CHRISTY HARNER

Fractional CMO. Brand Creator. Investor. M&A Broker.

Build a successful brand the 1st time

I am a passionate designer, marketing strategist, investor and broker who helps innovators and inventors transform their technology-enhanced ideas into unforgettable opportunities for companies and magical experiences for consumers. I also help owners who are ready to sell their businesses prepare for a high-value sale and connect them with qualified buyers.

I have co-founded 8+ companies, including one that sold to Zomato in 2015. I have been the Chief Marketing Officer, Creative Principal, and Chief Strategy Officer for many early-stage companies, often part-time to help them get established, find strategic partners, create their brands and raise capital. Over the past 12 years, I have helped to create brand strategies for over a hundred startups, raised over 100 million for my clients, and consulted with many more.

100

+ Brands Created

12

Years of Product Development Experience

9

Companies Founded

130

Million Dollars Raised for Clients

Launching a new company, product or brand?

Hiring a Chief Strategy Officer (or a Creative Director) will be the best decision your company makes. Hiring me means your company will experience higher quality branding, better managed app development, a more prepared marketing team, and a real strategy for success.

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Let's Talk.

Reading books and asking advice from friends will only go so far. Let’s talk and together we can strategically create the brand of your dreams.

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What Will a Chief Strategy Officer Do For You?

1. Market Strategy

Start your project with market research + develop a clear strategy for success.

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2. Funding & Selling

Create a strategy, sales deck and business plan for raising capital, increasing sales, or selling your company.

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3. Branding + Design

Create a brand for your company that is beautiful and build UX (user experience) designs for your applications.

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4. Technology Strategy

Negotiate better deals with development companies + manage the progress to ensure efficiency and quality.

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1. Market Strategy

Having started dozens of companies as a founding member or chief marketing/strategy officer, I have found that the number one key to starting a good company is a market strategy. 

Together, we will create a marketing strategy:

  • Compare your company to the marketplace
  • Map out personas, demographics, pain points
  • Describe in simple language exactly what product we are selling
  • Create a plan for how to sell it, and to whom we are selling
  • Discover the unique factors of your brand
  • Determine the core message
  • Create a plan for all platforms (blogs, advertisements, trade shows and PR)
  • Find the right people to write copy, design, post social content, etc.
  • Determine key words to be used for the website + advertising 
  • Hire key team members to manage SEO + and SEM

“I have had so many people come to me and say,

“this is the only product like it on the market!”

only to have me go back and find that there are twenty companies just like them. Building a company with proper marketing validation first can save millions of dollars.”

2. Raising Capital

I have raised over $100 Million for my clients in only the past decade using strategic marketing, business strategy and presentation skills. With award winning pitch decks, my clients have found success in places they only dreamed of.

  • Create a killer investor pitch deck
  • Prepare the brand for investment or acquisition

3. Brand + Design Strategy

In my 12 years designing brands for companies in verticals including retail, social, political, technology and medical, I have learned that branding is key. Good design is critical to user adoption, marketing and eventual success. I’ve seen brilliant individuals lose thousands just by branding their products incorrectly with freelancers or people who don’t really understand their company.

Hiring me to manage your brand means that together we will: 

  • Create a lasting/market friendly brand
  • Build designs and concepts for your digital and print materials
  • Hire the best UX/UI team + negotiate pricing for any applications
  • Manage the design and wire-framing and perfect the design
  • Map the UX (User Experience) journey with the team
  • Find gaps in the UX, UI, and overall navigation
  • Save you months of time working with a design/dev team

25

+ Applications Developed

50

+ Logos Designed

80

+ Websites Created

100

+ Projects Managed

4. Technology

As the creative director of a digital agency and app development company for 4 years, I managed development teams all over the world. Although you can build your applications without an internal team, you must know what you’re doing. 

Because of my app development management experience, I have strategic relationships with some of the best technology companies. With my help as your strategic officer, you will see your idea come to life efficiently and on time.

  • Point of contact between client and design/development firm
  • Negotiate all terms between client and developers
  • Seek solutions for any concerns, delays or questions by firm or client
  • Attend all meetings with firm and client
  • Review weekly timesheet provided by project manager at firm
  • Oversee design process for applications
  • Attend all design meetings with firm and client
  • Weekly review with UX/UI designers at firm
  • Oversee quality assurance testing
  • Provide oversight of the testing to ensure it’s been done properly
  • Test applications at each sprint completion
Without strategy, execution is aimless. Without execution, strategy is useless.

Little Tidbits + Stories About Me.

You’ve always wanted to learn more about your Chief Strategy Officer and her very wild life (that does happen to include Pakistani terrorists, world travel, tragic love stories, lots of business comedy and an overdose of strategic business sabotage, and so many more juicy stories).

Right? Well, if not, ignore this section! Because eventually, it will include all of those things.

Let's Talk Today