Questions founders ask me

Founder-led CPG, DTC, health, wellness and supplement brands, mostly early-stage and growth brands somewhere in the $1-10M range. Usually you've got product-market fit and real momentum, and the business is outpacing your ability to see it clearly.

Fractional COO: I run growth, operations and finance for $1-10M CPG and wellness brands. In practice I sit in the middle of the decisions that matter most: spend allocation, cash, hiring, forecasting and automation. Depending on the tier that's weekly strategy calls with prepared analysis, a live model that ties your marketing data to your P&L and cash forecast, or hands-on work inside the business.

Advisor starts at $2500/mo, Operator starts at $4000/mo and Integrator starts at $6500/mo. The Raise-Readiness Sprint is a small prepaid engagement with a fixed scope, and we go over it on a call. See all services and pricing.

Advisor is strategic guidance, weekly calls with prepared analysis across marketing and finance. Operator adds the Growth Engine Dashboard, a live model connecting marketing performance to your P&L and cash forecast, synced daily, plus AI workflow deployment. Integrator is everything in both plus hands-on execution, like agency management, AP and monthly close support, and integration work inside your stack.

Weekly strategy calls, direct async access between sessions via Slack or iMessage, and access to the FRACTIONALS network for contractors, creatives and everything in between (priority access on Integrator).

At pre-seed or seed you probably shouldn't hire a full-time one. You still need the model though, a driver-based P&L by channel with nCAC and payback, a cash runway forecast and actuals tied to your books. That's exactly what the Raise-Readiness Sprint is for, and the Raise-Ready Checklist is free.

nCAC is new-customer marketing spend divided by new customers, counted from your store data, not the ad platform. Payback is nCAC divided by the monthly contribution margin per customer, so it tells you how many months it takes to earn back what you paid for a customer. If they're off, you can grow revenue and still lose money on every new customer you buy. The calculator is free.

Most brands I work with run their books in QuickBooks, and I build models on top of that with Python and AI automation doing the boring parts, like pulling actuals and flagging variances. The Operator tier's Growth Engine Dashboard syncs your marketing performance daily so it's always next to the P&L and cash forecast.

Yes. A lot of the work is figuring out what a door really costs once terms, trade and deductions hit, and keeping a 13-week cash view so retail doesn't quietly eat the cash your DTC ads need. The Retail Door Cost Worksheet is a good place to start.

Yes. I run paid AI setup sessions for brands at this stage, from picking the first agent to connecting it to your books and store data. On Operator and Integrator, AI workflow deployment is part of the scope.

A vetted group of independent operators, marketers, creatives and agencies who specialize in early-stage CPG and DTC brands. I founded it, and clients get access to that bench. Operators can apply to join.

St. George, Utah.

Book a free 30-minute call. We'll look at where your nCAC, payback and cash actually are, and I'll tell you what I'd do next and which tier, if any, makes sense. Book a call.