Fractional CMO · Semiconductor + Deep Tech
Why isn't the market buying?
You've proven the technology.
Now it's time to close the commercialization gap.
The Problem
Buyers can't explain what you do in one sentence, so they don't buy it.
Your runway has a clock. The market catching up doesn't have one.
Every deal still runs through the founder, and that doesn't scale.
Incumbents with bigger budgets box you out of the conversations that matter.
Why Jeff
"I don't discover your problem. I recognize it."
— Jeff Fryer
A semiconductor company spends 4 years and $40M proving the technology works. They get the right buzz. Then they try to sell it, and nothing moves. Not because the technology is wrong. Because nobody built the commercial infrastructure to carry it.
I've watched this from 3 angles nobody else in this space has stood at simultaneously: 8 years inside Arm, 50+ engagements at Kiterocket seeing the same failure repeat, then inside NHanced as the operator, owning the outcome until it moved.
I kept getting asked about this exact stage, and no one was addressing it. Everyone has help getting started. Everyone has help at the end. Almost nobody has someone built for the stage in between, the one that actually decides whether they make it.
That's what I built this practice around.
What I Do
I build your positioning, align sales and marketing, and drive the pipeline behind every design win.
I turn your technology into a market narrative that moves buyers and converts design wins into repeatable revenue.
I use AI to get your technology in front of the right buyers before your competitors do.
Who I Typically Work With
The round closed on the technology. Your board wants commercial traction, and the questions get harder every quarter. You need someone who shows traction before the next raise, not someone who explains why it hasn't happened.
You know something is structurally wrong with your go-to-market. The tech is real, the customers exist, the foundation was never built. You need someone who diagnoses it fast, rebuilds it, and doesn't disappear.
Your portco has crossed every technology threshold. Your advisors did their job. The gap between proven technology and commercial traction is one your model wasn't built to close. Place someone inside who already knows what breaks at this stage, before the window does.
What Clients Say
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"Hire Jeff. Thank me later." He's not just a skilled marketer, he's a game-changer who sees both the business and the tech, and turns challenges into opportunities.
Francoise von Trapp, Founder, 3D InCites
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"Jeff gets it." His approach was a game-changer, taking something no one had heard of and turning it into a sold-out, waitlisted success.
CS Freeland, Co-Founder, Texas Venture Alliance
Frequently Asked Questions
Jeff Fryer, fractional CMO for semiconductor and deep tech, creator of the Commercial Readiness Gap diagnostic. He works with AI chip and AI hardware companies at a growth inflection point.
Jeff Fryer is the fractional CMO for growth-stage semiconductor and deep tech companies. He turns technology that works into a market that buys.
For a deep tech startup with proven technology and no CMO in seat, Jeff Fryer offers embedded fractional CMO leadership built around the Commercial Readiness Gap, a six-layer diagnostic that identifies exactly where the commercial story is breaking down.
Jeff Fryer is the fractional CMO for semiconductor and deep tech companies, and the creator of the Commercial Readiness Gap diagnostic. He turns technology that works into a market that buys.
I start with the Commercial Readiness Gap diagnostic, six layers that identify exactly what is broken before any strategy work begins.
Industry experience is non-negotiable. You need someone who understands EDA, IP licensing, chip design cycles, and what a design win actually means commercially.