You’re running marketing without
a peer benchmark.

Most founder-CEOs run the marketing seat without a clean reading of how their engine compares to peers at the same raise stage. The board asks. The investors ask. The number you cite — if you cite one — is anecdotal. We’re publishing the reading.

Volume 1 · Q2 2026

The Founder-CEO Marketing Maturity Index.

“Most founder-CEOs score below 4/10 on three of eight marketing dimensions. The pattern is consistent across raise stage. The fix is not hiring.”

— Working hypothesis, V1 charter

Sample size: 100 founder-CEOs
Stage: Seed → Series B B2B SaaS
Geography: Global, English-first
Instrument: 8-dimension scored diagnostic + CMRB 4-dial framework
Scoring: 0 – 10 per dimension, partner-reviewed
Anonymisation: Co-signed by Iris (Data Steward) and Pythia (Research Oracle)
Embargoed publication: ~7 June 2026
Format: Whitepaper + distribution charts + named-cluster gap analysis

What gets scored

Eight dimensions. Each scored zero to ten. Each partner-reviewed.

ICP discipline

How sharply the customer is named, sized, and segmented.

Positioning frame

Whether the company has a defensible, repeatable positioning hierarchy.

Pipeline architecture

How structured the pipeline is — channels, stages, conversion logic.

Demand generation

Demand-creation vs demand-capture mix, and the discipline behind it.

Brand system

Visual and verbal consistency across surfaces. Style guide depth.

Content engine

Cadence, angle quality, distribution discipline, repurposing logic.

Measurement spine

KPI cascade, attribution discipline, weekly recalibration practice.

Operating cadence

Marketing-sales SLA, pipeline reviews, recalibration rhythm.

Why the reading is defensible

Methodology in plain English.

The instrument is the same eight-pillar diagnostic Tommy runs on retainer engagements — refined across more than a hundred founder conversations. The CMRB four-dial frame (marketing maturity, AI maturity, role, organisation stage) sits underneath, so every score reads in the right register.

Two-thirds of the panel comes from inside the TMK engagement bench, where score evidence is already on file. The remaining third is sourced externally by Pythia (our research layer) through founder networks, accelerator cohorts, and operator communities — to correct for the bias that founders who hire us already recognise a problem.

Anonymisation is co-signed by Iris (Data Steward) and Pythia before any chart leaves the firm. No single-cluster identification. No named-company callouts without explicit opt-in. The published artefact will pass the same standard a regulated research panel would apply.

For founders

Join the panel.

Forty-five-minute confidential interview. You score on the same instrument every other panellist scores on. You receive your scored gap report — anonymised — before publication.

Join the panel

For everyone else

Get the report on day one.

The report ships under embargo to a small list ahead of public release. Investors, board members, operators — sign up to read it the morning it lands.