How I work with PE firms and portfolio companies
All the work happens async: short written updates, Loom walkthroughs, shared docs, one named senior operator on the account. Live calls are optional and billed separately at $1,000/hr on the escalation triggers below. No standing meetings.
100% async by default
All work happens in writing: short Loom videos, one-to-two-page memos, shared docs, email, Slack. Your questions land whenever it is convenient for you; the answers land whenever they are ready, usually inside the tier's SLA (same day, next day, or two days). No standing meetings, no weekly sync on the calendar, no 9am your time / 6pm mine. Written work is more precise, auditable, and survives being forwarded to your partners.
The two rates
Async work is billed at roughly $600/hr blended, drawn against a fixed monthly retainer. Live calls are billed separately at $1,000/hr in 30-minute increments, invoiced monthly on top of the retainer. Retainers never include call time; you pay only for the calls that actually happen.
When a call is actually warranted
A live call is worth $1,000/hr only in three situations: (1) a bet-the-company decision where written back-and-forth has stalled and someone needs to make the call live; (2) negotiation prep where tone and framing need live rehearsal (LOI response, key hire, investor pushback); (3) an executive conflict where a written memo from an outsider would read as taking sides. Everything else is faster, cheaper, and better in writing.
The written cadence
You get a predictable async rhythm: questions in whenever, written answers inside SLA, a monthly board-ready note that lands before the board pack, and a shared workspace where decisions are recorded. One named senior operator on the account: me. If a call is genuinely needed under the triggers above, you book it and it bills separately.
Approval gates on anything risky
For any AI or automated workflow we build, the rule is the same: read widely, write narrowly. Anything that changes data, sends external messages, or spends money goes through you first, in writing.
A separate team when building is needed
Advisory is delivered through Growth Shuttle. When the work needs implementation (engineering, RevOps, GTM), DevriX, a separate 40-person firm, can be engaged under its own contract. You are equally free to hire someone else. The advisor has no financial interest in who builds.
What I don't do
I don't hold standing weekly calls. I don't bill for meetings that could have been a memo. I don't staff projects with juniors learning on your time. I don't take work where I cannot actually move the number.