Engagements
I work with founders two ways. The right fit depends on what you need and the cadence that works for your business.
Fractional COO + CMO
Ongoing executive partnership. Multi-month retainer, typically six to eighteen months. I run the operational and marketing function with you and own the strategic calls that sit on top of it. Scope spans operations, team, financial visibility, launches, vendor management, and the marketing and product decisions that drive the business.
On the CMO side, the job is strategic direction and vendor orchestration. I shape the marketing strategy with you, vet the contractors who execute it, and own the attribution that tells you whether it's working. I'm not the person configuring your ad platform.
Best fit for founder-led businesses that have outgrown the founder-as-operator model but aren't yet ready to hire a full-time executive. You get senior executive capacity without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire. Engagements can lean COO, lean CMO, or cover both, depending on what your business needs.
The first 90 days
Days 1 to 30. Listen and audit. Map current systems, team, finances, launches, marketing infrastructure, and the customer journey. Identify the highest-leverage opportunities and the riskiest gaps. Establish a working rhythm with the founder.
Days 30 to 60. Quick wins. Tackle the top two or three priorities surfaced in the audit. Build trust through action and start moving the actual numbers.
Days 60 to 90. Build for repeatability. Begin longer-term systems work so the gains compound. By day 90, you should feel meaningful relief in your day-to-day decision load.
AI Installs
A semi-productized engagement. I interview your team, learn how the business runs, and install pre-built AI systems tuned to your operation. Executive assistant infrastructure, voice guides, content pipelines, agent workflows. Defined scope, defined deliverable, defined timeline.
This isn't generic AI consulting. It's the same AI infrastructure I've built and run inside my own engagements, packaged for installation in yours. The interview matters as much as the install. Tools have to fit the operation underneath them.
What this looks like in practice: a founder voice guide and brand standards baked into shared team AI projects, so every team member produces consistent output without extra editing passes. A weekly social pipeline that turns the founder's inputs into drafted copy and designed visuals. Production workflows that compress multi-hour handout builds into a single review pass. And on the data side, direct API connections to your payment processor, email platform, and analytics — unlocking reports the business has never been able to pull before. The install is specific to your operation. Generic AI tooling is the wrong starting point.
We scope and price in the discovery conversation. Always based on what your business needs.
You can also find me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/dnadler