Growth-stage Washington companies frequently have the pieces of a marketing function — a few marketers, some agencies, a budget — but no one holding them together or on the hook for pipeline. Bringing in a full-time CMO would fix the ownership problem while creating a cost and timing problem most teams are not ready for.
A fractional CMO closes that gap. You get a seasoned marketing executive embedded in your business part-time — owning the strategy, building and leading the team, and taking accountability for the number — for a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire and with none of the hiring risk. For most Washington companies, it is the fastest way to put senior marketing leadership in the building.
Fractional CMO work spans strategy through execution. It begins with sharp positioning and messaging for your Washington, DC audience, extends into demand generation tied to revenue, includes the analytics to prove what works, and finishes with team building — the right hires, the right stack, and the documented processes that outlast any one person.
A clear go-to-market for the Washington 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.
Bringing in a fractional CMO makes sense the moment marketing needs a decision-maker, not more doers. That is often when a Washington, DC company plateaus, when spend gets hard to justify, when a team lacks direction, or when investors start asking how growth actually works. Any one of these is your cue.
Weeks 1–2: understand your funnel, goals, data, and the gaps holding Washington 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 Washington company.
Fractional CMO pricing stays predictable and honest — a flat monthly retainer, no equity, no surprises, scaled to the leadership you need. It typically runs 30–50% of a full-time CMO’s total compensation, so most Washington, DC companies get the same quality of marketing ownership for meaningfully less than a full-time hire.
Brennen brings the judgment of a senior executive and the hands of an operator. Washington companies get someone in the pipeline reviews and the hiring decisions, accountable for growth, building systems and SOPs that outlast the engagement — not a strategist who disappears once the slides are delivered.
Brennen gave us the marketing leadership of a full-time CMO at a fraction of the cost and none of the risk.
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 Washington, DC 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 Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington, DC 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 Washington, DC 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.