No one owns the whole picture
Sales, marketing and agencies each have a plan, but priorities conflict and the founder makes every final connection.
Embedded growth leadership
Fractional Chief Growth Officer for founder-led B2B companies
I step into the gap between strategy and execution as a fractional chief growth officer, also called a fractional head of growth. The work is to find the constraint, set priorities and lead the operating rhythm that connects sales and marketing to pipeline. I am based in the UK and work with companies in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.
The short answer
A senior owner for growth, before a full-time hire makes sense.
A fractional chief growth officer is a part-time senior leader who owns growth direction and operating discipline. Fractional head of growth is the same remit. The role joins commercial goals to priorities, people, channels and measurement, then stays involved while the team acts.
It is more embedded than B2B growth consulting, broader than single-channel delivery and more flexible than making a permanent executive hire too early.
When the role earns its keep
The business has traction. The growth system has not caught up.
Pipeline is active but inconsistent
Reporting shows activity, yet the team cannot explain where qualified demand comes from or where it leaks.
The next hire is unclear
You know the business needs leadership, but have not yet defined the permanent role or proved that it warrants a full-time executive.
Execution lacks an order
There are sensible ideas across positioning, demand, outbound and conversion. Everything feels important, so little gets properly finished.
A clear remit
What I own, and where the boundary sits.
I can own
- Growth diagnosis and prioritisation
- A focused 90-day growth plan
- Sales and marketing alignment
- Growth meetings, decisions and accountability
- Pipeline definitions and commercial reporting
- Briefing and coordinating channel specialists
- Growth team structure and role definition
I do not claim to own everything
- Deep specialist execution in every channel
- The sales leader’s closing responsibilities
- Product-led growth without relevant evidence
- Retention, pricing or fundraising by default
- Guaranteed growth or manufactured certainty
- A permanent seat when a full-time hire is the right answer
The operating model
Diagnose, prioritise, lead, transfer.
This is the structure I use for engagements, adapted to the company rather than presented as a proprietary framework.
- 01
Diagnose
Review the goal, ICP, offer, funnel, current channels, pipeline and reporting. Find the primary constraint before adding more activity.
- 02
Prioritise
Build a focused 90-day plan, choose the few metrics that matter and make ownership explicit.
- 03
Lead
Work alongside the founder and team, run a weekly operating rhythm and connect experiments to pipeline impact.
- 04
Transfer
Document what works, strengthen internal ownership and reduce fractional involvement when it is no longer needed.
The first 30 days
Get to a decision-quality view of growth.
The first month is not about launching as many experiments as possible. It is about understanding enough of the system to make the next decisions in the right order.
- Understand the goal.Agree what growth needs to mean commercially, not just at channel level.
- Inspect the system.Review the ICP, offer, funnel, channels, pipeline, reporting and active work.
- Hear the operating reality.Speak with the founder and the people closest to sales, marketing and delivery.
- Name the constraint.Set out the evidence, assumptions and what still needs to be tested.
- Order the next 90 days.Choose priorities, owners, measures and a weekly rhythm.
Working cadence
Close enough to lead. Light enough to stay useful.
Growth operating review
Decisions, pipeline movement, experiments, blocks and owner actions. Less status theatre, more consequence.
Decision support
Focused asynchronous review for work that should not wait for the next meeting.
Priority reset
Review what the team has learned, what changed commercially and whether the plan still deserves investment.
What I need from you
Access to relevant pipeline and channel information, honest participation from the people doing the work, a founder or senior sponsor who can make decisions, and willingness to stop activity that no longer earns its place.
Choose the right kind of help
Fractional leader, consultant, agency or full-time hire?
Longer comparisons: versus a fractional CMO, versus a fractional CRO, versus a fractional CFO, versus a growth agency, freelance versus an agency, versus a growth consultant.
| Option | Best when | Typical ownership | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fractional leader | You need senior cross-functional direction and operating involvement. | Priorities, alignment, rhythm and leadership. | Scope must be explicit. |
| Consultant | You need a defined analysis or solution. | Project and recommendations. | Implementation may remain with you. |
| Agency | You know which channel needs delivery capacity. | Specialist execution. | Someone internal still needs to own the whole picture. |
| Full-time hire | The role is enduring, defined and warrants full-time attention. | Permanent functional leadership. | Hiring before the remit is clear is expensive. |
Relevant evidence
Direct operating experience, carefully attributed.
Steven founded Growleady in 2020 and has led its work across B2B targeting, outbound infrastructure, messaging and pipeline generation. Growleady reports working with more than 500 B2B clients and generating more than $50M in client-reported pipeline.
Those are collective Growleady results. They are not presented as personal fractional client outcomes or closed revenue.
Review the source and definitionsQuestions before we talk
Scope should be understood, not assumed.
01Is a fractional CGO the same as a fractional head of growth?
Yes. Fractional chief growth officer, fractional CGO and fractional head of growth are names for the same role here: a part-time senior leader who owns growth direction and the operating rhythm. The scope is agreed for each company. It is not a fractional CMO engagement, and it is not an agency retainer.
02What is a Fractional Head of Growth?
A Fractional Head of Growth is a part-time senior leader who owns growth direction and operating discipline without joining as a full-time executive. The role connects commercial goals to priorities, people, channels and measurement, then works with the team to turn that direction into action.
03What would you own?
Typically: the growth diagnosis, the 90-day plan, the metrics used to judge progress, the weekly growth rhythm, alignment across sales and marketing, and coordination of internal or external specialists. I agree the exact boundaries before work begins.
04What happens in the first 30 days?
I review the commercial goal, ICP, offer, funnel, pipeline, current channels and reporting; speak with the people closest to the work; identify the likely constraint; and turn that diagnosis into an ordered 90-day plan with clear owners and measures.
05How much does a Fractional Head of Growth cost?
The fee is based on scope, cadence and the level of leadership required. A company needing weekly leadership across a team has a different requirement from one needing focused oversight. After an initial fit call I recommend a defined scope and fee, with no unverified public “from” price.
06How long does an engagement last?
Long enough to diagnose, establish a useful operating rhythm and transfer ownership. The right duration depends on the constraint and the internal team. The goal is not to create indefinite dependency.
07Do you replace the marketing or sales leader?
Not automatically. I can lead across the gap, support an existing functional leader or help define the permanent role. Responsibilities are made explicit so the fractional layer does not create confusion.
08Which countries do you work in?
I am based in the UK and work remotely with founder-led B2B companies in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.
09What does a chief growth officer do?
A chief growth officer owns the commercial picture across sales and marketing: the constraint, the priorities, the metrics, and the operating rhythm. A fractional chief growth officer does that part-time, before a full-time hire is justified. The responsibilities are agreed up front and do not include every channel, closing the sales, or a guaranteed result.
10Is this a fractional CMO or a fractional marketing director?
No. A fractional CMO or fractional marketing director usually owns marketing delivery. This role owns the growth decision across sales and marketing, then coordinates the people who execute. If the need is campaign production, I will say so.
11What is a fractional chief growth officer salary or day rate?
I do not publish a salary, day rate, or “from” price. People comparing a full-time chief growth officer salary with a fractional engagement are comparing different jobs. After a fit call I recommend a defined scope and fee.
Start with the problem
Need someone to own the growth picture?
Tell me where progress feels inconsistent or stuck. I will tell you whether fractional leadership is the right level of support.
Book a fit call