Startup marketing leadership
Fractional CMO for Startups
Each stage demands a different marketing plan.
I’ve led startup marketing through angel, bridge, seed, and Series B raises, including an oversubscribed $6M seed, and through a bootstrapped company’s successful exit.
I build the marketing strategy, turn it into a roadmap, and stay hands-on through implementation. You get me: a senior marketing leader and doer who helps you reach your next milestone within your runway.
There are opinions everywhere about
what you should do next
Run ads. Post on LinkedIn every day. Hire a growth marketer. Build the brand. Work on AI visibility.
Every one of those recommendations comes with a convincing case, a founder success story, and five more things you are told to do.
And suddenly, you have a longer to-do list, the marketing budget is gone, with little to show for it and less runway.
Marketing changes from one startup stage to the next
A startup can spend a lot of time and money doing the right marketing work in the wrong order. I help decide what comes first for your stage, build the plan, and get it done.
Before revenue, marketing should help answer the business questions that shape the product, funding, and your first go-to-market plan.
- Define the market opportunity and total addressable market.
- Map out how prospective buyers will evaluate, adopt, and use your product.
- Set the positioning, pricing, and sales story around your first buyer and use cases.
- Build the first landing page, investor pitch deck, and founder outreach scripts.
Preparing to raise
I work beside founders to turn their vision into a persuasive investor story and build the marketing around the raise.
- Build and prioritize the investor outreach lists.
- Write, challenge, and tighten the pitch deck to create a story, numbers, and ask that compel prospective investors.
- Develop the brand strategy first, then ensure the website, pitch deck, and investor materials all reinforce the same story.
- Rehearse the investor pitch, pressure-test the toughest questions, and continually sharpen it.
Newly funded
Once the round closes, I turn the story investors funded into a strategic marketing plan & the proof the company must produce before the next raise.
- Build the marketing roadmap around the capital raised, runway, product milestones, and next fundraising window.
- Turn the roadmap into the programs, materials, systems, and campaigns needed for this stage.
- Decide what to hire internally, what to give outside vendors, and what must wait.
- Own the board marketing report, from spend and market response to pipeline, launch readiness, and funded milestones.
Scaling to the next milestone
As the company prepares to scale, I pace marketing spend around commercialization and regulatory milestones, with runway always in view.
- Keep the positioning and story current as the product, evidence, and market change.
- Decide how much market education needs to happen before launch, and when to start it.
- Choose the proof marketing needs to produce for the next raise, especially when commercial revenue is still ahead.
- Know when it is time to add marketing people, outside vendor support, and paid programs, and when the runway says wait.
Your marketing roadmap should match the stage, the funding available, and the result you must produce next.
What it’s like to work with me
Words that stopped a room
“When I delivered the pitch, it resonated so deeply, the air got sucked out of the room”
Jessica is a masterful storyteller. She wove our brand into words that spoke directly to the investor audience.
Alex, MD, PhD, CEO, Paterna Biosciences
From raising capital to a successful exit
Healthcare startup
Oversubscribed Seed round
THE SITUATION
A new CEO stepped in during the seed raise. Marketing consisted of a logo, tagline, and basic website while the medical device company faced a long regulatory path.
WHAT I LED
Built the brand strategy from scratch, rebuilt the website, created the marketing roadmap and assets, and carried the story across investor pitches, conferences, presentations, and digital.
THE RESULT
Oversubscribed $6M seed round and 24 months of runway.
The CEO stayed focused on fundraising while I owned marketing from strategy through execution.
One of the things I loved about your pitch was that you were exactly what we were looking for. I wanted somebody who was going to tell us what they can do for us. Oh my gosh, this is exactly what we wanted.
Hollie, Chief of Staff
B2B SaaS startup
Bootstrap to Exit
THE SITUATION
The CEO chose me after interviewing several fractional CMOs because she needed both strategy and hands-on execution. The bootstrapped company needed a stronger marketing engine to support growth.
WHAT I LED
Built the marketing strategy and stayed hands-on through execution, including the website, lead generation, webinars, content, and campaigns.
THE RESULT
Revenue grew from $750K to an estimated $3M before the company was acquired.
I stayed through the 15-month transition, and the CEO later hired me for her next startup.
Jessica helps us and makes a huge difference in our outreach, LinkedIn posts, email campaigns, website, organizing, promoting the webinars and facilitating, the marketing plan, and so much more.
Katie, Founder and CEO
AI for startup marketing
Use AI to get farther before you add more people and spend
I bring CMO judgment and the ability to build the AI behind it. I use that combination to help startups learn faster, make better marketing decisions, and get more done before adding headcount or outside vendors.
I build and use the agents, workflows, research, and reporting systems myself, helping preserve runway for the next product, revenue, regulatory, or funding milestone.
Before you spend the next chunk of runway, let’s talk.
In 30 minutes, I’ll look at your stage, what marketing needs to accomplish next, where the money should go, and whether I’m the right CMO to lead it.
My story
What is HPZ Marketing?
The HPZ marketing name has a deep personal meaning for me.
I named my company after my beloved grandfather.
Jessica Kelley
Founder and CEO
Jessica Kelley has more than two decades of experience in marketing and finance, with a focus on B2B and B2C channels. She has worked extensively within the healthcare, consumer, commercial, and software industries in diverse environments ranging in size from a $200 billion corporation to a startup firm.
Jessica is the founder of HPZ Marketing, an interim CMO and fractional CMO company and is certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as a Women’s Business Enterprise and Women Owned Small Business (WOSB). They provide interim and fractional executive marketing services to help businesses achieve marketing ROI with executable strategy and a relentless focus on customer acquisition and retention. Learn more about hiring a fractional CMO for your business.