The 2017 Fastest Growing Firms: Chief Outsiders

Saxby: We have seen increasing demand for the services of fractional Chief Marketing Officers within private equity, which has fueled rapid expansion in this segment. We recently have doubled the number of PE-owned businesses that we have served, making this the fastest-growing segment of our client base. We currently have more than 55 CMOs traveling the country, dispensing market-oriented insights and leading growth implementation plans with small- and mid-market companies—a more than 20 percent increase from two years ago.

Consulting: How is this year shaping up for your firm? 

Saxby: 2017 has been a bellwether year for Chief Outsiders—in addition to the growth in the PE segment highlighted above, we recently celebrated the company's 500th client—no small feat for a company that launched less than a decade ago, in the shadows of the recession. We also attained a spot in the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing U.S. businesses for the fourth consecutive year.

Consulting:  How would you describe your firm's outlook for 2018? Where do you see the most opportunities? 

Saxby: Private Equity portfolio clients remain atop our opportunity list for the coming year. Private Equity firms are more focused than ever at driving top-line growth as the core strategy to increasing company valuations. Combined with an increasing climate of securing fractional or contracted resources—including at the executive level (some refer to it as the gig economy)—puts Chief Outsiders in an excellent position to further ramp its growth trajectory.

Consulting:  What would you say are your firm's biggest challenges in 2018? 

Saxby: Among our biggest challenges is to continue to keep growing our firm's roster of qualified CMOs. Our CMOS work full-time exclusively as part of Chief Outsiders. We only hire fractional CMOs that have risen to the level of VP of Marketing or above in their careers, at billion dollar companies—so this means that we are extremely selective. It also assures our clients that they will always benefit from industry leaders when working with a Chief Outsider.

Consulting: What does being named one of Consulting's Fastest Growing Firms mean to your firm, your employees and your clients? 

Saxby: It's simply an affirmation of our hard work, and the belief that our model—the "Executives-as-a-Service" approach—is the right one for the times. We have only achieved our success because our clients, too, have succeeded from our partnership. It is extremely gratifying to look back at the hundreds of companies, products and services that are thriving as a result of work with Chief Outsiders and our fractional CMOs.