What it costs to staff your first ten exec functions in 2026, full-time vs fractional vs agency, and the math on doing it with AI instead.
Staffing one exec function full-time runs $250,000 to $500,000+ a year all-in. The same function fractional is $3,000 to $22,000 a month. An agency, where one exists, is $2,500 to $40,000 a month. Marskel covers all ten functions, expert-reviewed, for $79 to $799 a month.
One row per function. Full-time is all-in annual comp. Fractional and agency are typical seed-stage monthly retainers. A true agency model does not exist for every function.
| Function | Full-time (annual) | Fractional (monthly) | Agency (monthly) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundraising | $200k-$350k (VP Finance/CorpDev) | $5k-$15k + success fee | $5k-$20k + 3-8% fee |
| Sales | $250k-$450k (VP/CRO) | $5k-$15k seed; $8k-$22k embedded | $4k-$15k (outsourced SDR) |
| Marketing | $275k-$500k+ (CMO) | $5k-$20k (avg ~$10k-$12k) | $5k-$25k (to $40k full-service) |
| Operations | $308k-$518k (COO) | $5k-$7k early; $10k-$18k scaling | No true equivalent |
| BizDev | $200k-$400k (VP) | $5k-$15k | Overlaps SDR ($4k-$15k) |
| Finance | $250k-$500k+ (CFO) | $3.5k-$7.5k seed; to $15k | $500-$2,500 books; $8k-$25k bundle |
| Legal | ~$150k-$160k (first GC) | $2,800-$10k (outsourced GC) | Law firm on retainer |
| People / HR | ~$140k median (HR Mgr) | $1,500-$8,000 (CHRO) | $1,500-$8,000 (PEO) |
| Product | $250k-$450k (CPO) | $5k-$15k; $10k-$18k embedded | No true equivalent |
| Customer Success | $200k-$350k (VP CS) | $5k-$15k | Support BPO (execution only) |
Salary is the visible number. The hidden ones decide whether a hire pays off. Startup go-to-market execs turn over fast, searches drag, and ramp eats months before a hire produces anything.
Hire a person when you need someone in the room full-time, owning one function end to end, building deep context over years. For everything before that, and for the nine functions you cannot afford to staff yet, fractional, agency, or AI covers the gap. The fractional engagement also doubles as a try-before-you-buy, which collapses both the mis-hire risk and the 60-to-120-day search when you do convert.
All figures are US, 2026, seed to Series A unless noted. Full-time "total comp" mixes base, bonus, equity and benefit loading, so cash-only comparisons understate the full-time cost. Fractional and agency retainer ranges come largely from the firms and marketplaces that sell those services, so treat them as market-indicative, not audited. Geography and stage move every number: SF and NYC run 20-35% above national averages. BizDev, Customer Success and Product have thinner independent pricing data; their ranges are partly inferred from the broader fractional-executive market and are flagged as estimates. Marskel publishes this report and sells an AI exec-team product, which we state plainly so you can weigh the framing.
One correction worth noting: a widely-repeated stat that "34% of first-time CMOs complete their initial contract" could not be traced to any primary source and is not used here. Tenure figures come from Pave (startup) and Spencer Stuart (public-company) instead.
Items older than ~12 months (the Heidrick & Struggles and Leadership IQ failure-rate studies) are the original primary sources and are corroborated by more recent restatements.
See the full math on building with AI instead of hiring.
Marskel vs hiring