Every fractional CMO engagement that works eventually reaches the same decision point. The company outgrows the model that got it here. That's not a failure of the fractional approach — it's the logical conclusion. A fractional CMO is brought in to build the marketing function, not to run it forever, and the day a founder starts wondering whether it's time for a full-time hire is usually the day the fractional engagement has done its job. The harder question isn't when to mak