You're expected to think like a CMO and act like a team of interns.
Frameworks, playbooks, and honest advice for founders and lean marketing teams in startups and fast-scaling businesses. From a CMO who's still doing the work, not a guru with a 50-person team.
The reality
You're the whole marketing department and everyone still expects enterprise growth on startup budgets. I've run marketing with that exact tension. Small team, big number, little to no resources. So this place isn't a highlight reel, it's the stuff that actually worked for me, the trade-offs nobody mentions on stage, and the calls you have to make when you are expected to do everything but can't.
Explore the ideas. Shop the Books. Work with me.
Field notes, weekly
A new post every week on lean marketing, leadership, and the gap between what you're told to do and what you can actually pull off. Free to read.
Read the blog →Two books, zero theory
16 Ways to Kill Your Startup shows you the mistakes to avoid. The Startup Marketing Playbook shows you what to do instead, with the templates to match. Both out now.
See the books →Put me to work
Fractional CMO and growth consulting for founders. Coaching for lean marketing leaders. Workshops and speaking tailored to your needs.
Start a conversation →
I'm Dom. And I still do the work.
I'm the CMO at MATE Internet and Mobile. Before that, 15+ years building lean marketing teams that punch above their weight. I grew MATE's customer base by 300% on a budget that wouldn't get most CMOs out of bed, launched products globally, and ran national retail launches for the likes of Microsoft and Telstra. I wrote The Startup Marketing Playbook and 16 Ways to Kill Your Startup. And I still do the work. That's the whole point of this place.
Latest field notes.
View all posts →One email a month. No fluff.
A monthly wrap-up of the field notes that go up each week, plus the odd template and the occasional uncomfortable truth. No spam. Unsubscribe whenever.