Anne James

Ways to work together

Ongoing

Projects

Embedded leadership

Fractional CMO

Get an experienced founding marketer part-time, with oversight of your whole marketing function. For startups that need a CMO’s judgement without the risk of building headcount too soon. That said, if you want someone to run campaigns and never challenge your thinking, I’m not your gal.

Email me about this or book a call (opens in a new tab)
Format
Two or more days a week
Remote, with on-site days as needed
Duration
Ongoing, month to month
What you get
  • A growth strategy with clear bets on buyers and channels, agreed with sales and product, and revised as new evidence comes in
  • A working marketing engine: CRM, attribution, website, content and campaigns
  • Pipeline forecasts and unit economics your board and investors can rely on

The programme includes

  1. Audit your positioning, your category, and the economic headwinds and tailwinds you’re selling into.
  2. Choose the bets: two or three buyer personas or industries to win, and the channels worth funding.
  3. Build the engine, with results measured from the first month.
  4. Run it week to week, bringing in specialist freelancers or agencies until a permanent hire makes sense.
  5. Report pipeline, conversion and acquisition cost to founders and the board, and cut what isn’t working.
  6. Hand over when you’re ready for a full-time head of marketing: I write the brief and help you hire.

Customer research

Buyer insight report and go-to-market strategy

A snapshot report on the economic and cultural forces shaping how your buyers decide, and a go-to-market strategy built on that research.

Email me about this or book a call (opens in a new tab)
Format
Your CRM data, buyer interviews, external market data and desk research, then working sessions on the strategy
Remote
Duration
2 to 3 weeks
What you get
  • An insight report on the economic and cultural factors in your buyers’ context, and which sources of information they trust most
  • A go-to-market strategy document: the segments to target first, positioning and messaging, and the channels worth investing in
  • Updates when the market moves or you enter a new one

The programme includes

  1. Scoping: we define the decisions at stake and the strategy’s planning horizon.
  2. Evidence review of what you already have, from CRM notes and call recordings to support tickets and reviews.
  3. Fieldwork: interviews with customers, prospects and lost deals, plus research into your category and the economic conditions your buyers face.
  4. Insight report on what’s shifting in your buyers’ world, and why it matters to you.
  5. Go-to-market strategy: positioning, channel and content moves for each quarter of that horizon, walked through with your leadership team.

Go-to-market

Launch an AI product without overclaiming

Position a new AI product so it sells, and keep the trust of customers, regulators and your own legal team.

Email me about this or book a call (opens in a new tab)
Format
Working sessions with engineering and product
Duration
6 to 12 weeks, depending on the risk level and whether the AI is consumer-facing
What you get
  • Positioning, messaging, pricing and a launch plan grounded in customer evidence
  • A claims review: what you can say about accuracy, safety and data use, and how to back it up
  • Customer-facing disclosures and FAQs on how the AI works and where its limits are

The programme includes

  1. Capability review with engineering and product: what the underlying models’ documentation and your own test results say the product can and can’t do, and who it’s built for.
  2. Market and regulatory read: buyer research and the competitive landscape, plus the AI and sector rules in your target markets, from the EU AI Act to US state laws.
  3. Positioning and messaging, agreed with product and sales, and built only on claims the evidence supports.
  4. Pricing and packaging: seat-based or usage-based, and which features sit in which tier, set by what buyers value enough to pay for.
  5. Claims review and disclosures: accuracy, safety and data-use claims checked for AI-washing and against the transparency rules in your markets, with customer-facing disclosures signed off by legal.
  6. Launch plan and sales enablement: channels, demos, and answers ready for the AI questions your buyers’ security and procurement teams will ask.

“The pipeline’s full.
Why isn’t anything closing?”

You’ve probably heard a few explanations already. Bring them to a call, and we’ll work out which ones hold up.

Get in touch