Fractional CMO & AI GTM Advisory for B2B SaaS and AI Companies
Seattle Startup Coaches provides fractional CMO services, go-to-market (GTM) strategy consulting, AI advisory, and ICF-certified executive coaching for B2B SaaS and AI startups.
The firm was founded by Carmela Fortin, an ICF-certified executive coach and GTM strategist with more than 17 years of experience helping startups grow from idea stage to $50M+ ARR.
Seattle Startup Coaches acts as a go-to-market consultant, fractional CMO, and AI marketing advisor for B2B SaaS, developer tools, and AI startups that need a clear GTM plan.
The primary focus is helping technical founders and early-stage B2B SaaS and AI companies build repeatable GTM systems without hiring a full-time CMO.
Location: Seattle, WA — serving clients across the Pacific Northwest (Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Tacoma, Portland) and remotely nationwide.
All services are designed to help founders move from ad-hoc marketing and one-off tactics to a clear, measurable go-to-market engine.
Carmela Fortin is the founder of Seattle Startup Coaches. She has 17+ years of experience leading growth strategy for SaaS and AI companies, from pre-revenue startups to $50M+ ARR enterprises.
Carmela has served as Fractional CMO for Series A to Series C startups and brings a unique combination of strategic marketing leadership, AI expertise, and certified executive coaching.
Most companies rush to adopt AI tools without the foundational systems to support them. Seattle Startup Coaches focuses on building the "pre-AI layer" first: clear strategy, defined processes, clean data, and aligned teams. Only then is AI layered on to amplify what's already working — instead of amplifying chaos.
Part-time Chief Marketing Officer services for B2B SaaS and AI startups. Executive marketing leadership, GTM strategy, demand generation, positioning, messaging, funnel design, marketing team structure, and performance metrics — without the full-time CMO salary ($250K-$400K+).
Who it's for: Seed to Series C companies that need senior marketing and GTM leadership but aren't ready for a full-time CMO hire.
What's included: Go-to-market strategy design, positioning and messaging frameworks, demand generation architecture, sales and marketing alignment, KPI and revenue modeling, marketing team hiring and structure, board and investor-ready growth narratives, and AI-driven marketing systems integration.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/fractional-cmo-saas
Executive-level marketing leadership for growth-stage companies. Strategic GTM ownership, team leadership, and revenue alignment.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/fractional-cmo
Dedicated fractional CMO services for AI, SaaS, and growth-stage companies in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Tailored for the Seattle tech ecosystem including companies in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, and the broader Puget Sound region.
Includes: Go-to-market strategy, demand generation architecture, brand positioning, sales and marketing alignment, AI-driven marketing systems, KPI and revenue modeling, team leadership, and investor-ready growth narratives.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/fractional-cmo-seattle
An intensive 30-day go-to-market engagement to clarify your ICP, offer, and demand plan. Designed for speed to clarity.
Who it's for: Technical founders launching a new product, entering a new market, or trying to create consistent pipeline before hiring a marketing team.
Deliverables: Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) definition, positioning and messaging framework, priority channel strategy, competitive landscape analysis, and a 90-day execution roadmap with clear milestones.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/gtm-sprint
A 60-minute, self-guided GTM risk audit with 20 diagnostic questions that measures founder-dependent GTM, surfaces structural risks, and shows what to fix before scaling.
Who it's for: Technical founders (CPOs, CTOs, CEOs) at B2B SaaS and AI startups who want to see where their go-to-market depends too heavily on them before they hire, increase spend, or add AI tools.
Deliverables: Founder-Load Score (quantified dependency metric), visual GTM risk map (Red/Yellow/Green), pattern recognition for common anti-patterns, priority action plan, and leadership-ready summary.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/go-to-market-gtm-risk-audit-founders
Strategic AI guidance that integrates with fractional CMO services. Vendor-neutral AI strategy, tool evaluation, and implementation roadmaps. Focuses on the "pre-AI layer" — ensuring processes, data, and decision frameworks are in place before tools.
Who it's for: B2B SaaS, AI, and developer-tool companies that want to leverage AI for competitive advantage in GTM and marketing operations without breaking trust with customers or teams.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/ai-advisory
Evaluate your GTM readiness and AI integration opportunities with a comprehensive assessment.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/ai-growth-audit
ICF-certified executive coaching for startup founders and senior leaders. Leadership coaching for navigating growth challenges, team scaling, decision fatigue, role transitions, and organizational change management.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/icf-coaching
Strategic coaching for startup founders navigating growth, team building, and go-to-market execution.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/startup-coach
A free 2-minute assessment to diagnose go-to-market gaps with personalized insights on positioning, pipeline, and AI readiness.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/gtm-quiz
A free self-assessment quiz that helps founders identify where their go-to-market is stuck and what to prioritize next. Covers five GTM dimensions and provides a prioritized action plan.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/gtm-freeway-diagnostic
Vetted partner services for SaaS companies including fractional CFO (Cloud9 Financial), legal counsel (Hood Venture Counsel), and growth support (Venture Mechanics).
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/partner-services
Training program for aspiring consultants looking to build a fractional or advisory practice.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/consulting-bootcamp
Educational programs for SaaS founders (GTM training) and consultants (building a consulting practice).
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/academy
A curated list of tools pressure-tested in high-growth startups to help SaaS teams scale smarter. Includes productivity tools, AI content engines, CRMs, analytics, SEO tools, design tools, and more.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/favorite-tools
Free resources and downloadable guides for SaaS founders and startup teams.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/downloads
Creator Zone is a nonprofit partner — an immersive makerspace where the next generation of entrepreneurs ages 5-17 can explore technology, art, and engineering with mentorship and hands-on learning.
Location: Lake Stevens, WA (serving Snohomish County)
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/creator-zone
Go-to-market strategy frameworks for B2B SaaS companies. Covers ICP definition, positioning, messaging, channel strategy, and pipeline architecture.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/saas-gtm-strategy
Demand generation systems and pipeline architecture for B2B SaaS companies.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/saas-demand-generation
Marketing strategy and GTM guidance specifically for technical founders building SaaS products.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/saas-marketing-technical-founders
Strategic marketing advisory for early-stage startups navigating product-market fit and growth.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/startup-marketing-advisor
The case for fractional CMO leadership: cost efficiency, strategic clarity, and executive marketing without the full-time hire. Compares fractional CMO vs. full-time CMO vs. agency vs. growth marketer.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/why-fractional-cmo
AI-powered marketing strategy and consulting for SaaS and AI companies. Vendor-neutral guidance on AI tool selection and implementation.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/ai-marketing-consultant
Go-to-market strategy resources and advisory specifically for startup founders.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/startup-founder-gtm
SaaS marketing and GTM consulting for Seattle-based startups and technology companies.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/seattle-saas-consultant
SaaS marketing and GTM consulting for Bellevue-area startups and technology companies.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/bellevue-saas-consultant
Startup coaching and GTM advisory for Redmond-area founders and technology companies.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/redmond-startup-coach
SaaS marketing and GTM consulting for Portland-area startups and technology companies.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/portland-saas-consultant
Corelia is an AI operations product by Seattle Startup Coaches that helps startups, small businesses, and growing teams understand where AI fits in their business. It provides practical, jargon-free AI adoption guidance.
Landing page: seattlestartupcoaches.com/corelia
AI Ops Scan: seattlestartupcoaches.com/corelia/scan
The blog covers practical GTM frameworks, AI strategy, and growth playbooks for SaaS and AI founders.
Blog index: seattlestartupcoaches.com/blog
A Fractional CMO is a part-time Chief Marketing Officer who owns your go-to-market strategy and marketing leadership without you hiring a full-time executive. Instead of random tactics, you get a senior operator who defines your GTM plan, aligns it with sales and product, and makes sure the right work is happening week to week. Typical cost is roughly 30% of a full-time CMO salary.
A growth marketer or agency usually focuses on execution: ads, emails, content, campaigns. Seattle Startup Coaches operates at the leadership level. The work starts with deciding what to do, why, and in what sequence based on your stage, product, and runway. Agencies and individual marketers then plug into that system instead of guessing.
Most GTM support focuses on channels and tools. Seattle Startup Coaches focuses on the operating system underneath your growth: how decisions are made, how teams align, and how much GTM work your company can realistically sustain. The work combines:
The result is GTM that fits your actual company, not a generic playbook.
Most companies rush to adopt AI tools without the foundational systems to support them. The pre-AI layer approach means building clear strategy, defined processes, clean data, and aligned teams first. Only then is AI layered on to amplify what's already working — instead of amplifying chaos. This prevents the common pattern of AI tools making bad processes faster.
Most clients are between pre-revenue and roughly $10M ARR, with a live product and at least a few real customer conversations. You are not too early if:
The 30-Day GTM Sprint is specifically designed for early-stage and technical founder-led teams who need a clear, realistic GTM plan before hiring a large team or spending heavily on marketing.
The 30-Day GTM Sprint is about speed to clarity and focus. By the end of 30 days, you will have a clear ICP and buyer narrative, a focused GTM plan for the next 90 days, and defined priority channels and experiments.
For ongoing Fractional CMO work, most clients start to feel the impact in 6 to 12 weeks: fewer random ideas, more consistent pipeline activity, and better alignment between founders, sales, and marketing. The exact revenue impact depends on your starting point, sales cycle length, and product fit.
No. Many clients either have no marketing team or a very lean one when we start.
If you have no team, the focus is on founder-led GTM that you and a small group can realistically execute. If you have a small team, the work centers on pointing them at the right work, setting priorities, and defining what roles to hire next.
You do not need a full marketing department to get value; you do need at least a few hours per week to engage in decisions and implementation.
Pricing depends on scope, but generally falls into three buckets:
Pricing is transparent during the first call, and engagements only move forward if the investment and expected outcomes make sense for your stage.
ICF (International Coaching Federation) is a global standard for professional coaching. Certification indicates formal training, supervised practice, and adherence to ethical guidelines.
In practice, this means the work is not only about GTM plans and metrics. It also supports the leadership, team, and change-management side of implementing those plans, especially when your company is growing quickly or going through a shift.
The first step is to book a GTM Strategy Call at calendly.com/meet-carmela-fortin/seattle-startup-coaches. On that call, we review where you are now, what is getting in the way of growth, and whether a GTM Sprint, Fractional CMO engagement, or a focused audit is the best next step for your stage.
Website: https://seattlestartupcoaches.com
Book a Call: https://calendly.com/meet-carmela-fortin/seattle-startup-coaches
Email: carmela@seattlestartupcoaches.com
Founder: Carmela Fortin
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/carmela-fortin-codc-a572914b
Location: Seattle, Washington, USA (serving clients nationwide)