The Executive Leverage Matrix
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Ventures & Intelligence
The maths, plainly
Most companies hire a full-time executive before they actually need one. They tell themselves they’re buying capability. What they’re really buying is a salary, a pension, a laptop, and eighteen months of somebody finding their feet.
The Full-Time Trap
- ❌ Cost: £150k - £200k + Equity
- ❌ Time spent on Strategy: 20%
- ❌ Time spent on HR/Admin: 80%
- ❌ Risk: High (hard to remove if it doesn’t work out)
Result: you pay £120k a year for admin.
The Fractional Lever
- ✅ Cost: £60k - £90k (fixed)
- ✅ Time spent on Strategy: 100%
- ✅ Time spent on HR/Admin: 0%
- ✅ Risk: Low (30 days’ notice, either way)
Result: you pay for the thinking. Nobody bills you for the chair.
The rule of thumb
Hire full-time when the job is managing people.
Hire fractional when the job is managing judgement.
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