In-House Team Build vs. The Zulu Method

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

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.

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Build vs. Buy

See What An In-House Team Really Costs

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Build An 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 average of the accepted 1.25 to 1.40x fully burdened range. Bonus and equity are excluded, which may heavily understate 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$19,995/mo
In-house team
$602,000
per year
Time to revenue
The Zulu Method
30 - 60 days
In-house team
9 months
Budget burn before a single dollar sold
The Zulu Method
$24,995$19,995/month
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

A similar 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 & ramp
Cash burned before output
$24,995 $19,995/month
×$250,833
Channel coverage
Any 7 of our 10+ channels, running from day 31
×1-ish channel 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 & prompting
The Marketing Team plan: $24,995 $19,995/month founding client pricing (first 4 clients), any 7 of our 10+ channels, dedicated Sr. Marketing Manager, CMO-level strategy & 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 one-month GTM Pilot. A 5x VP/CMO 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 GTM Pilot Book a 15-min Call