Engagement structure

Business advisory when the next hard call still comes back to you.

This page is for owners whose growth, hiring, capital, leadership, or operating pressure keeps routing back through one desk.

  • The decision is still yours.
  • The specialists only see part of it.
  • The cost of waiting is already showing.

The route is chosen by decision pressure, not by hours or templates.

See the three tiers ↓ Compare pressure shapes

Three shapes of decision pressure.

Start with the shape of the pressure. The tier follows from there.

01

One expensive call

The decision is still yours, but every specialist only sees one part.

Tier 01
02

Hard calls keep landing

The problem changes shape every month and your judgment is still the clearinghouse.

Tier 02
03

Several principals carry the risk

The decision cannot close because the consequences are split across owners, partners, board members, or family.

Tier 03
Cost of the wrong move

What it costs to keep the decision open.

Every week the decision stays open it picks up cost. Quiet cost.

The wrong COO hire costs three hundred thousand dollars in salary, separation, and rehire before the eighteen months of team damage.

The wrong five hundred thousand dollar AI build runs to one point two million once you count the contracts you cannot unwind.

The family business priced at eight million when it should have been twelve is the rest of your life.

The M&A deal you walked from when you should have stayed open closed at four million to someone else.

Tier 01 is two thousand five hundred dollars a month, cancel any time. Compared with the cost of being wrong on the decision on your desk, that number is a rounding error.

The three tiers

Choose by decision pressure, not by cadence.

The tiers do not sell hours. They match the shape of the pressure: one expensive decision, repeated judgment load, or a room of principals that cannot close cleanly.

Tier 01 · Outside Read

Outside Read: Monthly

$2,500 / month · recurring · cancel with 30-day notice One expensive call

Use this when one expensive decision keeps coming back to you and no specialist can see the whole thing.

You feel
  • You are about to spend money fixing something.
  • The explanations do not agree.
  • The decision is still yours.
  • You need the real problem named before you move.
What you get
  • One 90-minute call on the decision actually on your desk.
  • A written read after the call: real problem named, wrong fix exposed, next move clarified.
  • One short follow-up exchange if a structural question lands between calls.
Each month you do not get
  • Execution. Implementation. Project management. Hiring or firing for you.
  • Weekly standups. Behaviour coaching. Accountability check-ins.
  • Marketing campaigns. Tool setup. Recruitment.
  • Tax, legal, or accounting advice (your lawyers and accountants stay in their lanes).
See Business Problem Review in full →

Cancel any time with 30-day written notice. Process guarantee, no outcome guarantee. Confidentiality default. No client names disclosed.

Use when: one decision touches sales, hiring, capital, family, AI, pricing, or operations, but the real problem is not sitting cleanly inside any one of them.

See client outcomes →

For warm buyers who already know Tier 01 fits, Stripe is direct. If you are unsure, ask fit first.

Enroll directly → $2,500 / month Ask fit first →
Tier 02 · Principal Circle

Principal Circle

from $4,500 / month · three-month minimum, then ongoing Repeated hard calls

Use this when the hard calls do not arrive one at a time anymore.

You feel
  • Every month creates another consequential call.
  • The issue changes shape before the last one is fully settled.
  • Your team still waits for your judgment.
  • Decisions are accumulating faster than clarity.
What you get
  • Two 60-90 minute calls on the decisions landing that month.
  • A written summary after each read. Compact, decision-anchored, and usable.
  • Asynchronous access between calls for live decisions (email or Signal).
  • One quarterly pattern review so the business does not normalize the wrong moves.
Each month you do not get
  • Execution. Implementation. Project management. A seat in the company.
  • Weekly standups. Behaviour coaching. Accountability check-ins.
  • Tax, legal, or accounting work (your lawyers and accountants stay in their lanes).
Read what the monthly summaries look like →

Three-month minimum, then continues month to month. Cancel after the minimum with 30-day written notice. Process guarantee, no outcome guarantee. Confidentiality default.

Use when: the business has become a decision machine, and a one-off opinion would expire before the next hard call lands.

See client outcomes →

Apply for Tier 02 →
Tier 03 · Operating Partner

Operating Partner

By application · scoped to the transition Several principals

Use this when the decision cannot close because several principals carry different risks.

You feel
  • Several principals must live with the decision.
  • Control, capital, succession, or ownership is at stake.
  • Agreement in meetings is not enough.
  • The room needs structure before the decision can close.
What you get
  • Principal-to-principal engagement scoped to the transition (typically two to six months).
  • Live decision-rights mapping across the principals involved.
  • Meeting structure installed for the duration of the engagement.
  • Transition memo at close. Read by the board, the principals, and the legal counsel.
  • In person where geography allows; otherwise structured video.
What this excludes
  • Parallel coaching of individual seats. The principals together are the client.
  • Project management or execution of the transition itself.
  • Public visibility. No client names disclosed, ever.
How a board / team engagement actually runs →

Formal conflict check before every engagement. Scope and fee land in writing before any work begins. Confidentiality default.

Use when: partners, board members, family owners, investors, or cofounders carry different consequences and the decision keeps moving into side channels.

See client outcomes →

See Operating Partner →
How engagements start

How engagements start.

Tier 01 enrolls directly via Stripe when the fit is already clear. Tier 02 and Tier 03 are application-gated.

  1. 01 You enroll or apply

    Tier 01: enroll directly via Stripe ($2,500/month recurring) or ask fit first. Tier 02 and Tier 03: short application, Stan reads every one personally.

  2. 02 Reply within 48 hours

    For Tier 01 enrollment: confirmation and a proposed first-call time within 7 days. For Tier 02 / Tier 03 applicants: yes with a time, no with a reason, or a redirect if a different structure serves you better.

  3. 03 First call

    Sixty to ninety minutes on the actual problem on your desk. Tier 02 and Tier 03 applicants: tier confirmed or reassigned, scope and fee in writing.

  4. 04 Written read after the call

    The decision named. The wrong fix exposed. The cost of delay named. The next move clarified.

  5. 05 The work keeps pace

    Each month: the live problem changes, the read follows it. Tier 01 handles one active decision. Tier 02 follows repeated calls. Tier 03 structures the room.

The first conversation

Tier assignment is a conversation, not a form.

The application signals a starting tier. The first conversation confirms, refines, or reassigns. Most applications that start at Tier 01 stay at Tier 01. A minority reveal a deeper pattern and move to Tier 02 or Tier 03 during the first call.

  1. 01

    Application

    Fifteen minutes to complete. Stan reads every application personally. No auto-screen, no delegated triage.

  2. 02

    Direct reply

    Within 48 hours. Usually same day. Yes with a time, no with an honest reason, or a redirect if a different structure fits better.

  3. 03

    First conversation

    Sixty to ninety minutes. Video or in person. The real question surfaces. Tier is confirmed or reassigned based on what the conversation reveals.

  4. 04

    Engagement begins

    Scope, cadence, and terms are set in writing. Fees are invoiced at the start of the engagement or the start of each month, depending on tier.

What buyers ask before they apply

Direct answers.

Cost of delay If we keep deciding this internally for another quarter, what changes?

The decision picks up cost every week. The team that hired in agrees in meetings and then nothing changes. The counterparty reads your hesitation. The number that was wrong on Monday is the same number wrong three months from now, except now the option you walked from is gone. The next quarter is rarely the quarter the question gets cleaner on its own.

Tier fit What does it actually cost if I pick the wrong tier?

Less than you think. Tier 01 ($2,500/month, enroll directly via Stripe, cancel with 30-day notice) fits when one expensive decision is open and normal specialists only see one part; if the first call shows Tier 02 or Tier 03 is cleaner, Stan tells you and routes you, and the unused portion of the month is refunded. Tier 02 (from $4,500/month, three-month minimum, by application) fits when hard calls keep landing every month. Tier 03 fits when several principals carry different risks and the decision cannot close cleanly. The first conversation confirms.

Refunds What is the refund and cancellation policy?

Engagement fees are non-refundable except in narrow stated circumstances.

Tier 01 Outside Read: Monthly: Recurring monthly subscription. Cancel any time with thirty (30) days written notice; the notice period is paid. Months already worked (call held or written read delivered) are earned. No outcome-based refunds.

Tier 02: Three-month minimum commitment is non-refundable. After the minimum is satisfied, either party may terminate with thirty (30) days written notice; the notice period is paid. Prepaid months strictly beyond the notice period are refunded pro-rata.

Tier 03: Refund and termination terms are set in the signed engagement letter.

Outcome-based refunds are not offered. The client decides, the client acts, and the client bears the result. Dissatisfaction with the outcome of a decision the client makes is not a basis for refund.

The single exception is conflict of interest. If a material conflict emerges mid-engagement and Stan declines to continue, any prepaid portion covering future unworked periods is refunded in full.

Reserved calendar time, scheduled sessions, and work performed are considered value delivered. Chargebacks initiated in lieu of the contractual termination process constitute material breach. Full policy at /terms.

Confidentiality How does confidentiality work across tiers?

No recording of any conversation. No written deliverables unless explicitly requested. Case patterns published on the site never identify clients, companies, or specifics that would allow identification. Tier 03 engagements add a formal conflict check before every engagement begins. Full protocol at /boards-and-teams.

Scope What does advisory NOT cover?

No legal advice. No tax advice. No investment management. No fractional executive duties. No hiring, firing, or operational implementation. Stan sits outside the operating seat and names structural mistakes. Counsel, accountants, and the operating team handle execution.

Success rate What if the decision does not close?

The engagement names the reason. Sometimes the decision does not close because the structural frame it sits inside is the wrong frame. The work is reframing until the decision becomes closable. Sometimes the answer is that the decision is not ready, and the honest move is to say so. Both are legitimate outcomes.

Decision router

Still not sure which route fits?

Send the situation. Stan will read the pressure and route it.

Apply with the situation Back to the tiers
Personal reply within 48 hours Tier assigned in first conversation