When a Austin, Texas company outgrows do-it-yourself marketing, the cracks show fast: unclear positioning, spend no one can defend, and a team with no senior direction. A full-time CMO is the textbook fix, but at $250k-plus and a four-to-six-month hire, it is the kind of bet that can set a growing company back if it misses.
A fractional CMO turns "we need a marketing leader someday" into "we have one now." You embed a senior operator part-time to own the strategy, build the systems, and lead the people — with accountability for revenue and none of the full-time risk. Most Austin companies see it as the smartest first executive marketing hire they can make.
A fractional CMO owns marketing end to end. First comes positioning: who you serve, what makes you different, and why Austin buyers pick you. Then demand generation — the channels and campaigns that produce pipeline measured to revenue — followed by honest attribution and the hiring, tooling, and process work that turns marketing into a system rather than a scramble.
A clear go-to-market for the Austin market and beyond — messaging your whole team can repeat.
Channels and campaigns that produce pipeline, measured to revenue instead of clicks.
The right hires, tools, and SOPs — a marketing department that runs itself.
Honest reporting that ties every dollar of spend back to pipeline and closed revenue.
A marketing budget allocated by someone accountable for the return on it.
Marketing that sales trusts and the board understands — one shared number.
You are ready when the problem is clearly leadership rather than labor. Growth has stalled, the budget is a black box, the team has no strategist above it, or a fundraise is forcing the question. When a Austin company recognizes one of these, a fractional CMO delivers the ownership it is missing — fast.
Weeks 1–2: understand your funnel, goals, data, and the gaps holding Austin growth back — talk to sales, customers, and the numbers.
Weeks 2–4: lock positioning, choose the channels that fit your motion, and build a 90-day roadmap tied to revenue targets.
Weeks 4–8: install the systems, make or manage the hires, launch the channels, and start producing measurable pipeline.
Weeks 8–12 and on: attribution to revenue, cut what is not working, and double down on what is — then keep compounding.
A full-time CMO is the most leadership and the most cost — a quarter-million-dollar commitment and a heavy bet early on. An agency is the most execution and the least ownership; it runs tactics but never answers for your number. A fractional CMO splits the difference: executive strategy and accountability, part-time, flexible, and far cheaper for a growing Austin company.
Wondering how much a fractional CMO costs? Everything runs on a transparent monthly retainer. You are not giving up equity or signing a long contract, and the invoice does not move around. The retainer is set to your scope and, as a rule of thumb, comes in around 30–50% of full-time CMO comp — senior leadership most Austin companies find pays for itself in pipeline.
The difference with Brennen is ownership. He does not parachute in with recommendations and leave; he embeds in your Austin, Texas business, builds the engine, leads the people, and answers for pipeline. You end the engagement with a marketing function that stands on its own.
Brennen ran our marketing like an owner. He set the strategy, built the team, and the pipeline came.
Client, B2B SaaS — CEO
A fractional CMO is an experienced chief marketing officer who leads your marketing on a part-time, ongoing basis instead of as a full-time employee. You get executive-level strategy, team leadership, and accountability for growth — at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire, and without the long recruiting cycle or equity package.
Yes. Brennen Lesser works with Austin, Texas companies as a fractional CMO — both remotely and on-site as the engagement requires. That includes founder-led startups, funded scale-ups, SaaS businesses, professional-services firms, and established B2B companies across the Austin metro.
Most fractional CMO engagements run at roughly 30–50% of a full-time CMO salary, billed as a flat monthly retainer with no equity and no long-term contract. The exact number depends on scope and how many days a month you need. For most Austin companies that is a meaningful saving versus a full-time executive who would command $250,000 or more in total compensation.
An agency executes tactics — ads, content, email — usually against a brief you provide. A fractional CMO sits a level above that: they set the strategy, decide which channels to invest in, hire and manage the people (or agencies) who execute, and own the results. Think of it as renting a marketing leader, not renting a marketing vendor.
If you have the budget, the workload, and the revenue to support a $250k+ executive full-time, hire one. If you need senior marketing leadership now but can’t yet justify that cost — or you want to de-risk the decision before committing — a fractional CMO gives you the same caliber of leadership scaled to your stage, and can help you hire your eventual full-time CMO when the time comes.
Most Austin engagements ramp in about two weeks. You skip the four-to-six-month executive search entirely — after a short discovery period, Brennen is embedded in your business, auditing the funnel and shipping a strategy while a full-time search would still be scheduling first-round interviews.
Typically seed-to-Series-B startups, SaaS companies, and growing B2B firms in Austin, Texas doing roughly $1M–$50M in revenue — companies large enough to need real marketing leadership but not yet large enough to justify a full-time CMO on payroll.
Clear positioning your whole team can articulate, a demand-generation engine measured to pipeline and revenue, honest attribution so you stop wasting spend, and a marketing team and set of systems that keep producing after the engagement scales down. The goal is a self-sustaining function, not dependence on a consultant.
Both. Brennen works with Austin, Texas teams remotely day-to-day and comes on-site for kickoffs, planning sessions, and key moments where being in the room matters. Modern marketing leadership doesn’t require a desk in your office five days a week.