BRAND.| DIGITAL.| STRATEGY.| CONTENT.| VOICE.| MESSAGE.| PERSONAS.|  REPUTATION.| 

NAVIGATE THE COMPLEXITIES OF BRAND
BUILDING, MARKET PENETRATION, AND
SCALABLE GROWTH WITH YOUR STARTUP'S
NEW FRACTIONAL CMO. 

welcome to The Brand Incubator.

Where we help early-stage, start-up teams build a complete marketing strategy, from brand to demand.

Our goal is to simplify your early-stage branding, marketing, and positioning efforts so you can sidestep common marketing mistakes, maximize your marketing budget, and maintain momentum in product innovation.
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accelerator program.

Assess your current efforts, receive a personalized go-to-market plan, and gain access to the tactics and strategies that we've successfully implemented across hundreds of startups.
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Strategic Advisory.

Receive the strategic advisory you need to optimize your current marketing effort, identify areas for improvement, and revamp your approach to brand awareness and lead generation.
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Personalized Consulting.

Establish a clear alignment between your business and the market's needs, setting the stage for business growth, with our personalized attention and marketing expertise. 
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Interactive Workshops.

Accelerate your team's marketing breakthroughs in our interactive workshops, with topics spanning product naming, brand creation, messaging development, ideal customer profiling, and more.
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is your start-up ready? 

You need a fractional CMO if...

You find it difficult to balance technical development with business and marketing responsibilities due to limited team size.
You want to hire a marketing leader, but aren't ready/able to bring on the talent you need quite yet.
You find it difficult to generate buzz and recognition for your startup in a competitive landscape.
You're feeling lost in creating an effective go-to-market strategy that fits your budget.
You're not sure how to align your start-up vision with investor interest effectively.
is any of that

sounding familiar?

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MARKETING, BRAND, & BUSINESS STRATEGIST FOR EARLY-STAGE STARTUPS

HI, I'M KATE HUGHES,

Founder and CEO of The Brand Incubator, helping early-stage B2B & B2C startups navigate the complexities of brand building and market penetration, ensuring scalable growth and investor alignment. From leading marketing strategy as a CMO and consulting for venture capital firms to being a founder myself, I am passionate about helping teams and founders turn early hurdles into valuable insights for business growth. Blending business design with tactical execution, my unique strategic approach consistently leads brands to secure major media coverage and achieve significant traction. A proud Haas MBA alum (go Bears!), I also enjoy mentoring and lecturing to university students in entrepreneurship, design thinking, and marketing.

We love our founders.
And we think they feel the same way. 

Kate helped me focus on what's truly important in prioritizing my one or two customer segments that I really need to focus on, and not got lost on things that are too far down the road. 


CHRISTOPHER YEE

FOUNDER, WEREPRESENT

She was not only the consultant who was there for me when I needed her, but even financially, she added way more value than I expected. Creating my website would not have been possible without her!

KAVITA AGRAWAL

FOUNDER, EXP-INVEST

Over 8 years, I was never able to come up with a product name I liked. Within an hour of working with Kate, we were able to identify a ton of great candidates that had never considered before. 


CHRIS MATTESON

FOUNDER, AISLE.ID

I speak about how much Kate has been such a bright light for me. That she has only made me believe Cloud Medicine is actually going to become something even more amazing. I'm grateful she's joining me on this journey. 

JODY PERRY

FOUNDER, CLOUD MEDICINE

After a decade of working with Kate, I can say she is the real deal. 


If you want to take your company to the next level—she's your person. 


JOCK PUTNEY

PARTNER, OFELOS VENTURE GROUP

CEO, NUVOLUM

I have worked with Kate for over 12 years in several companies, and she has been involved in almost every aspect of the businesses that my business partner and I founded. She will exceed your expectations and overdeliver! 


JEFF THOMPSON

PARTNER, OFELOS VENTURE GROUP

COO, NUVOLUM

Want to work together?
Here's how.

Exploration

In our first 30-minute call, we'll discuss your product, target market, prior marketing endeavors, and business objectives, and we'll give you a clear idea of our services and approach. 

Evaluation

If we all agree that we're a great fit to work together on this journey, we'll create a transparent proposal tailored to your goals at this stage of start-up growth. 

Execution

We jump in! We'll establish a project timeline and get started, communicating with your team from kickoff to completion to ensure everything is executed at the highest level with no surprises. 
get the guide

Create compelling product names

in less than an hour with The Name Guide. 
Thank you!
Write your awesome label here.
Write your awesome label here.