Lerner: Fractional executives bridge the gap before startups justify full-time hires
Ely Lerner · Ely Lerner: Should Startups Hire Advisors & How much should they be paid? | E1075 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Oct 25, 2023 · at 15:12
Ely Lerner is an EIR at Reforge and startup advisor. He discusses how founders should decide between hiring full-time executives, advisors, or fractional leadership during growth transitions.
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“There tends to be a gap Period for most startups where they are not yet big enough. It doesn't yet make sense to hire a full head of growth, head of marketing, head of product, but it's getting big enough that it's taking too much of that founder's time, or it's really what it's doing is taking lower leverage. It's you're using your cycles in a lower leverage way than you should be as a founder. Again, it's not because you want to step back from product strategy, but it's that you want to be focused on the highest leverage pieces there. That's where fractional can actually be really useful. And so a fractional person can sort of bridge that gap for you where you're not to the point yet where you need to hire, you're not big enough to hire a full-time person.”
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