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Fractional CMO / Growth Advisor

I help post-traction startups build a repeatable GTM system.

For seed-to-Series B teams with demand, but no reliable acquisition rhythm yet. I turn scattered growth activity into clearer priorities, sharper creative, and a system the team can run.

Demand exists, but acquisition is inconsistent. Channels are active, but learning is not compounding. The founder is still making too many GTM decisions by instinct.
Seed to Series B Post-traction SaaS, AI, fintech, commerce Founder-led teams

Trusted in rooms with

Google GrowthMentor University of Cambridge We Scale Startups Newsflare

We'll identify the bottleneck, the next priorities, and whether I can help.

Currently considering one new advisory engagement for Q2 2026.

Portrait of Daniel Johnson

Best fit

Teams that have traction, but need senior GTM judgment before hiring the next full-time leader.

  • Typically seed to Series B
  • Useful for acquisition, activation, positioning, creative, and growth operating rhythm
  • WSS is context; this is Daniel's personal advisory practice

10+ yrs

Growth operating work

2 exits

Founder perspective

20+

Startups advised

479+

Founder sessions

Proof

Results, signal, and examples.

A cold visitor should not have to infer the credibility. The numbers, rooms, creative patterns, and founder feedback sit together here.

Primary signal

30K+

App downloads in eight months at NAVA

Daniel led the growth and marketing function, helping the app build traction quickly while lifting retention by more than 40 percent.

Acquisition30K+
Retention lift+40%
Learning loopWeekly

+30%

Lift in customer LTV at Shoprocket

Research-led positioning and digital execution contributed to stronger revenue quality while the business doubled revenue.

£6M+

Managed acquisition budget across startup clients

Paid media and growth systems across SaaS, apps, and commerce brands, with a focus on efficiency rather than volume for its own sake.

479+

Mentor sessions with founders and startup teams

Mentoring work across Google, Techstars, and GrowthMentor covering GTM, product-market fit, fundraising readiness, and customer acquisition.

01

Acquisition quality

Spend, channel fit, intent, and landing page match.

02

Activation and retention

The first moments that decide whether growth compounds.

03

Creative signal

Messaging, proof, offers, and examples tested before scaling.

"I was able to increase my revenue by about 40%, and most of that improvement can be traced back to Daniel’s call."

Christian AFounder session

"He helped me understand the nuances of building a landing page, and he’s quick on his feet."

Hal ZeitlinEnterprise partner

"I am very impressed by Daniel’s detailed insight when working with startups through Google Launchpad."

James LethemProgramme collaborator
View all testimonial themes

Most feedback clusters around clearer prioritisation, sharper landing page decisions, better customer language, and a calmer operating rhythm for founders.

Unique method

The Growth Signal Map.

A practical diagnostic for turning scattered growth activity into clearer customer, message, journey, and prioritisation decisions.

Customer

Who exactly is this for?

Persona, JTBD, buying trigger, and the actual urgency behind the problem.

Problem

What pain do we solve?

The cost of inaction, the before/after state, and why now matters.

Message

How do we speak to them?

Messaging map, proof points, objections, and creative angles.

Journey

How do they find and choose us?

User journey map, channel path, landing page, nurture, sales handoff.

01

Diagnose

Answer the four map questions: customer, problem, message, and journey.

Deliverables can include persona notes, JTBD, messaging map, and user journey map.

02

Prioritise

Rank work by impact, confidence, and ease so the team knows what to do first.

The goal is fewer bets, better evidence, and less founder guesswork.

03

Create

Turn the priorities into landing pages, offers, creative tests, content, and sales enablement.

Creative becomes a way to learn, not just a way to look busy.

04

Compound

Build a cadence for learning, reporting, and deciding what to stop doing.

The system should outlive the advisory engagement.

Resources

Lead magnets and creative signals.

Use these prompts to find the bottleneck, sharpen the message, and turn customer insight into better experiments.

Scorecard

Growth Bottleneck Scorecard

Diagnose whether the issue is customer, message, channel, offer, or cadence.Request it

Worksheet

Messaging Map Template

Turn customer language into proof, objections, landing page copy, and creative hooks.Request it

Video

YouTube Field Notes

Short explainers on GTM systems, creative testing, positioning, and founder-led growth.Watch YouTube

Newsletter

Growth Notes

A practical note on sharper growth decisions, customer insight, and better experiments.Join the list

Primary path

Advisory

Fractional CMO, growth advisory, and focused strategic sprints for post-traction teams.

Explore advisory

Founder support

Mentoring

Focused sessions for founders who need sharper customer, GTM, and growth decisions.

See mentoring

Authority platform

Speaking

Talk themes, proof points, workshops, and media angles.

See speaking topics

Point of view

Insights

Native essays plus a curated archive of interviews, profiles, talks, and growth resources.

Read selected thinking
Next step

Start with the bottleneck. Then build the system.

We'll identify the bottleneck, the next priorities, and whether I can help. Low-friction, practical, and useful even if the next step is not an engagement.

Currently considering one new advisory engagement for Q2 2026.