This page is for University of Michigan Zell Lurie Institute founders looking for free GTM feedback from a B2B SaaS marketing operator with five startup VP of Marketing roles.
Free 30-60 minute GTM session for UMich Zell Lurie Institute founders. Honest feedback on your positioning, messaging, and early pipeline. No prep required. No pitch from me.
Request Your Free Session
I have been VP of Marketing at five early-stage startups. Every one of them was built by people sharper than me on the technical side. What I could do that they couldn't, at least not yet, was take a complex product and turn it into a message that made a buyer say yes.
People gave me their time when I needed it most. That changed where I ended up. These sessions are how I build the bridge behind me.
The session is free because I think the right way to work with early-stage founders is to be useful before anything else. Some of those conversations turn into ongoing work. Most don't, and that's fine. The goal is that you leave with something you can act on that week.
If you're a Zell Lurie founder trying to figure out how to sell what you've built, that's the conversation I want to have.
If you're a Zell Lurie founder and at least two of those land, this session was built for you.
Positioning and messagingWhy your current language isn't turning technical depth into buyer urgency, and what to change first.
ICP sharpnessWhether your ideal customer is actually buyable at your stage, or whether you're aimed at a segment that can't move fast enough to matter right now.
Early pipeline structureHow you're generating demand, where the drop-off is, and what a realistic first GTM motion looks like with what you actually have.
First marketing hireWhether you're ready to hire, what to look for, and how to avoid the hire that looks right on paper and sets you back six months.
Your specific questionBring the thing that's been sitting on your whiteboard for three weeks. That's usually where we start.
No prep required. No slides. No pitch deck. Just show up and we'll dig in.
Michigan alumni have built some remarkable companies across cybersecurity, deep tech, and enterprise software. A few you'll recognize.
Michigan produces founders with real conviction: engineers who understand the technical problem deeply, Ross graduates who understand the market, and a Midwest work ethic that's less interested in optics than in building something that actually works. The challenge I see most often is that the clarity of conviction doesn't always translate into a commercial story that converts buyers quickly. That's the gap this session is for.
I've been VP of Marketing at five B2B SaaS startups, from pre-revenue through Series B. The job was always the same: take a technically strong product, figure out who actually needs to buy it, and build the smallest marketing motion that proves the thesis before you scale it.
I run a Portfolio CMO practice with a small number of Series A and B companies. The free sessions sit outside that. No sales agenda.
More about my backgroundThe session stands on its own. You'll leave with feedback you can act on. No follow-up pitch, no invoice.
A small number of founders want to keep going after the session. Some are trying to hire their first marketing leader and want a thought partner through that process. Some are a few months from a Series A and need someone in the room while they build the GTM motion. For those conversations, I work as an advisor or a senior marketing leader embedded in the business on a part-time basis, without the overhead of a full-time executive hire.
If that's relevant after we talk, I'll tell you what it looks like. If it's not, the session still stands. More on how I work with founders.
Send a quick email with what you're building and what you want to think through. I'll get back to you within 48 hours.
[email protected] Subject line: Free GTM Session -- Zell Lurie Institute