor-ready updates. You always know what's working and why.

📣

Channel Strategy & Budget Allocation

No spray-and-pray. We prioritize the 2–3 channels most likely to generate pipeline for your business.

🎯

Brand Positioning & Messaging

Sharp positioning that makes your ICP say "this was made for me" — and makes your sales team's job easier.

🤝

Executive Alignment & Board Support

Available for investor calls, board meetings, and strategic planning sessions where marketing context matters.

What the first 90 days look like

No long ramp-up. No honeymoon period. We move on day one.

1
Week 1–2

Audit & Alignment

We dig into your marketing stack, channels, messaging, team, and pipeline. We talk to your sales reps, your customers, and your co-founders. Then we build your roadmap.

2
Week 3–4

Quick Wins

Before the strategy is fully baked, we're already fixing what's obviously broken — messaging, conversion leaks, attribution gaps. You feel the momentum early.

3
Month 2–3

Build the Engine

We stand up the infrastructure: content, outbound, SEO, CRM workflows, and demand gen. We hire or manage your team. We start generating pipeline.

4
Ongoing

Scale & Optimize

Weekly leadership. Monthly strategy reviews. Quarterly board reporting. We stay accountable for growth, not just activity.

What clients say

Cactus embedded with us, built our entire outbound motion from scratch, and drove so many qualified conversations that we had to bring on additional staff just to keep up.

KR
Kelly Ryan
Founder, Sapien

They joined our team when we needed help thinking through member acquisition tactics. Their energy was unlike any contractor I've worked with — they became an integral part of our marketing team immediately. Proactive, data-driven, and results-focused.

BR
Bob Reish
VP, Chief of Staff · AboveBoard

Very organized, finished everything on time, and an absolute pleasure to work with. Extremely knowledgeable — it's clear they know what they're talking about. We will continue working with Cactus.

DK
Dave Kennett
CEO · Replayz

They have an extensive knowledge base and brought significant value and expertise to our efforts. I would work with them again in a heartbeat and can't recommend them highly enough.

SR
Stefan Rollins
CMO · Matry

Who we work with

Our approach adapts to your funding stage and growth objectives.

Pre-seed / Early Stage

Validating PMF, building the first marketing motion, defining your ICP.

Seed / Series A

Scaling what's working, building a team, getting board-ready on marketing.

Series B+

Bridging to a full-time CMO hire, filling a leadership gap, or entering new markets.

By vertical:

SaaSAI & MLDev ToolsWeb3FintechB2B Tech

Fractional CMO by City

We work with startups across the world's leading tech ecosystems.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from hiring a marketing agency?

Agencies execute. A Fractional CMO leads. We set strategy, own outcomes, manage vendors and agencies if needed, and report to you like a C-suite hire — not a vendor.

How many hours per week do I get?

Engagements are scoped to your needs — typically 10–20 hours/week. We'll be clear upfront on what's covered.

Can you help us hire a full-time CMO eventually?

Yes. We often help clients recruit and transition to a full-time hire when the timing is right. Think of us as a bridge that actually builds something while you cross it.

How fast can you start?

Usually within 1–2 weeks of signing. We don't have a long onboarding queue.

What does it cost?

We scope each engagement based on stage, scope, and hours. Book a call and we'll give you a straight answer — no mystery pricing.

Ready to stop being your own CMO?

Book a free 30-minute strategy call. We'll review your current marketing, identify your biggest growth levers, and show you exactly what a Fractional CMO engagement looks like.

No pitch deck. No commitment. Just a real conversation.

Book a Free Strategy Call →