Over fifteen years I've worked with founders through paid fractional CMO engagements and as a mentor and advisor across Founder Institute, Techstars, Builders + Backers, W.E.Build and Act House, supporting 300+ founder relationships across stages, sectors, and geographies.
I don't show up with a playbook. I show up with the right questions. Deep experience at the inflection points where messaging, alignment, and customer strategy need to work as one means I know which questions change the trajectory.
What I actually fix
Most founder-led companies at growth inflection points have the same underlying problem, even if it looks different on the surface. Messaging, internal alignment, and customer needs are pulling in different directions. The deck says one thing, the sales team pitches another, and marketing is producing content that isn't converting.
That disconnection is expensive. It slows decisions, confuses buyers, and makes it impossible to invest in growth with any certainty.
I come in and close that gap. Not by taking over, but by bringing a 360-degree view that connects what you say, what you sell, and what your customers actually need, until they're all telling the same story.
“Maria brings a strong strategic perspective and a deep understanding of the innovation and tech landscape. She is well-versed in go-to-market strategy, positioning, and broader industry dynamics.”
How I work
I join at pivotal moments. When early traction exists but the marketing hasn't caught up with the ambition. When positioning is unclear and every team has a different answer to "what do we actually sell." When a founder knows something needs to change but isn't sure what to fix first.
I work through it with you, not around you.
That means asking hard questions early enough to change direction. Challenging assumptions that have gone unexamined. Connecting marketing to product, narrative to sales motion, brand to investor story. The strategic view and the execution discipline that follows it.
Founders I've worked with describe the shift in similar ways. Before: feeling out to sea, fragmented strategy, marketing happening around the company. After: clear direction, aligned teams, a coherent story that works from the pitch deck to the sales call to the homepage. And the certainty to invest in what comes next.
The background
I founded FWD Action after earning my MBA in Global Management at Thunderbird. My career started in media and moved into international business and marketing leadership across the US, EU, UK, and Latin America.
Over fifteen years I've worked with founder-led and growth-stage companies across fintech, SaaS, mediatech, ISP, sports tech, Femtech, Arts and entertainment. Different sectors, same underlying moment: a company ready to grow that hasn't yet aligned around what it's selling, to whom, and why it wins.
That cross-sector pattern recognition is what makes the work faster and more precise than starting from scratch inside a single vertical.
Is this the right moment?
You're post-seed to Series A. You have something working. The marketing hasn't caught up with where the company needs to go, and you're ready for that to change.
You're not looking for someone to execute a playbook. You're looking for a thinking partner who can see the whole board, ask the questions that shift the direction, and work alongside you to build something you can invest from with certainty.
If that's where you are, let's talk.