Question 1

What is a fractional head of growth?

Accepted Answer

A fractional Head of Growth is a part-time senior growth leader who owns a company’s end-to-end growth engine — aligning product, marketing, and lifecycle around one strategy and a single north-star metric — usually for 10–20 hours a week.

Question 2

Is a Head of Growth the same as a Chief Growth Officer (CGO)?

Accepted Answer

Largely yes. The titles are used interchangeably; “Chief Growth Officer” signals a more senior, executive framing, but both own cross-functional growth across product, marketing, and lifecycle.

Question 3

What’s the difference between a CGO and a CRO?

Accepted Answer

A CGO (or Head of Growth) owns the full growth engine, including product-led and lifecycle growth, optimizing for a north-star metric. A CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) owns revenue specifically — sales, marketing, and customer-success alignment — and is measured on ARR and quota attainment.

Question 4

Head of Growth vs CMO — which do I need?

Accepted Answer

Hire a fractional Head of Growth when you need cross-functional growth experimentation across product and marketing, often pre-Series-A. Hire a fractional CMO when you have product-market fit and need to build and scale the marketing function specifically.

Question 5

How much does a fractional head of growth cost?

Accepted Answer

Typically $8,000–$20,000 per month for 10–20 hours a week on a month-to-month retainer — far less than a full-time Head of Growth, who can cost $200,000+ per year in salary plus equity.

Question 6

When should a startup hire a fractional head of growth?

Accepted Answer

When you have early traction and need someone to own and systematize growth but can’t yet justify a full-time executive — often between pre-seed and Series A, especially for product-led or hybrid go-to-market motions.

Role	Scope	KPIs owned	When to choose	Fractional rate
Head of Growth / CGO	Cross-functional growth across product, marketing & lifecycle; owns growth loops and experimentation	Activation, retention, growth rate, north-star metric, CAC payback	Pre-seed to Series A; PLG or hybrid motion; you need one owner of end-to-end growth	$8–20k/mo
CMO	The marketing function — brand, demand gen, content, product marketing	Pipeline, MQL→SQL, CAC, brand awareness	Post-product-market-fit; scaling the marketing org	$8–20k/mo
CRO	All revenue — sales, marketing & CS alignment, forecasting, RevOps	ARR, win rate, quota attainment, net revenue retention	$2–20M ARR; transitioning out of founder-led sales	$10–25k/mo
VP of Growth	Hands-on execution of growth experiments and channels (often reports to a Head of Growth or CMO)	Channel CAC, conversion rate, experiment velocity	You have a growth strategy and need execution horsepower	Varies

Fractional Head of Growth

Head of Growth vs CMO, CGO, CRO & VP of Growth

What a fractional Head of Growth costs

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