Bilingual marketing leadership and AI systems for B2B SaaS, tech, and PE-backed companies. Based in Paris, working across France, Europe, and the US.
Focus4ward is a fractional CMO and AI marketing systems practice based in Paris, France. Founder Miri Blum (ex-AWS, Criteo, Brevo) works with B2B SaaS, tech, and PE-backed companies across France, Europe, and the US. Engagements run one to three days per week for six to eighteen months, conducted in English or French, in-person in Paris or fully remote.
B2B SaaS and tech companies between Series A and Series C, PE-backed enterprise software, and B2B scale-ups moving upmarket. Half the work is with French and European companies; the other half is with US and global brands that need a Paris-anchored marketing leader to run EU GTM or build the European version of an existing playbook.
Two patterns recur. Founders who need a CMO but cannot yet justify a full-time hire, often pre-Series-B. And CMOs already in seat who need a peer who builds AI systems, not just advises on them.
The French B2B buyer is not the US B2B buyer. Decision cycles are longer, the role of references is heavier, and content that wins in San Francisco rarely lands the same way in Levallois or La Défense. Paris-based fractional CMO leadership matters because the work is shaped by what the local market actually rewards, not what travels in a US-built playbook.
It also matters for the reverse motion. French and European companies expanding into the US need someone who can translate the local marketing function into a US-credible GTM motion without losing what made the company work in Europe in the first place. Bilingual leadership shortens that translation.
Eighteen years of B2B marketing leadership across global brands and scale-ups. The career arc goes from Criteo (Head of Brand and Creative during the Nasdaq IPO) to AWS (Senior Partner Marketing Manager) to Brevo (VP Global Marketing during the Sendinblue rebrand) to Aprovall (Fractional CMO, scaling marketing across European TPRM).
The differentiator is not the resume. It is what gets built inside an engagement. Most fractional CMOs deliver strategy and team coaching. I do that, and I also build the AI marketing systems that keep running after the engagement ends: shared context, automated workflows, measurement layers your team owns.
The standard rhythm is two-week audit, then three-month embed, with optional retainer extensions. Discovery and the audit start with two to three in-person days in Paris (or wherever the team sits) to shorten the ramp. Ongoing work is mostly remote with periodic in-person days for offsites, launches, or board-level moments.
The audit covers positioning, GTM, channels, AI readiness, marketing operations, team structure, and KPIs. The output is a 30/60/90-day execution plan with named owners, not a recommendation memo. The audit points to the fix. The fix gets built, not just recommended.
Yes. Around half of Focus4ward engagements are with companies headquartered outside France. Paris is the home base; the work happens wherever the company is, in English or French. The advantage of being in Paris is access to the French and European B2B markets while staying in the same time zone as both EU and US partners.
Both, depending on what the engagement needs. Discovery and the audit often start with two to three in-person days in Paris (or wherever the team sits) to shorten the ramp. Ongoing work is mostly remote with periodic in-person sessions for offsites, launches, or board-level moments.
B2B SaaS and tech companies between Series A and Series C, PE-backed enterprise software, and B2B scale-ups. Past in-house roles at AWS, Criteo, Brevo, and Aprovall cover the spectrum from hyperscaler partner marketing to enterprise SaaS marketing leadership.
Yes. AI marketing systems built for European companies need to land inside RGPD and the EU AI Act, not bolted on after. Compliance is a design constraint, not a clean-up step. The Focus4ward audit covers what's deployable today, what needs more guardrails, and what to skip given the current regulatory state.
If your marketing function should be moving the business and isn't, a thirty-minute call is the fastest way to find out why.
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