Growth-stage Nashville 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.
The fractional model solves both problems at once. You bring in an executive-caliber marketing leader part-time — owning strategy, managing the team, and reporting to revenue — for roughly a third to a half of a full-time CMO. For most Nashville companies, senior leadership stops being a someday hire and becomes something you have now.
Fractional CMO leadership means one accountable owner for the entire function: positioning that makes your Nashville, Tennessee value obvious, demand generation measured to revenue instead of clicks, attribution you can trust, and a team plus a set of SOPs that keep the engine running long after the strategy is set.
A clear go-to-market for the Nashville 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.
Most Nashville companies reach for a fractional CMO at a recognizable moment: growth stalls, marketing spend outpaces provable results, or a funding round exposes the lack of a real go-to-market plan. If any of that sounds like your business, the timing is right — and starting fractionally beats waiting on a full-time search.
Weeks 1–2: understand your funnel, goals, data, and the gaps holding Nashville 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.
Each option trades off differently. A full-time CMO delivers dedication but demands $250k-plus and months of hiring risk. An agency delivers capacity but owns none of your strategy or results. A fractional CMO delivers what most Nashville companies actually need — senior ownership and accountability — part-time and at a fraction of the full-time cost.
The fractional CMO cost is a predictable monthly retainer, nothing more. No equity handed over, no multi-year lock-in, no line items you did not expect. The number tracks the work and typically runs 30–50% of full-time CMO compensation — meaning most Nashville companies get senior marketing leadership for well under the cost of hiring one.
Hiring Brennen means adding an operator to your leadership team, not a vendor to your roster. He owns the strategy, drives the execution, and holds the number for your Nashville business — the same way a great full-time CMO would, just on the terms your stage can support.
The best marketing hire we made was not full-time. Brennen owned the strategy and the number from day one.
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 Nashville, Tennessee 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 Nashville 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 Nashville 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 Nashville 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 Nashville, Tennessee 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 Nashville, Tennessee 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.