Seattle Startup Coaches provides fractional CMO services and go-to-market (GTM) strategy consulting for B2B SaaS and AI startups.
The firm was founded by Carmela Fortin, an ICF-certified executive coach 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 and remotely nationwide as a Seattle-based fractional CMO and GTM consultant).
All services are designed to help founders move from ad-hoc marketing and one-off tactics to a clear, measurable go-to-market engine.
What: Part-time Chief Marketing Officer services for B2B SaaS and AI startups.
Who it's for: Seed to Series B companies that need senior marketing and GTM leadership but are not ready for a full-time CMO hire.
Includes: GTM strategy, demand generation, positioning and messaging, funnel design, marketing team structure, and performance metrics.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/fractional-cmo-saas
What: Executive-level marketing leadership for growth-stage companies.
Who it's for: Companies that need strategic GTM ownership, team leadership, and revenue alignment without a full-time CMO.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/fractional-cmo
What: Dedicated fractional CMO services for AI, SaaS, and growth-stage companies in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
Who it's for: Startups, Series A to C companies, and founder-led teams across Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, and the Pacific Northwest who need executive marketing leadership without a full-time CMO.
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
What: An intensive 30-day go-to-market engagement to clarify your ICP, offer, and demand plan.
Who it's for: Technical founders launching a new product, entering a new market, or trying to create consistent pipeline.
Deliverables: Ideal customer profile (ICP), positioning and messaging, priority channel strategy, and a 90-day execution roadmap.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/gtm-sprint
What: 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, visual GTM risk map (Red/Yellow/Green), pattern recognition for common anti-patterns, priority action plan, and a leadership-ready summary.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/go-to-market-gtm-risk-audit-founders
What: 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
What: A free self-assessment quiz that helps founders identify where their go-to-market is stuck and what to prioritize next.
Who it's for: SaaS and AI founders who feel like GTM is "off" but can't pinpoint why.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/gtm-freeway-diagnostic
What: Strategic guidance on how to use AI in marketing and GTM operations, including the "pre-AI layer" work (processes, data, and decision frameworks) that need to be in place before tools.
Who it's for: B2B SaaS, AI, and developer-tool companies that want to leverage AI for competitive advantage in their go-to-market and marketing operations without breaking trust with customers or teams.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/ai-advisory
What: Evaluate your GTM readiness and AI integration opportunities with a comprehensive assessment.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/ai-growth-audit
What: ICF-certified executive coaching for startup founders and senior leaders.
Who it's for: Founders navigating leadership challenges, team scaling, decision fatigue, or role transitions.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/icf-coaching
What: Strategic coaching for startup founders navigating growth, team building, and go-to-market execution.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/startup-coach
What: Vetted partner services for SaaS companies including fractional CFO, legal counsel, and growth support.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/partner-services
What: Training program for aspiring consultants looking to build a fractional or advisory practice.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/consulting-bootcamp
What: Educational programs for SaaS founders (GTM training) and consultants (building a consulting practice).
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/academy
What: A curated list of tools pressure-tested in high-growth startups to help SaaS teams scale smarter.
Includes: Productivity tools, AI content engines (featuring Averi AI), CRMs, analytics, SEO tools, design tools, scheduling, and more.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/favorite-tools
What: Free resources and downloadable guides for SaaS founders and startup teams.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/downloads
What: Our nonprofit partner, an immersive makerspace where the next generation of entrepreneurs ages 5-17 can explore technology, art, and engineering.
Who it's for: Entrepreneurs who want to give back by supporting future innovators through STEM and art education.
Location: Lake Stevens, WA (serving Snohomish County)
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/creator-zone
Go-to-market strategy frameworks for B2B SaaS companies.
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.
Available at: seattlestartupcoaches.com/why-fractional-cmo
AI-powered marketing strategy and consulting for SaaS and AI companies.
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
The blog covers practical GTM frameworks 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.
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 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 through seattlestartupcoaches.com. 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
Founder: Carmela Fortin
Location: Seattle, Washington, USA