Fractional CRO
"Commercial leadership on the days you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire."
The Problem This Solves
The moment a commercial architecture is built, execution becomes the constraint.
Most founders can run the motion through the first few enterprise deals. But as the pipeline grows, they face a choice: hire a full-time CRO (expensive, high-risk, 6+ months to hire), keep running it themselves (founder becomes the bottleneck), or operate without commercial leadership at all (pipeline ages, forecast is fiction, the team executes inconsistently).
Fractional CRO is the fourth option. Malcolm operates as a part-time Chief Revenue Officer — running the weekly pipeline rhythm, owning forecast accuracy, coaching the commercial team, and carrying accountability for revenue outcomes — without the full-time cost, equity dilution, or hiring risk of a permanent appointment.
This is not advisory. Malcolm is in the motion.
Who It's For
AI companies at one of three inflection points:
1. Post-Playbook execution
The Enterprise GTM Playbook is built. The ICP is defined, the process is designed, the comp structure is set. But there is no commercial leader to run it. The founder is still closing every deal and the first AEs are operating without a manager.
2. First commercial hire
The company is about to make its first sales hire, or just made one. A fractional CRO bridges the gap between founder-led and sales-led — managing the new hire, establishing the operating cadence, and ensuring the first AE ramps successfully before handing off.
3. Scaling into a new market
The company is expanding into EMEA from North America (or vice versa), and the commercial motion needs to be adapted and led in the new geography before a permanent hire is justified.
Not the right engagement if:
- The company is pre-revenue or has fewer than 3 closed-won logos — the system to run does not yet exist
- The commercial architecture is broken and needs a rebuild — start with a Revenue Architecture Diagnostic or GTM Playbook; Fractional CRO runs a working system, it doesn't design one
- The founder wants a consultant to advise rather than a commercial leader to execute — the Diagnostic or Playbook is the right engagement
What Malcolm Does
This is an embedded operating role, not an advisory retainer. Malcolm runs the commercial motion on a defined number of days per month.
Weekly:
- Pipeline review (30 min — every active deal reviewed against MEDDPICC qualification criteria)
- Deal coaching (rep-specific sessions on live opportunities)
- Forecast call (weekly revenue number reviewed and committed)
Monthly:
- Commercial performance review — what the motion produced vs. what was forecast
- Funnel analysis — where the pipeline is breaking and what to do about it
- Team coaching — rep-level performance, activity quality, conversion rates by stage
- Hiring support (if applicable) — review candidates, run commercial assessments, calibrate compensation
Quarterly:
- Board/investor commercial update — pipeline, forecast, ARR trajectory, team performance
- GTM review — what is working, what needs to change, what the next quarter looks like
- Comp and quota review — are incentives still aligned to the motion?
On-demand (within committed days):
- Deal rescue — a stalled opportunity needs direct attention
- Hire decisions — offer approvals, rep performance management
- Executive-level client engagement — supporting a founder on a large enterprise pursuit
What the Client Receives
| # | Deliverable | What it enables |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Commercial Operating Cadence | Weekly, monthly, and quarterly rhythms documented and running — pipeline review, forecast, team coaching |
| 2 | Pipeline Health Dashboard | A live view of the pipeline against qualification criteria — what is real, what is at risk, what is a stretch |
| 3 | Forecast Model | A bottom-up revenue forecast tied to stage probability and pipeline coverage — not a hope number |
| 4 | Rep Performance Framework | How reps are assessed, coached, and held accountable — activity standards, conversion expectations, PIP criteria |
| 5 | Hiring Brief (if applicable) | The profile, interview process, and compensation structure for the next commercial hire |
| 6 | Board Commercial Pack | A quarterly template for reporting commercial performance to investors — ARR, pipeline, team, outlook |
| 7 | Transition Plan | When the engagement ends: the handover to a permanent CRO or promoted commercial lead |
Engagement Structure
Duration: Minimum 3 months. Typically 4–6 months. Renewable.
Commitment: 4–8 days per month, depending on commercial team size and stage.
| Stage | Days/month | Typical scope |
|---|---|---|
| Early (founder + 1–2 AEs) | 4–5 days | Pipeline reviews, deal coaching, forecast, hiring support |
| Growth (3–5 AEs, first sales manager) | 6–8 days | Full commercial operating cadence, manager coaching, board reporting |
| Expansion (new market entry) | 6–8 days | Market adaptation, local hire, separate pipeline cadence |
How It Connects to the Rest of the Service Line
Fractional CRO is the execution layer on top of every other service.
- After a Revenue Architecture Diagnostic: Diagnostic identified systemic execution leadership as the constraint — Fractional CRO runs the fixes
- After an Enterprise GTM Playbook: Playbook is built — Fractional CRO runs the motion it describes
- Concurrent with Enterprise Deal Acceleration: Deal strategy is written — Fractional CRO coaches execution of it
- Before EMEA Market Entry: Fractional CRO establishes the operating model in the new market before a permanent hire is made
When the engagement ends, the client has a working commercial operating system, a trained team, and a clear transition path — not a dependency.