I build the marketing system your startup doesn't have yet.
Not a strategist who hands off a deck. Not a manager who needs a brief. The person who does both, embedded long term, from ICP to the experiments that keep compounding.
For seed and Series A B2B startups with no marketing function yet. I embed as your marketing team, long term, not a 90-day project. AI-native workflows run the research, content, and experiment cycles from week one. The foundation, ICP, positioning, prioritised channels, first experiments, takes about ninety days. What follows is the actual engagement: most run a year and a half or more.
They have trusted me with their goals.
• What makes a founding marketer different from a fractional CMO
A fractional CMO provides strategic leadership at scale. Right hire for Series B+. Premature and expensive before the system exists. A marketing manager executes within a system. Hire one before the system is built and you get activity without outcome.
The founding lead marketer fills the gap, arriving before the playbook and writing it. Strategy and execution, held simultaneously. The role appears under several titles: founding marketer, founding growth marketer, first marketing hire. The function is the same: build the marketing system from zero.
Primary activity
Best stage
Delivers
AI workflows
Builds independently
Justine’s offer
Fractional CMO
Strategic leadership
Series B+, existing team
Direction, team oversight
Directs others to use AI tools
No, needs a team
Not offered
Founding marketer
Building from zero
Seed / early Series A
Marketing strat + execution
Builds & runs AI workflows
Yes
Core service
Marketing manager
Executing within a system
When the system exists
Executes within a playbook
Inherits existing stack
No, needs a brief
Not offered
• What the marketing system includes
This is a long-term partnership, not a sprint. The foundation, built in the first phase, covers what follows. What continues afterwards depends on what the experiments show, but for most clients this is the start of a multi-year working relationship.
ICP definition
A precise profile of the customer who buys fast, retains well, and refers, built from your existing customers and AI-assisted interview analysis. Firmographic criteria, behavioural signals, disqualification logic.
Positioning & messaging
The language that makes your ICP stop scrolling. Built from customer interviews, tested against real copy, documented as a system everyone writes from.
Channel prioritization
Limited budget, limited time. The work is deciding what not to do. One channel built properly beats three at half effort.
Full-stack channel execution
Once prioritised, I build and run the channels: outbound, content, SEO, paid, community, whatever your ICP uses. Content runs on AI-native production pipelines. Not a recommendation, a running system.
SOPs & handoff
Every process written down. If you hire after me and cannot run the system independently, something is wrong with the system.
Timeline
The first ninety days build the foundation: ICP, positioning, prioritised channels, first experiments live, AI-native workflows from day one. After that, the engagement continues, iterating, expanding, scaling, for a year and a half or more. Documented from day one, so nothing gets rebuilt when priorities shift.
First experiments
Prioritised by signal and cost, with a clear framework for what to keep, kill, or scale. Dashboards update themselves. A running system, not a backlog.
MarTech stack
The minimal stack that tracks what matters without adding operational overhead: CRM, capture, analytics. Nothing else until the basics work. Built for the team who inherits it, not the consultant running it.
• How the engagement is structured
This is built to be a long-term relationship, not a one-off project.
Fractional
2-3 days/week. Embedded in your Slack, your tools, your meetings. Not a vendor relationship.
Length.
3 months minimum. Most run +1,5 year. Some continue on a reduced basis to support the first hire and transition out.
Smaller scope.
For teams not ready for an ongoing relationship, project-based engagements are available for defined scope.
100% full-time.
For the right mission, I go full-time.
• Common questions about hiring a founding marketer
Can a founding marketer also do execution, or just strategy?
Both. That is the point. I do not hand off a strategy deck and disappear. I run the outbound sequence, set up the CRM, write the messaging, and run the first experiments. Strategy and execution are not separate services — they are the same role at this stage.
What does 90 days actually deliver?
A working foundation, not a finished system. After 90 days: documented ICP with firmographic and behavioural criteria, one to two prioritised channels with first experiments running, a minimal martech stack (CRM, attribution, capture, analytics), and messaging architecture built from customer interviews. Pipeline and revenue outcomes depend on your market and sales cycle, not on the foundation alone. The foundation is what makes the next phase possible.
What happens when the engagement ends?
Every process is documented. Every decision has a rationale. The handoff includes working SOPs, a fully configured martech stack, and a 30-day onboarding guide for whoever comes next. If your next hire cannot run the system independently after onboarding, something is wrong with the system.
What if I already have a junior marketer in place?
That is a common situation and it works well. I act as the strategic layer and build the system alongside them. They gain direction and a framework to operate within. You gain a senior operator without a full-time salary. The junior hire is often more effective after 90 days than they were before, because they are running a system instead of improvising.
Do you work with bootstrapped startups?
Yes, if budget is committed. Bootstrapped versus funded is not the relevant question. The question is whether you have allocated real budget to building a marketing system — not just testing ads. The minimum engagement is €4,000 per month. If that requires approval from a board or investor, that conversation should happen before we talk.
Do you work with companies outside Europe?
Most of my engagements are with companies targeting European markets or expanding into them from the US. If you are US-based, remote engagement is possible. The European market context, ICP assumptions, channel mix, sales cycle length, is where the value is sharpest.
What if I am not sure whether I have product-market fit?
If you are asking the question, you probably do not have it yet. This engagement is not the right tool for validating a product. It is for building the marketing system around a product that customers are already buying. Come back when the signal is there.
This is for you if:
You are a seed or Series A B2B company with product-market fit signals, or close to them. You are doing marketing yourself, or you have a junior hire who needs direction. You're looking for a long-term marketing partner who builds AI-native systems, not a contractor for a single sprint. You are willing to be challenged on your ICP assumptions, and you want a system, not a report.
This is not for you if:
You need brand work before GTM. You are still validating an idea (that is founder work, not marketing work). You already have a functioning marketing team and need management, not construction. You want someone to manage a campaign calendar.
• What it is like working with me
What I could not have expected is that she would completely transform the way we operate. Justine combines a strategic mindset with incredibly detailed execution.
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We've worked with Justine on several projects, selecting and introducing a new CRM, then a project and task management solution. Proactive, systematic, and focused on our needs.
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It’s rare that you come across standout talent like Justine. ‘Ridiculously efficient’ is the phrase that comes to my mind when I think about our work together
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If this is the gap you are in, book a call.
Let's talk about what you need built.