For CMOs · A peer, not a vendor
Sometimes the most valuable thing is one outside conversation.
For CMOs and senior marketing leaders who want a peer-level thinking partner — someone who’s carried the number and made the hard calls.
CMOs don’t usually need more execution — they have teams and agencies for that. What’s often missing is a peer to think with: someone senior enough to challenge the strategy, with no stake in the internal politics.
It’s lonely at the top of marketing
The CMO seat is uniquely isolated — the team looks to you for answers, the board looks to you for results, and there’s rarely anyone to pressure-test the big calls with who actually understands the craft and has no agenda.
A peer who’s made the same calls
Varun has built a function from zero, led transformation, and owned the number. That means the conversation is peer-to-peer: a sounding board for the strategic decisions, a second opinion on the hard calls, and honest challenge when it’s useful.
Common questions
What does working together look like?
Usually an advisory relationship or periodic strategic sessions — light-touch, senior, and focused on the decisions that matter rather than day-to-day execution.
I already have agencies and a team
Good — this isn’t a replacement for either. It’s the peer perspective that sits above both, which teams and agencies structurally can’t provide.
Is this just consulting by another name?
It’s more like having a trusted peer on call. Less deliverable-driven, more judgement-driven — the conversations that make the big decisions better.
The leadership record: Leadership Experience · advisory: how it works.