Growth doesn't wait for your marketing to catch up
You just closed your round. The board has expectations. And you don't have 6 months to find and ramp the right CMO. I embed in 30 days, build the foundation, and lead your team — without the full-time hire.
Most fractional CMOs are one or the other
The Strategist
Hands you a plan. Disappears when it's time to execute.
The Executor
Runs plays someone else designed. No judgement on whether they're the right plays.
I'm both.
Two decades as an operator inside the most competitive marketing environments in tech. Six years advising 100+ growth-stage companies as an executive advisor at Gartner.
I know what good strategy looks like — and I stay in the room until it works.
Where the gaps show up
Post-seed to Series B companies don't fail from lack of effort. They stall from lack of the right marketing leadership at the right moment.
You've got traction. Growth is Stalling.
The marketing that got you here — founder-led, scrappy, relationship-driven — isn't building a productive pipeline anymore. You need a system, not more hustle.
The deal just closed. Now marketing has to perform.
The investment is in. The board has expectations. And you don't have 6 months to find and onboard a full-time CMO. You need senior marketing leadership embedded and moving — now.
Sales is busy. Revenue isn't Moving.
Your team is executing. Campaigns are running. But marketing feels like a cost center, not a growth driver. The strategy is missing, broken, or never really existed in the first place.
How I Work
Three ways to work together — every engagement starts with a 30-day diagnostic so we're solving the real constraint, not the obvious one.
Strategic Sprint
30-60 Days
For: Founders on their way towards, or just hitting product-market fit who've been running on (great) instinct and need a real foundation before scaling anything.
What you get: Positioning, messaging and a GTM plan your team can actually execute - in 30-60 days, not >6 months.
Fractional Engagement
Ongoing, Part-time
For: Post Series A companies that need an experienced marketing lead but not a $350K+ full time hire and a 6-month ramp.
What you get: Senior marketing leadership embedded in your business - strategy, execution, storytelling, enablement and team direction, ongoing.
Advisory
As Needed
For: Founders and operators who need a senior thought partner at specific inflection points, not another retainer.
What you get: Sharp, experienced judgment on GTM strategy, team structure, board prep, and positioning — without the overhead.
No slide decks without action behind them. Every engagement begins with a 30-day diagnostic to understand your market, your pipeline, and where the real constraint is. Then we build and execute.
About
Carrie Cowan
Principal, Synthesize Marketing
Most fractional CMOs bring a framework. I bring pattern recognition from two decades inside the most competitive marketing environments in tech.
At NVIDIA, I was inside the GPU-to-AI transformation as it happened. At Microsoft, I launched Xbox against PlayStation's 75% market share and built it into a credible challenger. At EA and Sega, I saw the emergence of what became the billion-dollar mobile gaming market. As an Executive GTM Advisor for startup, emerging technology and high growth tech companies at Gartner, I brought that operator experience to 100+ growth-stage companies — advising on positioning, demand generation, brand, partner marketing, and ecosystem strategy across every stage from pre-revenue to mid-market.
Today I work with a small number of tech companies at key inflection points — post-investment, post-PMF, entering new markets — where getting marketing right in the next 90 days materially changes the outcome.
Operator & Practitioner Experience From:
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Not sure where your marketing stands?
The Marketing Readiness Scorecard gives you a clear read in 10 questions — where you're strong, where you're leaking, and what to fix first. Free, instant, no call required.
Ready to talk?
30 minutes. No pitch. No pressure. An honest conversation about where you are and whether I can help move the needle in the next 90 days.
Thinking out loud on GTM, challenger marketing, and what actually works for technical founders.
