Has anyone else noticed the rise of fractional executive titles? It's rare that I go to a GTM event now without bumping into at least 1 (or 5) folks running a fractional business. What's confusing is that I'm seeing quite a range of services being offered by these folks despite them all using the same title: from part time seller to sales consultant to true GTM strategist. Last week, I was chatting with Michael Muhlfelder, who refuses to call himself a “fractional CRO” now because the word “fractional” has picked up so much baggage over the past two years. Instead of fighting the category battle, he’d rather just explain what he actually does as “VPSaaS” (VP of Sales as a Service). The numbers behind that instinct are wild. LinkedIn had about 2,000 people with "fractional" in their title in 2022. As of 2026, it's roughly 110,000. The demand side is real too - founders genuinely need senior GTM brains they can't justify hiring full-time. Gartner projects 30% of midsize companies will engage a fractional executive by 2027. The problem is the label exploded much faster than the talent behind it did. There's a pattern here: someone hires a "fractional CRO" expecting strategy and org design but they end up paying executive rates for a person to run outbound campaigns. No process being built, no team being shaped, no operating model the company actually keeps after the engagement ends. I do believe there's a need for fractional execs but there's been a lot of hype and not a lot of real delivery on the premise (kind of like GTM engineers...). The real ones are very good and they're solving a problem that didn't have a clean answer five years ago. If you're a founder hiring one, the title and the LinkedIn bio aren't enough. Ask them to walk you through the last sales team they built and what they left behind. If they pivot to talking about playbooks and tactics, you might be hiring an expensive contractor.
I saw a post on Reddit about this. Freelancers discovered that they could charge more positioning themselves as "fractional CXO". And some companies think it gives them an air of credibility...so here we are.
There’s some truth to this assessment, but there’s at least a touch of the “they’re so crazy fallacy.” In general, any analysis that concludes a massive number of CEOs and sales teams are acting against their interest, presumes a level of incompetence and/or complacency that just isn’t reflected in the marketplace. When you zoom in, the context starts to make more sense. Many companies were burned by the “founding AE” model (ie, let’s just throw someone in the CRM and see if they can figure it out). Fractional CROs allow companies to hire premium builders for 10-50% of the time, and let entry level doers implement the system full time at a lower rate. It replaces the middle of the road approach with a more efficient and diversified way to build a GTM system. Are there people in these roles (or trying to get into them) who aren’t qualified? Certainly, but the same can be said for any role and title. And suggesting that CROs shouldn’t build playbooks is a bit perplexing. While part of the job is forecasting and strategic planning, the CRO is responsible for developing the system that the sales team executes. Otherwise, you’re just hiring someone to create forecasts based on hopes and dreams.
Exactly. “Fractional” as a label is basically dead. You can call yourself a fractional CRO, fractional VP Sales, fractional GTM leader, whatever. The scoreboard is what matters. What have you built? What have you fixed? What did you leave behind? What was actually accomplished? If that is not clear up front, you are just one more person standing in a wildly diluted crowd of “fractional GTM” profiles. The frustrating part is that some very capable senior operators are sitting on the sidelines right now because the tech employment market is broken. But the category has become so noisy that founders cannot even distinguish proven builders from expensive temporary help. That is a terrible market for both sides.
Yes this is spot on - use of "Fractional" has exploded as your stats indicate. There's nothing magical about the term - it essentially means a (relatively) senior person hired on a part-time, contract basis. I'd distinguish from "consultant" since a true "fractional" gets their hands dirty and does work as part of the team - rather than just advise.
Yes, it’s precisely why we chose not to do fractional work. We only offer outcome based engagements.
Ive been a fractional friend for years to my friend group. 😂
Erika Bartucca Interesting take, lots of comments. You're certainly right that the amount of Fractional titles have increase dramatically over the last 12-24 months. Personally, and I'm biased, but for some people this is a better way to work especially given the tech landscape and the amount of layoffs that have now become a strategy rather than a last resort. From a Founder's perspective, the advice I usually give is to get really clear about what the actual problem is. Broad problems make it hard to find the right person to help. I like to start any engagement with a free assessment I built that gives the Founder a real clear view of what their actual issue is and how to get started solving it. Then, we can decide together, if I'm the right fit or not. This removes a lot of the risk and builds trust from the beginning without a major commitment.