How to build structure without burning millions
You’ve just raised your Series A. Congratulations – you’ve achieved something only a small percentage of start-ups ever reach. But once the champagne has gone flat, the realisation sets in: now the hard work of scaling begins.
For many founders, this is the moment where the marketing and communications gap becomes impossible to ignore. Until now, you’ve probably relied on founder-led storytelling, scrappy GTM efforts, and maybe a part-time marketer or sales-led content.
But Series A changes the game. Suddenly:
- You need to look like a credible, investable business – not just a promising start-up.
- You’re competing for top-tier talent who expect to see a clear mission and strong employer brand.
- Investors want consistent signals of momentum, not just financial KPIs.
- Customers expect clarity, proof points, and professional communications.
The problem? Most founders respond to this by rushing into full-time hires. A CMO, a VP of Marketing, a comms lead – sometimes all at once. It’s an expensive step, often costing £150k+ per senior hire, before you’ve added budgets for agency support, paid media or marketing tools. Not to mention the need for a broader business strategy they need to succeed.
In many cases, the wrong hires burn cash and time while the fundamentals of your story remain shaky.
Bridging the gap with fractional expertise
This is where fractional support can be transformative. Instead of hiring a senior team too soon, you can dial in experienced, strategic marketing and comms expertise at the exact level you need – scaling it up for key moments (funding rounds, launches, partnerships) and down during quieter periods.
Fractional marketing and comms support gives you:
- Narrative clarity: defining the story that ties your vision, product, and growth together.
- Momentum signalling: crafting and amplifying proof points that investors and media take seriously.
- Strategic scaffolding: setting up the frameworks so permanent hires can execute without flailing.
- Cost control: access to senior talent without the overhead of a full-time leadership team.
Spend with intention
Series A isn’t the end of the journey, it’s the beginning of scale. The way you communicate and the story you tell now will shape how future investors, partners, and talent see your business.
At Rowntree2, we help tech and fintech founders fill this critical gap – bringing in the senior-level strategy to scale your story, without burning through your fresh capital on expensive hires that are slow to hire and onboard.
Raising Series A is hard. But turning it into Series B and beyond? That depends on the story you tell next.
