When to Hire Your First Marketing Team: A Stage-by-Stage Startup Guide

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Marketing Hiring Decision Tree infographic showing 5 startup stages with corresponding hiring recommendations. Stage 1 Pre-seed ($0-100K funding): Hire Market Research Consultant for $2K-5K over 2-4 weeks to answer 'Is there a market?'. Stage 2 Seed ($500K-2M funding): Hire Fractional CMO + Small Agency for $5K-15K/month over 6-12 months to answer 'Who will buy and why?'. Stage 3 Series A ($2M-15M funding): Hire Marketing Manager + 2-3 Specialists for $15K-50K/month over 12-18 months to answer 'How do we scale?'. Stage 4 Series B/C ($15M+ funding): Hire VP Marketing + 5-10 Team for $40K-150K/month over 18+ months to answer 'How do we dominate?'. Stage 5 Late Stage ($50M+ funding): Hire CMO + Full Organization for $100K-500K/month ongoing to answer 'How do we own the category?'. Each stage includes colorful icons representing different marketing functions.

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