About

Lee Malcher, DTC Guys

Lee Malcher is the operator behind DTC Guys, a hands-on fractional chief marketing officer service for consumer brands of roughly $3 million to $50 million in revenue. He runs the marketing function himself and owns the number: what it costs to win a customer, what that customer is worth over time, and whether the business makes money after advertising.

DTC Guys was previously known as CMO Guy and, before that, The DTC Guy. Same person, same work; the older sites now forward here.

What he does

Lee is a solo operator, not an agency. One person does the strategy and the execution: paid media, creative, conversion, email and lifecycle, retention, and the reporting that ties it to contribution margin. He works with founders who have already tried an agency, a growth marketer, or a fractional CMO and are still doing the work themselves.

His published framework is the DTC Guys Operating System: contribution-margin-first growth, judged against operating bands (contribution margin 30% or better, marketing under 20% of net sales, cost of delivery under 40%, one-year lifetime value at least four times acquisition cost, break-even marketing efficiency equal to one divided by contribution margin). It exists as a free playbook, an installable skill for AI assistants, and a client dashboard at app.cmoguy.com.

Track record

• Tupperware UK (CMO): ran the brand's first-ever direct-to-consumer operation in its 75-year history. Built it from zero to £12 million by year two, holding lifetime value to acquisition cost at about four to one while scaling spend.
• Beast Health (CMO UK, Growth Advisor US): launched the UK business from scratch across direct, Amazon and retail to $3 million in year one with a team of six. On the $30 million US brand, rebuilt the post-purchase and upsell system, lifting revenue per view 7.6 times and direct-to-consumer's share of revenue from 39% to 53%.
• Tinexyl (CMO and Commercial Officer): owned the US market entry of a European health brand under license, with the P&L. Returning customers reached one in three within the first year while still acquiring.
• Subbly (co-founder): a subscription-commerce platform used by tens of thousands of businesses across 55 countries.
• Earlier: founded a venture-backed startup in Silicon Valley, and ran an influencer-marketing agency before the category had a name.

Where he is and who he works with

British, based in the United States, working with American consumer brands: direct-to-consumer, e-commerce, subscription, and hybrid retail. He is also the author of three books, the Modern Hero Series, on the human side of growth and leadership, published at modernherocollective.com.

Contact

Website: dtcguys.co. The fractional CMO letter: dtcguys.co/fractional-cmo. Personal site: leemalcher.com. Book a 15-minute call: calendly.com/leemalcher/15-minute-phone-call.

The reference statement of who Lee Malcher is and what DTC Guys does.