In-House Team Build vs. The Zulu Method

How Much Would An In-House Marketing Team Really Costs?

Not just the single salary line item, but the fully burdened cost. The months of build before the team produces a single dollar, and the cash you burn just to get there. Build a team below and see how much it really costs.

Build your team below
Build vs Buy

See What An In-House Team Really Costs

Build your team and tune the assumptions. The comparison updates live.

Build Your In-House Team
Benefits (% of salary)
Employer payroll tax (%)
Software, equipment, overhead (%)
Months to hire (per role)
Months to ramp to productive

Defaults sit at the high end of the accepted 1.25 to 1.40x fully burdened range. Bonus and equity are excluded, which understates the true in-house cost. Salaries are pre-filled to US market averages and are yours to change.

Your Internal Team Build vs Our Marketing Team Plan
Total Cost
The Zulu Method
$24,995/mo
$299,940 a year
In-house team
$602,000
per year
Time to revenue
The Zulu Method
30-60 days
In-house team
9 mo
Budget burn before a single dollar sold
The Zulu Method
$24,995
In-house team
$250,833
Time to market
Building in-house~9 months to revenue
The Zulu Method~30-60 days to revenue
Month 0Month 5Month 10
Hiring Ramping Producing
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The Honest Comparison

Two Ways To Build A Marketing Engine

The same growth engine. Two very different paths to get there.

 
The Zulu Method
Building In-House
Time to first output
Live in 30 days
×6 to 9 months to hire and ramp
Cash burned before output
$24,995
×$250,833
Channel coverage
6+ channels running from day 31
×1 - 2 channels per marketer
Seniority on your account
5x CMO oversight and a dedicated senior manager
×Capped at one manager's ceiling
The Hiring Gamble
No hiring, no risk, always on 24/7/365
×Search, ramp, PTO, attrition, backfill
Flexibility
Scale channels anytime. Always 30-days notice after 1st 90
×Fixed salaries, hard to unwind
Output throughput
AI execution across every channel at once
×Human hours, manual tasks or prompting
The Marketing Team plan: $24,995/month, 6+ channels, dedicated Sr. Marketing Manager, CMO-level guidance.
See It Run

Skip the $600,000, 9-month build. Get a complete AI marketing department in 30 days.

Not ready for a 90 day build? Start with our 14-day CMO Pilot. A 5x CMO/VP tears down your go-to-market, rebuilds the foundation, and hands you a tailored 90-day plan. The fee credits to month one if you decide to let us run your 90-day plan.

Explore the CMO Pilot Book a 15-min Call