The traditional marketing team model is breaking. In this episode of Startup Marketer Uncut, host The Kay Prince talks with Mack McKelvey, CEO of SalientMG and former SVP at Millennial Media, about how the CMO role is evolving, and why fractional CMOs, outsourced teams, and agile marketing models are taking over the startup world.

Mack breaks down what early-stage founders get wrong about marketing, when it makes sense to hire full-time versus fractional, and how to treat marketing as an investment, not a cost. If you’ve ever questioned whether your startup is built for growth or just survival, this conversation will change how you think about building your team.

Check out http://morepositive.ai/ to find positive news stories that brighten your day.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Why traditional marketing teams don’t fit startups

5:12 - The rise of the fractional CMO

12:45 - When to hire in-house vs. outsource

20:20 - How to make founders see marketing as an investment

28:55 - The “era of the individual” and investing in yourself

StartUp Marketer (SUM) is the first marketing ecosystem designed specifically for startup marketers. It fuses accelerator muscle and community wisdom to elevate your startup marketing skills and help you accelerate your startup’s trajectory. By blending development tools—including on-demand courses, downloadable resources, and a comprehensive content library—with vibrant "spaces" for real-time interaction, SUM ensures marketers remain at the industry’s cutting edge.Learn More Here: https://thestartupmarketer.com/

What if the best marketing move you can make… is the wrong one?

In this episode, we sit down with Alex Stonehouse, founder of Brilliantly Wrong and marketing strategist for early-stage startups, to talk about why playing it safe kills growth, how to build trust before traction, and why speed beats perfection every time. From crafting authentic thought leadership to balancing brand and performance, Alex shares the real frameworks that make startups stand out without the fluff or 50-slide decks.

Topics include:

- The “Brilliantly Wrong” mindset and how it sparks creativity

- How to build brand trust before product-market fit

- Go-to-market strategy for pre-seed, seed, and Series A startups

- Moving with culture (and knowing when to take risks)

If you’ve ever felt buried under bloated marketing plans or “best practices” that don’t actually work, this one’s for you.

StartUp Marketer (SUM) is the first marketing ecosystem designed specifically for startup marketers. It fuses accelerator muscle and community wisdom to elevate your startup marketing skills and help you accelerate your startup’s trajectory. By blending development tools—including on-demand courses, downloadable resources, and a comprehensive content library—with vibrant "spaces" for real-time interaction, SUM ensures marketers remain at the industry’s cutting edge.

Learn More Here: https://thestartupmarketer.com/

Most brands still treat their customers like transactions, and it’s costing them everything. In this episode of Startup Marketing Uncut, we sit down with Christina Garnett, fractional Chief Customer Officer and author of Transforming Customer Brand Relationships, to talk about how empathy, authenticity, and community can transform your bottom line.

We dive into:

- Why so many companies still see customers as revenue, not people, and how to fix it.

- The power of micro-moments, handwritten notes, and “third places” to build real connection.

- How to turn customers into loyal advocates (and why that matters most in a downturn).

- Why community-led growth isn’t a hype cycle, it’s a survival strategy.

Whether you’re a scrappy startup or scaling fast, this conversation will change the way you think about customer experience, and show you how to build a brand people never want to leave.

StartUp Marketer (SUM) is the first marketing ecosystem designed specifically for startup marketers. It fuses accelerator muscle and community wisdom to elevate your startup marketing skills and help you accelerate your startup’s trajectory. By blending development tools—including on-demand courses, downloadable resources, and a comprehensive content library—with vibrant "spaces" for real-time interaction, SUM ensures marketers remain at the industry’s cutting edge.Learn More Here: https://thestartupmarketer.com/