Engagements
The standard engagement
A fixed monthly fee that covers a set number of hours. Additional hours are available by mutual written agreement at a rate we've set in advance — never a surprise on an invoice. Unused hours don't roll forward. Expenses are reimbursed only when approved ahead of time.
The alternative most founders weigh this against is a senior hire — which takes months to find, months more to ramp, and can't be unwound in thirty days.
Term and renewal
Month to month, and it does not auto-renew. Each month we both have to agree again, by the 5th. No annual commitment, no notice period, no exit conversation to dread. If you stop getting value, you stop paying, and neither of us has to make it a whole thing.
I think this is the right structure for advisory work, and it's the one part of the arrangement I won't negotiate. It keeps me honest month to month.
What it costs
I'll give you the number on our first call, once I understand what you need.
Engagements vary more than you'd expect — some are a standing strategic cadence, some are considerably more involved. They price differently. I won't quote high and then discount, and I won't give you a number I'd walk back.
Getting started
A call, then a short letter agreement — a couple of pages, not a data room — then we start.
Who this is for
Founder-led companies, roughly 1 to 15 people, generally under $5M in revenue, where the founder is the CEO and is making genuinely consequential calls for the first time.
Industry mostly doesn't matter. These decisions repeat across companies, and I've seen a lot of them repeat.
Who this isn't for
- You need execution muscle. Hire it. I'm not going to be the person doing the work.
- You want a permanent fractional CFO or COO. That's a real need and a real service; it isn't this one.
- You’re in genuine crisis and need a turnaround. Different skill, and you need someone full-time.
- You need someone to raise money for you. I don't raise capital. I'll point you at people who do it for a living, and I don't take a fee for it.