The board said no... And then the story changed.

"The data was all there. The results were real. What Karine did was get the story out of the numbers and help me draw a straight line from activity to revenue."

CMO, B2B SaaS Vendor

"

The Situation

A strong CMO. A sceptical board. Two weeks to make the case.

The company was at a pivotal moment. Series C funded, scaling across global markets, marketing delivering on target. Pipeline contribution was up. ARR & NRR were healthy. Brand awareness in their core segment was measurably growing.

But the CFO didn't see it that way and the CMO asked for my help. We had two weeks to convince the leadership team, and a board pack to build from scratch.

The Company

Mid-market CX SaaS platform, scaling fast across key global territories with PE backing and Series D on the horizon.

The CMO

Experienced, credible, stretched thin. Running a lean team across multiple markets with no bandwidth left for a complex financial narrative.

The Team

Growth-focused but CFO-led. Numbers-first culture. Low tolerance for slides that describe activity without proving commercial impact.

The Moment

14 days to the board meeting. A 20% budget increase on the table. One shot to reframe marketing as a growth engine, not a cost line.

What I Did

Turned three dashboards of data into one undeniable story.

I started where the CFO would start: the numbers. Half a day embedded with the CMO, working through pipeline data, attribution models and spend history. The results were there. But they were scattered and framed as marketing metrics rather than business outcomes.

I didn't build a better version of what existed. I rebuilt it from the CFO's perspective outward.

The process:

AUDIT: Full review of pipeline attribution data, campaign ROI and competitive spend benchmarks. Identified three metrics that directly mapped to revenue and could withstand CFO scrutiny.

REFRAME: Built a three-year pipeline contribution model showing the compounding effect of consistent marketing investment. Reframed the ask from "more budget" to "protecting momentum already paid for."

PRESSURE-TEST: Checked every slide against anticipated CFO objections. Built a dedicated risk slide showing the cost of cutting, or even standing still: lost pipeline, competitor share gain, customer attrition risk...

DAY 9–12: DECK: Delivered a 14-slide board pack: executive summary, multiplier model, competitive benchmarking and a forward plan with clear milestones and accountability metrics.

The Outcome

Budget approved. Reputation cemented.

The 20% budget increase was approved in full, without negotiation. The presentation ran to time with no difficult questions, because every possible objection had already been answered in the deck.

The CMO walked out with an increased budget, a new level of credibility at the leadership table, and a repeatable framework for every board meeting that followed.

The CFO didn't just approve the budget, he asked for a copy of the financial model to share with two other portfolio companies.

CMO, B2B SaaS Vendor

20%

Budget increase approved in full

14

Days from brief to board-ready deck

0

Objections raised in the boardroom