Growth Advisor for Pre-PMF and Bootstrapped Founders
You are pre-product-market-fit, bootstrapped, or running with a tiny team. You do not need a fractional operator embedded 20 hours a week. You need a senior brain on call 2 to 4 hours a month to pressure-test your growth bets before you burn cash. That is what this is.
Cash retainer from $3,000/mo, project intensives from $3,500, or 0.25-0.5% equity warrant with a 2-year vest (early-stage only, post-pre-seed). You pick which fits your cap table.
Book a 20-min intro call | If you are post-PMF, see operator tier
When you need this vs an operator
You need a growth advisor (this page) if:
- You are pre-PMF or under $50K MRR and still searching for the wedge.
- You have under 10 people and no full-time growth or marketing hire yet.
- Your weekly growth workload is under 8 hours and most of it is decision-making, not execution.
- You are bootstrapped or board-funded and cannot justify $8K-$18K/mo for an embedded operator.
- You already have a junior marketer or founder running execution and they need adult supervision, not replacement.
You need an operator (not this page) if any of these are true:
- You are post-PMF with $1M+ ARR and the bottleneck is execution speed, not strategy clarity.
- Your weekly growth load is over 15 hours and nobody senior is owning the number.
- You need someone to hire and manage a team, run paid acquisition, or rebuild attribution end to end.
If you cross PMF or your weekly growth load is over 15 hours, move to operator tier: /fractional-head-of-growth/ (B2B SaaS focus) or /fractional-cmo/ (broader marketing leadership).
What I do as a growth advisor
- Monthly growth strategy review. 90-minute working session. We look at last month’s metrics, this month’s bets, and the 2-3 decisions you are about to make. I tell you which one is wrong and why.
- Growth experiment design. I write the hypothesis, success metric, sample size, and kill criteria for every experiment you run that month. You ship them. We review what they actually proved.
- Growth hire selection. I sit in on final-round interviews for your first 1-2 growth or marketing hires. I write a one-page memo on each candidate with the trade-offs. You decide.
- Funnel diagnosis. Once per quarter I dig into your analytics (Mixpanel, GA4, HubSpot, whatever you run) and write a memo on where the funnel is leaking and what is worth fixing in the next 90 days.
- Board readout prep. If you have a board, I draft your growth slides 48 hours before the meeting. Honest numbers, framed cleanly, no spin. You edit and present.
- Async Slack/Loom on demand. Within reason. I respond within 24 hours on weekdays.
- First-90-days plan for new growth hires. When you hire a head of growth or first marketer, I write their 30-60-90 with you.
Engagement model and pricing
| Tier | Format | Hours | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Monthly retainer | 2-4 hrs/month, recurring | 2-4 hrs | From $3,000/mo |
| B. Half-day intensive | One-shot project, async followup for 14 days | 4-5 hrs | From $3,500 |
| C. Equity warrant | Same scope as Tier A, paid in equity | 2-4 hrs/month | 0.25-0.5% over 2-year vest, 6-month cliff |
Equity-only terms (Tier C) only apply if you have closed pre-seed or seed, your cap table can absorb 0.25-0.5%, we sign a standard advisor agreement (FAST or YC SAFE-style advisor grant), and you commit to a 12-month minimum.
Who I work with
- Pre-PMF SaaS founders with closed pre-seed or seed, 3-12 person teams, under $50K MRR.
- Bootstrapped operators doing $20K-$200K MRR who do not want a fractional retainer but need a brain on the bets.
- First-time founders in B2B SaaS, AI infrastructure, or developer tools who have hired a junior marketer.
- Board members and pre-seed VCs placing me as a portfolio advisor across 2-3 companies on the equity-warrant structure.
I do not work with: agencies, e-commerce DTC under $5M GMV, idea-stage / pre-incorporation, or anyone who needs the advisor to also be the doer.
What I do NOT do as an advisor
- I do not run your ads.
- I do not write your copy.
- I do not manage your team.
- I do not attend daily standups or weekly all-hands.
- I do not build your attribution stack (operator-tier work, see /fractional-head-of-growth/).
- I do not interview every candidate, only final round.
- I do not respond to Slack pings outside business hours.
- I do not take equity-only if you have not closed funding.
Proof
I led growth at cnvrg.io in the run-up to its acquisition by Intel in November 2020 (TechCrunch, Globes).
I led acquisition at Elementor through its growth from roughly $200K to over $20M ARR (2018-2020). Elementor raised $15M Series A from Lightspeed in 2020 (TechCrunch) and subsequently raised additional capital from Lightspeed (Globes).
FAQ
How much does a growth advisor actually cost?
Cash retainer starts at $3,000/mo for 2 hours of synchronous work plus async response. Half-day intensives start at $3,500. Equity is 0.25-0.5% over 2-year vest with a 6-month cliff, only if you have closed funding.
How long is the minimum commitment?
Cash retainer is month-to-month after the first 3 months. Equity is a 12-month minimum.
Can you take equity only?
Yes, if you have closed pre-seed or seed. No, if you are pre-incorporation or idea-stage.
How many hours per week do you actually work?
2 to 4 hours per month, not per week. That is the entire point of advisor tier.
Do you work with companies outside Israel?
Yes. About half my advisor work is Israel-based, half is US and EU.
How does this integrate with my existing team?
I work with your founder directly, plus the most senior marketer or growth person. The interface is the monthly call plus async Loom.
When should I upgrade from advisor to operator?
When your weekly growth load crosses 15 hours, when you cross PMF, or when you have closed Series A. See /fractional-head-of-growth/.
Can I get a reference call?
Yes, after our intro call and once we agree this is a fit.