B2B companies are getting squeezed from both sides. Competition is louder. Buyers are slower. And leadership (plus investors) want one thing that’s hard to fake: reliable EBITDA growth.
Meanwhile, most internal marketing teams are doing their best with a familiar handicap: too many priorities, not enough specialized horsepower, and just enough momentum to keep things “moving”… without knowing if it’s moving in the right direction.
As a result, more growth-stage and PE-backed firms are leaning into a hybrid approach: a fractional CMO for strategic clarity + a specialist agency for fast, consistent execution.
Arnaud Dasprez, CEO and Founder of HexaGroup, sat down with Frederik Klaarenbeek, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Klaarenbeek Advisory, to break down why this model works especially for companies that can’t afford a slow learning curve. Frederik has spent years helping B2B firms (often private-equity-backed) sharpen their positioning, fix their go-to-market, and build revenue marketing systems that don’t collapse the minute someone leaves.
Keep reading for Frederik’s most practical takeaways: what to fix first, what to measure, and what leaders routinely get wrong. (More of a listener? Check out the full episode here.)
A hybrid model only works when roles are crisp.
Frederik describes the fractional CMO as a short-term force multiplier (typically 6 to 12 months) brought in to set direction, establish OKRs, and create a change plan the business can actually execute.
Then the agency becomes the CMO’s built-in execution arm. Not a vendor you “submit requests” to. A team that ships.
When it’s done well, you get something rare: a lean senior team that behaves like a full-growth unit from day one. How this looks in practice: