ZILU Consultancy Founder Catherine Mak Featured in Fractional Insider Interview on Growth Mistakes and the Value of a Fractional CMO
This interview with Fractional Insider probably gives the clearest picture yet of who I am, how I think, and an honest perspective on what I've seen so far. At the core of it: I believe marketing is a growth engine, and everything we do should tie back to a commercial outcome — even if it's not always short-term. That's a goal I believe should be shared collectively across sales, product, finance and founders — not owned by marketing alone.
A few things stood out to me :
The biggest mistake I see isn't a broken campaign — it's a business that hasn't noticed the market already moved.
Revenue can still be coming in while visibility, efficiency and future demand are quietly eroding underneath. Nothing looks "obviously broken." That's what makes it dangerous.
I also talked about the uncomfortable truth for founders —
That the thing that built the business (you, making every decision) can become the very thing capping it.
That's not a criticism. It's just what happens when ambition outgrows structure, and I see it constantly.
What I enjoyed most about this conversation was being asked what separates a strong fractional leader from an average one. My answer: it's not years of experience or a senior title.
It's whether you can walk into a business with a different constraint every time — funding but no structure, a great product but weak positioning, a team but no direction — and still read the situation accurately enough to move it forward.
That's the approach I bring into every engagement. I don't walk in and start changing things to look busy. The first 30 days are about diagnosis — understanding what's actually broken versus what's just noise — because most companies know something isn't working, but not always what the real problem is.
And I said something in there I stand behind:
A good fractional CMO should be able to do anything, but not everything.
The value isn't doing every task — it's knowing which lever matters, which specialist to bring in, and when the business needs judgement that goes beyond the data.
If you're a founder or CEO feeling like your marketing structure hasn't kept pace with your ambition — this is worth a read: [link to interview]
Want to find out the very reason that slows down your growth?
Zilu has just launched a Discovery offer for summer - Marketing Audit for Growth, it is a 4-week structured audit, led by Catherine, to look at where growth is actually stalling in your business, before you spend another pound guessing. Learn more.
Or if you'd rather talk it through directly, book your 30 min free consultation call.
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