Weekly advisory for founders and CEOs.
One standing hour a week, 1:1, for the decisions that don’t have a clean answer.
Positioning. Hiring. GTM sequencing. Growth targets and the 30, 60 and 90-day plan behind them.
We show up with the homework done. You leave with a defensible move you can act on that week.
Three seats at three different tables.
The bigger the call, the lonelier the room. We've been in that room.
Founders
The weekly hour is for the decisions that don't have a clean answer yet, with someone who'll ask the questions your team won't.
- Positioning and go-to-market bets. Where to plant the flag, where to walk away.
- Executive hiring, coaching, and org design calls.
- Pricing, packaging, and business model shifts.
- Capital and runway calls when the numbers don't line up.
- The marketing and revenue plumbing that decides whether any of the above compounds.
- Strategic reads on whatever's biggest that week.
CEOs
Your week is a string of decisions made with incomplete information. This is a standing hour to pressure-test the biggest one before it gets made.
- A recurring weekly hour, calendar-locked.
- A pre-read on what's biggest that week, so the hour earns its keep.
- A defensible recommendation by the end of the call.
- Async access for quick gut-checks between sessions.
- A monthly deep-dive on the harder swings.
VC and PE operating partners
Not every portfolio company needs a fractional CMO. Some need a sharp weekly seat for the founder, on call, above the day-to-day.
- Drop in a weekly advisor for portfolio CEOs.
- Standardize the cadence across the portfolio without making the work generic.
- Surface flags early, before they become board-meeting problems.
“Rus gives me a place to think out loud without lowering the confidence of everyone else in the building.”Tooba Durraze, Founder and CEO, Amoeba AI
Who's in the seat
Every session is with Rus Ackner, TRCH's founder. Multiple global CMO seats. CEO of his own portfolio businesses. Senior operator across brand, go-to-market, org design and capital, through acquisitions and exits. He has been on the buying side of the calls you're making, and that is what makes the read on the hour different.
When a call needs a specialist, other experts from Rus's network are brought in, at no additional obligation or cost. More about Rus
One wrong call costs more than the seat.
Typical cost of a call that goes the wrong way.
- $150K – $300K One senior hire mistake.
- $500K+ One botched product launch.
- $100K+ One quarter of drift in positioning.
“Rus and team have a way of telling you what you need to hear when you need to hear it. He challenges your thinking without steering you wrong, stays objective, and helps you see situations from a different angle.”A.D., CEO and Founder, Veridion Finance
Two ways to work with us: weekly advisory or embedded leadership.
Weekly Seat
For CEOs and founders who want a standing seat for the biggest strategic call each week.
- One hour a week, calendar-locked and recurring.
- Async questions between calls, within reason.
- A two-hour kickoff in week one to map the business and the calls you're wrestling with. Included, not extra.
Embedded Advisor
For CEOs who need the seat there when the decision comes up, not seven days from now.
- Everything in the Weekly Seat.
- A monthly 90-minute working session on the quarter's biggest bet.
- Async work, including reviews of outbound collateral and whatever else needs a second read.
- Text and Slack for the questions that can't wait a week.
Both run month to month after an initial 90 days. Cancel with 30 days' notice.
If you need the team, not the seat
This is advisory for founders and CEOs. We sharpen the thinking at the top; we don't run the function. If what you actually need is someone to own the plan, the budget, the team and the number, that's a different engagement and it has its own page. Read about Embedded