Kirk Coburn — Fractional Executive Category Creator
I've built companies. Invested in 60+. Ran corporate venture capital at Shell. Created the Fractional CMO category. And hired more fractional executives than most people have met.
I'm not coaching from the sidelines. I've sat in every chair at the table.
The short version.
I've spent 25+ years building, funding, and scaling companies. I founded Chief Outsiders and introduced the Fractional CMO to the market. I built SURGE, an energy accelerator ranked top 10 in the US. I ran corporate venture capital at Shell, investing in technology companies solving real problems across the global energy value chain. Before any of that, I started my career at Dell.
Along the way, I've been on both sides of the fractional equation. I've been the fractional executive walking into a company, and I've been the CEO and investor hiring them. I know what works from both seats.
Today I run The ReTern, where I teach experienced professionals the systematic process that built a 2,000+ client practice. So they can build their own and keep 100% of what they earn.
The short version of 25+ years.
I think like a founder because I am one.
Seven companies. Chief Outsiders. SURGE Ventures. The PGA TOUR Network on SiriusXM. Eleox. BLUSH Marketing. InspirePlay. The ReTern. Some were acquired. Some I shut down. One of them I probably should’ve shut down sooner, but stubbornness is a feature, not a bug.
All of them taught me what it actually takes to build something from zero. The clients, the revenue, the systems, the 3am conversations with yourself about whether this was a terrible idea. When I work with independent professionals, I’m not teaching theory. I’m teaching what I’ve done, repeatedly, with my own money on the line.
I think like an investor because I’ve deployed capital.
As founder and managing director of SURGE, I raised four funds and invested in 60+ energy technology startups. SURGE was ranked a top 10 accelerator in the US by the SBA.
Then I went inside Shell as an Investment Director at Shell Ventures, their corporate venture capital fund. If you’ve never gone from running a startup to sitting inside a Fortune 100, I highly recommend it for the comedy alone. The coffee is worse. The meetings are longer. But you learn what the biggest companies in the world actually look for when they bet on people and technology. I evaluated hundreds of companies and made multi-million dollar investment decisions. That lens doesn’t turn off.
Between SURGE and Shell, I helped deploy capital into companies that went on to raise over $150 million in follow-on funding. You don’t forget what good looks like after writing that many checks.
While at Shell, I also founded and was CEO of Eleox, a blockchain energy trading company that brought together Shell, BP, Macquarie, Mercuria, Koch, and CCI into a single consortium. Getting six competitors to agree on anything is hard enough. Getting them to build something together is a different skill entirely.
I think like a CEO because I’ve hired fractionals. Not just been one.
This is the part most coaches miss entirely. I’ve been the person on the other side of the table. The CEO, the investor, the board member evaluating whether to bring in a fractional executive. I know what companies look for, what makes them say yes, what makes them say no, and what makes them keep you on retainer for 18 months instead of 6.
When I teach the sales process, I’m teaching you how to win the conversation from someone who’s been the buyer. That’s different.
I created the fractional executive category. Not just the CMO title.
Over 15 years ago, I looked at the fractional CFO model and saw something everyone else missed. The concept wasn’t limited to finance. I founded Chief Outsiders and introduced the Fractional CMO and Fractional CRO to the market. I built the positioning, the systematic placement process, and the pricing model.
But I knew then that the entire C-suite was next. CTO. CHRO. COO. The model worked for any function where companies needed senior leadership but didn’t need it full-time. That firm has now served 2,000+ clients. The category I saw coming is now a multi-billion dollar industry.
And then I watched placement firms turn it into a trap.
The firms that grew up around the model I built all work the same way: you join their roster, they own the client relationship, they take 30–40% of your revenue. Forever.
I built that model. Then I watched it extract value from the same executives it was supposed to free.
That’s why I built The ReTern. You learn the system once. Own it forever. Keep 100%.
What I'm building today.
The ReTern teaches experienced professionals the same systematic process that created the Fractional CMO category. So they can land clients, build sustainable practices, and keep 100% of what they earn.
I work with fractional executives, consultants, executive coaches, advisors, and senior B2B freelancers. People aged 40–60 with 15–25 years of expertise who are done waiting for the W2 system to work in their favor.
Every Thursday, I lead The Crew. A live call where real professionals bring real pipeline questions and get real answers. No scripts. No motivation. Just what's actually working right now.
I'm also the host of UNRIGGED. A podcast about the rigged systems that keep experienced professionals stuck, and the systematic ways to bypass them.
The work is serious. The life doesn't have to be.
I'll be honest. I probably work more hours than most people think. Fourteen-hour days aren't unusual. The difference is I'm building things I actually care about, with people I chose, on a schedule I control.
I golf before most people check email. I surf when the waves cooperate and my back doesn't complain. I'm writing this from Nantucket before a tee time because the same systems I teach are the ones that created the Thursday morning I'm about to have.
That's not avoiding work. That's the whole point of doing the work.
If the system I'm teaching you doesn't eventually let you put in the hours on your terms, for things that matter to you, what's it for?
Two ways to start.
OPTION 1
Take the free assessment.
Five minutes. No pitch. Just a clear picture of where you stand and what to do next.
Take the Free Assessment →OPTION 2
Join The Crew.
Weekly calls with me. Peers who get it. $99/month, cancel anytime.
Join The Crew →