The Ownership Structure Problem - PE-backed and Venture-backed

Private equity firms have stopped debating whether fractional executives belong in their portfolio companies. It is standard practice now. Venture-backed founders, by contrast, still treat the same decision as a step down.

Fractional Sales Leader, Interim and Fractional, Start-up, TeamManuel SalcedoAugust 9, 2026Vendux LLCvc, pe, private equity, venture capital, fractional, executive

Is AI Making Us Dumber?

AI engine are, without exaggeration, one of the most remarkable tools I have worked with in my career. But I am concerned that AI is making us dumber.

Fractional Sales Leader, Interim and Fractional, SkillsHenning SchwinumAugust 1, 2026Vendux LLCai, artificial intelligence, learning

Show Your Work: How to Prove the ROI of a Fractional Engagement

He liked working with the executive. His team liked working with her. The pipeline had grown. The conversion rate had improved. The forecast was more honest than it had been when she started. What was on the page was a monthly retainer that. He asked, politely, what he was paying for.

Fractional Sales Leader, Interim and FractionalHenning SchwinumJuly 25, 2026Vendux LLCROI, fractional

Tiered Pricing and the Trap of Quoting a Range

The principle is simple: when you sell less time, you charge a higher rate per hour. When a client commits to more time, the per-hour rate goes down, but the total compensation goes up.

Best Practice, Fractional Sales Leader, Interim and Fractional, Organization, Sales, SkillsHenning SchwinumJuly 15, 2026Vendux LLCpricing, quote, range, tier

Why Discounting Will Cost You More Than the Discount

Every sales rep who has ever worked with me will quote you one of my favorite sayings: “do not discount.” I mean it. Discounting feels generous in the moment, and as consumers we love it. As sellers, we should be very careful with it.

Best Practice, Fractional Sales Leader, Interim and Fractional, Sales, SkillsHenning SchwinumJuly 5, 2026Vendux LLCpricing, discounting

Fractional CXO vs. CRO vs. CCO: Who Owns What in the Revenue Lifecycle

Every few weeks a founder or owner asks me some version of the same question: “Do I need a CRO, a CCO, or a CXO — and what's the actual difference?” It's a fair question. The titles have multiplied faster than anyone's ability to keep them straight, and hiring the wrong one is an expensive way to find out you misread the problem.

Sales, Organization, Interim and Fractional, Fractional Sales LeaderHenning SchwinumJune 14, 2026Vendux LLCCXO, CRO, CCO, Hiring, retention, churn

When Cash Isn't the Whole Story: Equity and Alternative Comp in Fractional Work (1)

A founder once slid a term sheet across a coffee table and asked, with the practiced casualness of someone who had done this many times, whether I would consider taking part of my fee in equity. He named a percentage. He named a valuation. He did the math out loud.

Recruiting, Motivation, Interim and Fractional, Fractional Sales LeaderHenning SchwinumJune 9, 2026Vendux LLCcompensation, equity, cash, startup

Picking the Niche Before the Niche Picks You: A Methodology, Not a Slogan

In other blog posts I have argued, more than once, that there are riches in niches. The argument is true. It is also incomplete. Telling a new fractional to find a niche is like telling a swimmer to find the other side of the lake.

Fractional Sales Leader, Interim and FractionalHenning SchwinumJune 9, 2026Vendux LLCniche, ikigai, methodology

Fractional vs. Consultant vs. Recruiter: Which Sales Leadership Fix Fits Your Situation?

Most sales-leadership problems come down to one of three needs: you need advice on what to fix, you need to hire someone permanently, or you need someone to actually lead sales right now.

Change, Fractional Sales Leader, Interim and Fractional, Organization, Recruiting, SalesHenning SchwinumJune 7, 2026Vendux LLCconsulting, recruiter, fractional, executive, sales, leadership, options

The Best Fractional Sales Leadership Options in 2026: An Honest Comparison

Vendux is one of the options listed. We've worked hard to describe every other provider fairly, because a comparison you can't trust is one that helps no one. Where Vendux is genuinely the better fit, we say so; where another firm is, we say that too.

Best Practice, Fractional Sales Leader, Interim and Fractional, Sales, RecruitingHenning SchwinumJune 7, 2026Vendux LLCfractional, sales, leadership, options, guide, selection

Our Blog