Field Notes
Field Notes.
Operator notes on brand, demand, AI, and the revenue engine — written to answer the question you're actually asking, not to pad a word count.
The 95/5 rule: why most B2B budgets aim at the wrong 5%
Only about 5% of your market is buying now. Build only for them and you starve next year's pipeline.
AEOAnswer Engine Optimization: be the answer, not just a ranking
When a buyer asks an LLM about your category, something answers. AEO decides whether it's you.
AIWhy AI pilots fail to reach pipeline
The demo isn't the hard part. Production is — and most companies skip the integration that gets there.
The roleWhat an AI-native fractional CMO/CRO actually is
Marketing and revenue owned part-time, with AI integrated into the motion — accountable to pipeline.
CostWhat a fractional CMO/CRO costs
The real ranges, honestly — and how not to overpay for a title instead of an operator.
PEFractional CMO/CRO for PE portfolios
Put revenue leadership across a portfolio company without a permanent C-level hire.
DiagnosticThe Revenue AI Audit
Where AI actually earns its budget in your go-to-market motion — and where it's just theater.
TeamHow to build a B2B SaaS marketing team that scales
People, process, platform — in that order. The build sequence, and how to assess the team you have.
AlignmentSales and marketing alignment: how to end the war
The war has a cost and an operating fix: one number, one handoff definition, healthy tension.
Team structureWhere should your SDR and BDR teams report?
The org-chart question every scaling revenue team fights about — answered with a position.
SystemsMarketing automation mistakes that kill your ROI
Automation multiplies whatever it finds. Audit the process before you automate it.
StrategyHow to build a go-to-market strategy that holds up
The components, the order they get decided in, and what a GTM strategy is not.
DemandHow to build an email marketing playbook
The sections that belong in one, the cadence, and the measures that matter past the open rate.
FrameworkThe 3 T's of growth marketing
Kyle's working model for growth that compounds instead of spikes.
DemandLead generation: get out of your own way
Most lead-generation problems are self-inflicted. The blockers, and the order to remove them in.
FAQ
Common questions
What is Field Notes?
Field Notes is Kyle Hamer's essay series on brand, demand, AI, and the revenue engine. Each piece answers one question a B2B SaaS operator is actually asking. The 95/5 rule. Answer engine optimization. Why AI pilots stall. What a fractional CMO/CRO costs. How to build the team, the go-to-market strategy, and the systems under them. Fifteen articles, six to eight minutes each.
Who writes Field Notes?
Kyle Hamer, an AI-native fractional CMO/CRO for B2B SaaS. Two decades carrying a revenue number, from direct sales to senior marketing leadership at On Center Software, ConstructConnect, Asite, and hh2. The articles come out of engagements, not research summaries. The positions are the ones he runs with clients.
Which Field Note should I read first?
Start with the 95/5 rule if the budget question is live. Only about 5% of your market is buying now. Start with answer engine optimization if buyers are asking AI instead of Google. Start with why AI pilots fail if the demo worked and revenue didn't move.
Do I have to give my email to read these?
No. Every article is on the site, open, with no form and no download gate. Read one, read all fifteen, leave. The point is to be useful while you're not buying. Most of the market isn't, and that's the 95% the writing is built for.
Who is Field Notes written for?
CEOs, CMOs, and CROs at B2B SaaS companies with a strong product and an underbuilt marketing engine. The reader carries a number and has about ten minutes. Every piece leads with the answer, then the mechanism, so you can stop reading once you have what you came for.
Rather talk it through?
Thirty minutes on your number — where the engine leaks, and the shortest path to pipeline.