There's a version of your business I know well.
There’s a version of your business I know well.
Revenue is growing, but it’s still largely founder‑led and sales‑driven. Growth comes from relationships, reputation, and the founder stepping in to close the important deals. It works — but it doesn’t scale easily.
The marketing team exists, but it’s junior, or stretched, or both. Smart people, working hard, pulled in ten directions at once: social, content, events, “brand,” one-off requests from sales. They’re busy, but they’re not in the room where strategy is being set.
The board has started to ask harder questions.
Where is marketing in the number?
What’s the plan beyond “more outbound”?
Why is CAC creeping up while brand spend is going up too?
And marketing is stuck in a contradictory brief: do more with less, prove ROI immediately, and somehow also build a brand and a motion that takes time to compound. In the same breath, they’re asked to generate pipeline now and justify their own existence.
That’s not a resourcing problem. That’s a strategy and leadership problem.
You don’t fix that by adding another campaign, another tool, or another junior hire. You fix it by giving the business a clear view of what marketing is actually for, how it connects to revenue, and what it will and won’t do in the next 90 days.
When I walk into that room, I don’t start with tactics.
I don’t start with “Let’s rebuild the website,” or “Let’s spin up paid,” or “Let’s launch a podcast.” I start with a much simpler question:
What’s actually going on here?
- How is the business really making money today?
- Where does growth need to come from over the next 12–18 months?
- Who are you trying to win, and why would they pick you?
- What does sales say is happening in the field — and does marketing agree?
- What has been tried already, and what did you learn from it?
Only once you have a clear diagnosis does it make sense to prescribe.
Sometimes the diagnosis is: you don’t have an ICP problem, you have a focus problem. Sometimes it’s: the story is wrong for the buyers you say you want. Sometimes it’s: marketing is being asked to solve a product or pricing issue it cannot fix.
The point is the same every time.
Diagnose before you prescribe. Every time.