When our CMOs work within startups, one of the most common things we hear is: “We need to set a marketing budget, but don’t know where to start.” Too often, the budget becomes a rear-view mirror exercise (what was spent last year) or a guessing game (what feels affordable). Done properly, though, your marketing budget isn’t just an overhead, it’s a powerful, strategic driver for growth.

Any business in the startup phase is under immense pressure. Limited budgets, high expectations, and the relentless pace of early growth can put pressure on every function of the business – particularly marketing. So the recent explosion of AI, promising automation, scale, and cost reduction, has left many founders wondering whether AI can take the place of a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) within their business?

Every founder reaches a moment where growth becomes harder than it used to be. Early expansion might come from a great product, strong word-of-mouth, or the founder’s own network, but scaling beyond that can be a different game entirely. That’s where many startups find themselves stuck – growing, but not fast enough; investing in ‘random acts of marketing’ but not seeing a return; and spending more time being reactive and tactical rather than proactive and strategic.