When is fractional the right bridge?
When you need senior GTM judgement and a running system now, but the full-time CMO brief is still evolving, stage, channel mix, or team shape is not stable enough for a £150k hire.
Hiring
Bridging to a full-time CMO hire
Fractional fits when you need the system and cadence without locking in a permanent exec search. Full-time fits when the role is stable and you want a single owner for the next multi-year chapter.
When should you hire full-time?
When the constraint map is clear, the weekly cadence runs without the founder, and you want a permanent executive owning vendor strategy, hiring, and board narrative long term.
Can WSS help hire the full-time CMO?
Often yes, we help define the bar, interview for system-building ability, and hand over dashboards and decision rules so the hire starts with context.
For the full side-by-side of the two models — cost, ramp, risk, and when each fits — Fractional CMO vs full-time CMO on danieljohnson.xyz.
Next step
Not sure which way to go?
Bring your numbers. In 20 minutes we'll tell you whether fractional, full-time, or neither is the right next hire.