Senior counsel for growth-stage companies
Communications that land.
Growth that converts.
AI that pays off.
You need someone who's built all three.
Not an agency guessing at your strategy, not a consultancy billing for a report.
Direct access to twenty years of doing the work.
Previous experience includes
What you get
Direct access to senior counsel. Not a team of juniors learning on your account.
Strategic marketing leadership
Your positioning sharpens. Your go-to-market strategy fits your stage — not a playbook borrowed from someone else's company. Developed with the experience of scaling companies from pre-revenue to £35M ARR, and the understanding that your situation is specific.
Hands-on execution
Campaigns that run. Deals that close. At IndiVillage, that meant marquee accounts won while the team was being built to sustain it.
Team building and knowledge transfer
Your team gets stronger, not dependent. The people who replace me get hired, trained, and handed scalable frameworks that outlast any engagement.
Board and investor communications
Your fundraising narrative lands. £100M+ in raises supported — the story that gets you from Series B to C, or to exit.
AI that delivers real ROI
Your AI investment produces measurable returns. 95% of AI projects fail because of scoping and workflow design, not technology. Workshops and deployment support that put your best people's judgement into the system.
Selected results
Outcomes from recent engagements. Names you can verify.
IndiVillage
IndiVillage repositioned from BPO to AI-as-a-Service, built a scalable sales engine, and won enterprise accounts while building the team to sustain it.
XTCC
XTCC launched a carbon credit system in 90 days, won "Best Innovation" at COP28, and convened sovereign wealth funds allocating ~$1tn.
Dell & Atos
Two 30-year rivals unified into an award-winning partnership. Atos became Dell's number one global partner.
Shell
A 36-country engagement programme linked transition strategy to stakeholder priorities.
Common questions
Agencies give you a team — often juniors — executing a playbook. This is direct access to senior strategic counsel, embedded in your leadership team rather than delivering reports as a vendor. The goal is building your capability, not creating dependency.
Typically 2–4 days per week, depending on your needs. Enough to drive real strategic change without the cost of a full-time CCO or CMO. Most engagements run 6–12 months — long enough to build something lasting, short enough to stay focused.
Series B–C is precisely when senior PR and marketing leadership becomes critical. You have proven product-market fit; now you need to scale systematically. The alternative is hiring someone too junior and losing 12 months learning what does not work.
Primarily technology — AI, SaaS, fintech, cybersecurity. Also professional services and companies going through transformation. The common thread is growth-stage businesses that need senior counsel, not another agency relationship.
A note from Mark
When the cost of production drops to zero, everything changes.
Anyone can produce content, campaigns, collateral — at scale, instantly, in any language. The volume of material competing for your buyers' attention is about to become infinite. That means the cost of being noticed rises just as fast. Standing out in that world is the hard part.
The companies that win will not be the ones that produce the most. They will be the ones with the clearest story, the sharpest positioning, and the judgment to know what to say, when, and to whom. AI will not replace your best people. It will make them more important than ever.
I have spent twenty years helping companies do exactly that — turn what they have built into a story that buyers, investors, and partners remember and act on. The last two inside an AI business, across the full go-to-market. Your PR lands. Your marketing closes deals. Your board sees the growth story they have been asking for.
If there is a fit, we will both know it quickly. And if there is not, I will tell you that too.
— Mark Pinnes, Founder
In their words
What clients and colleagues say about working together.
Mark possesses a talent for striking a balance between the commercial drivers and the creative integrity of the business.
Paul Liesching
Chief Revenue Officer, 1Global
A class act. Always clear, thoughtful, and measured.
Ashley Hurst
Partner, Commercial Litigation; International Head of Tech, Media & Comms, Osborne Clarke
People love working with Mark because they know they are in good hands.
A brilliant mind and business leader.
Courtney Ellul
Internal Communications Leader
Let's talk about what you're building
If you are a Series B–C company that has outgrown your current approach, let's have a conversation. No pressure — just an honest assessment of whether we are a good fit.
Book a diagnostic call