.png)
What it’s like to work with me
I work primarily with founders, CEOs and CTOs, though I engage across the startup, working shoulder to shoulder with your team members. I won't be someone you hear from once in a blue moon.
As much as possible, I’ll train your team members to do the work rather than doing it myself. e.g., if we’re hiring, I’ll train your engineers in how to interview and have them do the first round of interviews, and do interviews myself when needed. I’ll focus on teaching your team to fish rather than giving you a fish. That way, you'll have a fully functional, self-sufficient team, which will set you up for success.
Some consultants put in temporary hacks, so you're happy with how quickly it has been fixed, but it breaks soon. Instead, I fix things so that they stay fixed.
How I plan an engagement
I always start an engagement by sitting with the CEO/CTO and understanding their goals and non-goals. We'll make a high-level plan listing known remaining areas of work, and known risks to the project, and keep updating it as the project progresses: if a new area of work or a new risk comes up, we’ll add it to the list. If a risk is addressed, or an area of work is completed, we’ll remove it from the above list.
This way we’ll track progress against the plan throughout the course of the project. We’ll know what we’ve achieved, and the known areas of work remaining. You’ll also be able to connect the fee paid to the progress achieved so far.
When we start, we'll have daily check-ins, then after a while switch to weekly, then after a while switch to fortnightly. You’ll never be in the dark as to what’s going on. If you ever feel lost, please let me know and we’ll bring all stakeholders on the same page regarding the progress made against the high-level plan, and address any concerns.
My ethical code
Do to others as you would have them do to you
Working with me is risk-free!
Let me make it an easy and low stress decision to hire me:
Get a taste of what it’s like to work with me without spending money. I invite you to benefit from my free services.
Let's talk about what I can do for your startup
Goal-based engagement
Is your startup not on track to achieve your next milestone? Are you unsure what to do to get back on track?
Wouldn't it be great if you could get a trusted expert to guide you throughout your journey, help you make critical decisions right, and give you visibility into the consequences of decisions before you make them, so that you can execute with confidence?
Work with me, and I’ll guide you to success.
I'd like to offer you a couple of pricing options:
Option 1: Guaranteed results: I’ll understand your goals, and commit to delivering them. In the unlikely event I fail to deliver, I’ll do whatever it takes to make things right, including redoing the work at no extra cost, giving you a partial refund, or even a full refund, whichever I feel is the appropriate resolution.
-
The fee will be $175/hour, subject to a minimum of $4K per month.
-
The bill fluctuates month to month. In the past I’ve billed as much as $20K in a single month.
-
I’ll inform you every $4K — 4, 8, 12, etc — to avoid bill shock.
-
A typical engagement costs $100K. I suggest you budget $100K to get started, and I’ll let you know if this changes as the work proceeds.
Option 2: Name your own price. It could be as low as $4k. We’ll divide it by the hourly rate of $275, and you’ll get a certain number of hours. I’ll use those hours to further the agreed-upon goals. When the hours are over, if work still remains, you can choose to repeat this process by naming another price for the next iteration, or switch to option 1.