One decision, one operator, in writing.
You send a structured questionnaire. Within three business days you get a 15-minute Loom walkthrough and a two-page written memo answering your questions and recommending next steps. No call unless you want one, and no timezone tax.
How we work: async by default. Written memos, Loom, shared docs, on your timezone. Live calls are optional and billed separately at $1,000/hr on escalation only (bet-the-company decisions, negotiation prep, executive conflict). Everything else stays in writing.
When this engagement makes sense
A deal. Something in the technology or the revenue engine is bothering you and you want a written second read before the IC.
A portfolio company missing plan and you want an outside opinion on whether management's explanation holds up, in writing you can forward.
A build-or-buy call. The portco wants to rebuild the platform and you want a memo you can hand to the operating partner.
A hire. The CTO candidate looks good on paper. You want a written brief on what to ask and what the answers should sound like.
Anything a framework will not answer, where the answer is more useful in writing than on a call.
The traditional intake is a 30-minute discovery call at 9am someone else's time, followed by a proposal you never asked for. It rewards whoever books first, not whoever has the best question. It also confuses the advisor's job (an answer) with the advisor's format (a call). Most senior decisions are better answered in writing: the question is more precise, the answer is auditable, and it survives being forwarded to your partners. Live calls belong to a narrow set of situations: a bet-the-company decision that written work has stalled on, negotiation prep, or an executive conflict where tone matters. Everything else is faster and cheaper in writing.
The deliverables
A structured questionnaire
Situation, decision, constraints, timeline. Fifteen minutes to fill in. You send what you have; I ask for what I need.
A 15-minute Loom walkthrough
Recorded, at my desk, on your timezone. You watch it when it is 9am for you, not for me.
A two-page written memo
The conclusions, the reasoning, and what I would do next. Board-forwardable. No filler.
Optional live add-on
If you want to talk it through after reading, add a 60-minute call for $500. Otherwise the brief is the deliverable.
Credits in full
The $750 credits against any engagement booked within 30 days. If I cannot help, I will say so in the memo and point you at someone who can.
A good fit if
- PE deal teams weighing an IC decision who prefer a memo they can circulate.
- Operating partners in a different timezone from the portco they are asking about.
- Mid-market CEOs with one senior decision they cannot ask an interested party.
- Anyone tired of paying expert networks $1,000/hr for a call they mostly needed in writing.
Probably not if
- ·You want a free consultation. This is a paid brief and it is genuinely half a day of work.
- ·You want validation for a decision you have already made.
- ·You need a signed report for the investment committee. That is the diligence, not a brief.
- ·You want to talk it through live from the start. Add the $500 call on top, or book the diligence directly.
$750 for the brief. Credited in full if we work together.
If the brief leads to a diligence, a diagnostic, or a retainer within 30 days, the $750 is credited against it. If, after reading the questionnaire, it is clear I cannot help, I will say so before the fee lands and point you at someone who can. I would rather forfeit a brief than take a fee for a memo that was not useful.
Async by default. Live calls are optional and priced separately at $1,000/hr.
What buyers ask
What often comes next
Ready to move?
$750 fixed · async by default · credits in full against any engagement booked within 30 days