Fractional CMO, CEO & COO · Turnaround · Growth
Fractional CMO, CEO & COO. Senior operator firepower, available now.
Most companies do not have a strategy problem. They have an execution problem. Niklas Lindahl puts a senior operator inside your business, part-time or interim, accountable for the outcome and not the hours. Milan-based, serving clients across Italy and Europe.
As featured in
Operator track record
former CMO of LeoVegas (a €500M group), exit to MGM north of €607M, and a market grown 500% in a year.
In short
Action Is Now is the advisory practice of Niklas Lindahl, former CMO of LeoVegas and a turnaround CEO. You get a senior operator who has run the budget, carried the number and fixed the broken thing, embedded in your business as a fractional executive (CMO, CEO or COO), interim leader or turnaround lead, with pricing tied to results wherever possible.
What a fractional executive and management consultant actually changes
A fractional or interim executive is a senior, part-time C-level leader who owns strategy and delivery without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire, whether that seat is CMO, CEO, COO or another C-suite role. A management consultant who has actually operated brings the same outside clarity as a traditional adviser, but stays to make the change happen. Niklas Lindahl combines both. You are not buying a recommendation. You are buying the person who has done it before and will do it again inside your company.
The track record is specific and measurable. As CMO of LeoVegas I ran a marketing budget of €120M, delivered €50M of incremental revenue in under twelve months, lifted EBITA by 18% and cut the marketing-to-revenue ratio from 40% to 30%. That work was instrumental in the acquisition by MGM, an exit north of €607M. Earlier, as managing director of an Italian market, I grew revenue from €3M to €18M in under a year. The point is not the logos. The point is that these are operator numbers, not advisory numbers.
Based in Milan, I work hands-on with founder-led companies, scale-ups and businesses in transition across Italy and Europe, in English and Italian.
Where Action Is Now helps
Fractional & interim leadership
When you require C-level capability but not a full-time C-level cost, a fractional CMO, CEO or COO provides senior judgement part-time. When a seat falls vacant, interim management places an experienced operator in the chair within days.
Turnaround & restructuring
If cash is constrained, growth has stalled or the strategy is failing, turnaround work first stabilises the situation, then resets the model and returns the business to a defensible position.
Growth & go-to-market
For companies past product-market fit, the constraint is the engine: positioning, pricing, channels and the sales motion. Growth work builds that engine and makes it repeatable, including international expansion that does not burn cash.
How the engagement works
Every engagement is scoped to a clear outcome, a fixed set of milestones and a defined end. You always know what you are paying for and what you will get. A typical path runs in four moves.
A fast, honest assessment of where you actually are, usually inside the first week.
A short, costed plan with the two or three moves that matter most, ranked by impact.
Hands-on delivery embedded in your team, not a report handed over from the outside.
A business that runs without me, with your people able to hold the gains.
Why this works
Senior operators are expensive to hire full-time, slow to recruit and hard to justify before a company has grown into the cost. Yet the moments that most need senior judgement (a stalled market, a budget that has outgrown its leadership, a business under pressure) are exactly the moments a company cannot wait months to fill a seat. Fractional and interim leadership resolves that tension. You get the capability immediately, scaled to what you need, and you keep it only as long as it earns its place.
The operator behind Action Is Now
Action Is Now is led by Niklas Lindahl, a C-level operator with more than 15 years running and fixing businesses across Europe. The work started in digital, but the job has always been the same: own the P&L, build the team and hit the number. That discipline transfers to any business in any sector. This is not an analyst who advises from the sidelines. It is a leader who has held the budget, owned the P&L and carried the number, as a chief marketing officer, as a market managing director and as a turnaround CEO.
This is not an analyst who advises from the sidelines. The same operator who carried the LeoVegas number also stabilised a loss-making business as a turnaround CEO and ran an Italian market from near-zero to scale. The headline figures sit in the numbers above; what matters here is that they were delivered from inside the business, owning the P&L, not recommended from outside it.
For executive search firms and boards: Niklas is open to selected CEO, interim, fractional and non-executive mandates across Europe, in English and Italian. Read the full executive profile on Niklas Lindahl: C-level operator, or start a direct conversation.
The record runs deeper than one role. I founded Optimized Group in Milan in 2012 because I saw a paradigm shift in Italy: excellent companies were invisible online and nobody was willing to own the result. We built an honest, accountable agency that helped Italian companies grow their revenue through good online marketing, effective websites, working e-commerce and solid business fundamentals. We consulted over 300 companies in Italy and abroad, never shied away from the hard facts, and always faced the situation to deliver the very best for our clients. That discipline conquered the Italian market and led to a strong exit in 2016, selling the company to Digitouch, one of the biggest agencies in Italy. As CMO I later led a team of over 100 people for a group with around €500M in revenue, and today I also build ventures of my own, including an AI-native recruiting platform.
- Full P&L and budget ownership at C-level, not advisory-only exposure.
- Turnaround and restructuring experience: stabilise, reset the model, return to growth.
- Growth and go-to-market at scale, including international expansion into new markets.
- Board-level communication and exit experience (MGM acquisition of LeoVegas).
- Bilingual operator, English and Italian, with deep roots in the Italian market.
- Sectors: iGaming, SaaS, e-commerce, manufacturing SMEs, scale-ups and defence tech.
- Founder and exit: built a digital agency from €0 to a €1.35M sale, advising 300+ companies.
- Led a marketing team of 100+ for a ~€500M group; ran a €5M paid-search budget early at Expedia.
Related services
Frequently asked questions
What roles can you cover?
More than marketing. We work as a fractional or interim executive across the C-suite, including CMO, CEO and COO, plus turnaround and growth leadership. The common thread is a senior operator who owns the outcome, not a single job title.
Who is Niklas Lindahl?
Niklas Lindahl is a C-level operator based in Milano, Italy: former CMO of LeoVegas (a ~€500M group, a €120M budget and a 100+ team), a turnaround CEO and the founder behind Action Is Now. He takes fractional, interim and turnaround mandates across Italy and Europe, in English and Italian.
Where is Niklas Lindahl based?
Niklas Lindahl is based in Milano and works across Italy (Italia) and Europe, on-site and remote. Milan is the base for client work in Lombardy and the rest of the country, with selected mandates anywhere in Europe.
How quickly can you start?
Usually within days. As a fractional or embedded operator I start light: a focused diagnosis in the first week, then hands-on execution, with no long onboarding or ramp-up to bill for.
Do you work in English and Italian?
Yes. We operate fluently in both, with deep experience in the Italian market and across Europe, so engagements can run in either language.
How are you paid?
Engagements are scoped to a clear outcome with fixed milestones, and pricing is tied to results wherever the situation allows, so incentives stay aligned.
Is the operator available for CEO, interim or board roles?
Yes. Beyond fractional advisory, Niklas Lindahl takes on selected CEO, interim management and non-executive board mandates across Europe. Executive search firms and boards are welcome to reach out directly through the contact page.
What sectors and company stages do you cover?
We work best in iGaming, SaaS, e-commerce, manufacturing SMEs, scale-ups and defence tech, typically with founder-led companies, scale-ups and businesses in transition or distress. The common factor is a leadership, execution or accountability gap at the top.
How fast can an interim CEO or executive start?
Fast, because the model exists to close a leadership vacancy. When a CEO or C-level seat is empty or failing, I can step in within days to stabilise the business and hold the line while a permanent search runs, instead of leaving the chair cold for months.
Permanent hire or interim and fractional?
Both are possible. Many engagements begin as interim or fractional to create momentum and de-risk the decision, and some convert into a permanent or longer mandate where it serves the business.
How do I hire a fractional or interim executive quickly?
The fastest way to hire a fractional or interim executive is to tell us the goal on a short call. We assess fit, agree a result-based scope, and can start inside 48 hours, so you skip the months a permanent search normally takes.
How do I find the right fractional CMO, CEO or COO in Italy?
To find a proven fractional CMO, CEO or COO in Italy, look for a senior operator who has actually run a P&L, not a career consultant. Niklas Lindahl ran a 120M euro budget at LeoVegas and works across Italy and Europe in English and Italian.
What is a fractional executive, in plain terms?
A fractional executive is a senior operator (CMO, CEO or COO) who runs part of your leadership on a part-time or interim basis, for a fraction of the cost and commitment of a permanent hire. You get someone who has actually carried the number and owned the P&L, focused on the two or three moves that matter, without a full-time salary or a long search.
When should a company hire a fractional or interim executive?
Hire one when there is a clear leadership or execution gap and you cannot wait months to fill it: a seat is empty, growth has stalled, a turnaround is needed, or you are entering a new market like Italy. If the problem is urgent and specific, a fractional or interim operator closes the gap in days instead of quarters.
Is a fractional executive worth it for a startup or SME?
For most founder-led companies and scale-ups, yes. You buy senior C-level judgement only for the hours you need, so a business that cannot justify a full-time CMO or COO still gets one who has run a €120M budget. The value shows up fast because the mandate is scoped to a result, not a permanent headcount.
What is fractional management and how does it work?
Fractional management means bringing in a senior manager part-time to run a function or a company, instead of hiring full-time. You get a former C-level operator for a few days a week, accountable for a specific outcome. Action Is Now offers fractional management across the CMO, CEO and COO seats, deployed in days and paid against results.
Tell us the goal. We make it happen.
We deploy senior operator firepower and produce massive results. No excuses, just results.
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