Marketing Leadership Model

Three things make a spreadsheet comparison of a marketing hire, a fractional leader and an agency wrong, and they are the same three every time. Ramp: every option costs full price before it produces full output. Search time: a hire you start looking for in January is not working in January. Your own hours: the cheapest option on paper is often the one that eats the most of the founder's week.

This skill counts all three, divides by productive months rather than calendar months, and then asks the question the cost comparison cannot answer: does the company need judgement, hands, or both? Two of the options give you judgement; one can give you judgement and hands.

When to use

The user is making a first marketing leadership decision, replacing someone, or reviewing a retainer at renewal. It applies from pre-seed to Series B; only the numbers change.

Do not use it to set the marketing budget itself; marketing-budget-planning does that. Do not use it to plan the work; campaign-orchestrator sequences the work once someone owns it.