Fractionals United Blog

The Triad of Success In the dynamic landscape of startups, the journey from ideation to scale is a rollercoaster of challenges and triumphs. At the helm of this entrepreneurial adventure, founders navigate uncharted territories, striving to transform innovative ideas into thriving businesses. To embark on this path with confidence and resilience, founders must prioritize validation, instill a customer-centric mindset, and operationalize themselves at every stage of growth. Validation: A Launchpad for Success In the world of startups, the term "validation" is not just a buzzword; it's the cornerstone of sustainable success. Before diving headfirst into development, founders need to meticulously validate their ideas. This process involves gauging market needs, identifying pain points, and ensuring there's a demand for the proposed solution. One of the key benefits of robust validation is risk mitigation. By engaging potential users early in the process, founders gain va...

Step into the dynamic world of a fractional C-level leader, where the ability to swiftly navigate and influence multiple business landscapes is key. Here, Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn't just a tool, it's a game-changer providing a strategic edge that's tailored for the unique requirements of the fractional leadership model. The AI Revolution in Fractional Leadership Fractional leaders are called to action in situations that demand rapid assimilation and impact. AI is the catalyst in this scenario, offering insights and analyses at speed. For fractional leaders whose tenure with each company is inherently limited, AI's ability to quickly parse through data becomes not just advantageous but essential. In supply chain optimization, AI's advanced algorithms can present a fractional leader with a comprehensive view of logistics and inventory issues across different organizations, enabling them to apply best practices from one scenario to another with ease. Customer b...

While many employees create job security through traditional career progression and making themselves indispensable in their role, some of the best fractional operators have the opposite approach: aiming to work themselves OUT of a job. Why would someone aim to achieve their way out of a job? Because if they've done the work correctly, they will have built such a strong infrastructure that it stands on its own. They've not made themselves obsolete, but instead made themselves available for new challenges and opportunities by enabling the work product to speak for itself. It’s important to note that the end game isn’t to become unemployable, in fact it’s quite the opposite. The goal is to create systems that either run themselves or can be easily handed off to in-house or, ideally, more junior or cost effective employees. Additionally, the best fractional operators address challenges from multiple angles so that there’s a plan B, C, D and Z for when the current systems are outgr...

It’s 8:30 a.m. on a Monday. Claire has just sat down at her desk, ready to ease into her work week. A mug of hot coffee on one side of her workspace, photos of her dogs on the other, she stretches, mentally reviewing some of her priorities for the day and the week. She jiggles her mouse to wake up her laptop and widescreen monitor, logs in, and fires up her Outlook. Claire’s inbox doesn’t look like most people’s, because she is a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) with different email accounts for each of her nine clients in professional services industries from architecture to cybersecurity. Perusing her inboxes one at a time, she notices  two messages threatening to derail the order of her day.   Client 1 is requesting an impromptu meeting at noon, right in the middle of one of Claire’s weekly standing meetings with Client 2. Client 1 just received an RFP, due on Friday, and wants to have a strategy discussion before beginning to compile the response.   ...

“Building a financial model is worthless and a complete waste of time! In building this model, I’m being asked to tell a story that investors already know and have a vision for what it should look like. This is one of those 'qualifying tests' to see if I can manipulate Excel to produce the numbers they want to see.” COMMON EXPECTATIONS These were the lamentations a startup founder recently shared about his views on building a financial model, just before we started working together in preparation for his raising his next equity round. I might have expected this reaction from a founder with limited experience in building financial models. However, this founder had previously led strategy and operations for a publicly traded company and already had deep experience building financial models. Of all people, I thought he’d be in the boat. I was wrong. In the grand scheme of sizing a market opportunity, identifying the right-fit investors, and keeping the wheels on an existing ...

There is one major advantage to being full-time: you get paid time off, and when your employer is closed, like on Memorial Day, it's easy to take advantage of the time off and rest. This is not that easy as a fractional. If you're getting paid on retainer, you may or may not have the luxury of taking time off, depending on your arrangement with your employer, but for those getting paid by the hour, if you don't work, you don't get paid (and yes, that's another reason not to charge hourly, but that's another topic and post). Add to that the potential feast and famine nature of working for yourself,  and is it any wonder many of us don't take the time off? I've been there so can totally relate, and it's something I still struggle with. It's one of the major reasons I had gone full-time with one of my fractional clients. But if you think about it objectively: You should be charging enough, whether hourly or retainer, to be able to afford some downti...

Working as a fractional executive isn’t for the faint of heart (if you’re considering this path, check out this post to see if fractional is right for you ). There are the obvious prerequisites: years of experience, proven expertise, and executive presence. However, having skills and time in the seat isn’t enough to thrive due to the fact that a fractional executive, by definition, operates differently than someone in a full-time position. A great fractional executive must have a strong operational foundation and thoughtful toolkit to be most effective in their engagements and maintain their work/life sanity. While there is a healthy dose of personal preference in how each fractional executive operates, there are two primary areas to consider regardless of specialty: Personal Operations—Keeping yourself organized Client Operations—Integrating quickly and effectively in your engagements Personal Operations Toolkit A primary factor that defines a fractional executive’s experience is...