The 12-Week Fractional CMO Engagement is built for one purpose: get your B2B SaaS company from post-raise chaos to an operating marketing foundation — with the ICP defined, the pipeline process built, the technology configured, and the team in place to execute.
Every failed marketing engagement starts the same way: someone skips the discovery and jumps straight to execution. The first three weeks are non-negotiable. You can't build the right foundation without understanding the real goals, the real constraints, and the real people who have to execute the plan.
4–5 in-depth conversations with the CEO or revenue lead, plus 1–3 conversations with every stakeholder who will touch the execution: marketing, sales, customer success, finance. Together they surface the real business goals, growth targets, team dynamics, investor expectations, and the strengths and gaps you'll be working with — not just what's in the deck.
A full review of the current CRM, analytics setup, website, content, and attribution. Not to judge — to understand what's usable, what's broken, and what's missing entirely.
A written Discovery Summary presented to the full team: Business Goals, Marketing Goals, and the specific Engagement Goals for Weeks 4–11. Everyone aligns before execution begins. This document becomes the contract for the rest of the engagement.
"The Discovery Process was valuable, because Michael uncovered exactly where we were as a business. He left no stone unturned."
— Dan Erikson, CEO, OpsReadyEight weeks of focused execution against the Engagement Goals agreed in Week 3. Typically 4 – 6 goals, drawn from the four areas that consistently drive pipeline: ICP clarity, lead qualification, technology, and team. Every goal traces directly back to your ARR targets — no marketing theater.
Who your best clients are, how they buy, and what moves them through the funnel. The foundation everything else is built on.
MQL/SQL definitions, SLAs between Marketing and Sales, and stage-by-stage entry/exit criteria tied to the buyer journey.
HubSpot or Salesforce configured for your process — dashboards, automations, and reporting that your team will actually use.
The KPIs that matter for your stage, visible to every stakeholder, so decisions are made on data not instinct.
Identifying gaps, defining the right roles, and sourcing CMO or VP Marketing candidates where needed — including vetting and interviewing.
A bottom-up, data-grounded revenue plan your board will trust and your team can execute against.
"Michael worked with each of the leads to think in a more ARR-centric way and leverage best practices from leading B2B SaaS organizations — he inspired them to feel empowered as true drivers of revenue."
— Greg Chudiak, President & CEO, Pandell (Acquired by ESG Global)The engagement ends with two things: a 12-month forward plan, and a complete handoff to the team now in place. The goal is a foundation your team can execute on independently — not ongoing dependency. Roughly one-third of engagements transition to a light Advisory arrangement, but that is always the founder's choice.
A concrete plan — not a strategy deck — that maps activities to revenue targets, assigns owners, and identifies where investment is needed. Built for the team to run, not for a shelf.
All strategy and execution is transitioned to the purpose-built team — which has been upskilled, augmented, or rebuilt during the engagement as needed. No knowledge is siloed.
If it makes sense, the engagement transitions into a recurring advisory cadence — monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly sessions. Light-touch, not a retainer — designed to ensure the plan holds and the team has a sounding board.
"He's left us in a great place, with a framework for the future growth of the company."
— Brian McClennon, President & CEO, LINKYour ICP and Buyer Journey isn't a marketing exercise — it's the operating map for your entire revenue team. Without it, every dollar spent on people, process, and technology is less efficient. With it, everything downstream gets easier.
The right team members taking the right actions on the right leads at the right time. This requires SLAs between Marketing and Sales, buyer-led stage definitions, and clear ownership at every point in the funnel.
The CRM, marketing automation, and analytics stack your team will actually use — set up to generate the dashboards and insights that drive real decisions. HubSpot and Salesforce expertise across 20 engagements.
The right people in the right roles, with the data and direction to scale revenue. This includes upskilling current team members, identifying gaps, and sourcing and hiring CMO or VP Marketing candidates where needed.
A senior marketing leader who builds your marketing function part-time, for a defined period — without the cost or long-term commitment of a full-time CMO hire. Eighty Twenty CMO works exclusively with venture-backed B2B SaaS companies, building the ICP, pipeline process, CRM, and team a company needs to scale revenue after raising.
Twelve weeks, fixed. Three weeks of discovery, eight weeks of execution against four to six agreed Engagement Goals, and a final week of transition with a 12-month forward plan. Fixed timeline, fixed scope, no retainer creep.
An operating marketing foundation, not a strategy deck: a defined ICP and buyer journey, a lead-qualification process with Marketing–Sales SLAs, a configured CRM with revenue dashboards, and the right team in place — including sourcing a CMO or VP Marketing where one is needed.
It's built for B2B SaaS companies that have raised $3–10M in the last 12 months, with a founder who can sponsor the work and make decisions in real time. It's not for pre-product or pre-revenue companies, teams looking for an agency to run tactics without strategy, or companies that already have strong marketing leadership in place.
Everything is handed off to the team now in place, with a 12-month ARR roadmap so nothing backslides. Roughly one-third of engagements continue into a light advisory cadence — monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly sessions — but that's always the founder's choice, not a default retainer.
A no-pressure 30-minute conversation to determine mutual fit. Capacity is intentionally limited to two concurrent engagements, so timing and availability are discussed there.
No pitch. A straightforward 30-minute conversation about where you are and whether this is the right fit.
See If You Qualify30 minutes · Mutual fit assessment · Limited availability