Advisory Retainer.
3, 6, or 12 months of senior operator leverage on the year that decides whether the motion compounds.
Best for Series B Scaleup companies (75–200 employees · $10–30M ARR) scaling a US motion. CEO / CRO / CMO gets a senior operator sparring partner: weekly working session, live deal triage, board prep, partner intros, and surge capacity for the moments that usually go sideways.
What this engagement actually buys.
- Best for
- Series B Scaleup AdTech, MarTech, data, AI, SaaS, and media-tech companies (75–200 employees · $10–30M ARR) scaling a US motion with senior decisions in flight.
- Typical trigger
- You’ve outgrown project-shaped help. You need someone in the room weekly with operator credibility — not another consultant on retainer.
- Time horizon
- 3, 6, or 12-month engagements with explicit scope + decision points at each gate.
- Core output
- Operating cadence, board-grade narrative, partner sequencing, first / regional hire support, live deal triage, and real-time crisis access.
- Best mapped to
- Audit → Sprint → Retainer ladder. Retainer is for companies where strategy + execution are clear and the bottleneck is ongoing operator-grade decisions.
Who this is for.
The work is sharp because the scope is narrow. Honest answer either way.
This is for you if
- You're Series B Scaleup (75–200 employees · $10–30M ARR) and need an ongoing senior operator in the room.
- CEO / CRO / CMO needs a sparring partner for weekly decisions.
- You're scaling a US motion and want operator-level review of the operating system.
- Board prep, narrative, partner sequencing, and hiring decisions need senior leverage.
- You've run an Audit or Sprint and want ongoing partnership instead of another scoped project.
- You want partner / investor / industry intros backed by 25+ years of operator relationships.
- You need someone who's been the operator — not just consulted operators.
This is not for you if
- Pre-Series A / Pre-PMF — start with the Audit if there's a specific scoped mandate, otherwise too early.
- You need a fractional CMO / CRO / GM (a retainer is not interim leadership).
- Looking for a board observer / formal board seat — that's a separate conversation.
- You need someone who tells you what you want to hear.
- You can't carve out an hour per week for the working cadence.
Ev is the total package. He uniquely blends a high analytics and technology IQ with a philosophical and spiritual EQ. He's also a builder and motivator of teams.
Where the retainer shows up.
Scope is negotiated at signing + reviewed at each quarterly gate. Not every retainer touches every surface — but every surface has clear ownership when it does.
- 01
Decision support
- Weekly working session
- Live deal triage
- Hiring + offer reviews
- Difficult-conversation prep
- 02
Operating cadence
- Pipeline + forecast review
- Capacity vs. quota math
- Reason-code analysis
- NDR + churn reviews
- 03
Partner & ecosystem
- Holdco / platform / data intros
- Co-sell motion design
- M&A or partnership pressure-testing
- Industry network leverage
- 04
Board & narrative
- Board-deck pressure test
- Investor narrative review
- Category positioning
- Public + analyst story
- 05
Org & first-hire design
- Role scorecards
- First US / regional hire briefs
- Decision-rights matrix
- RACI for customer journey
- 06
Crisis & acceleration
- Lost-deal post-mortems
- Stalled-launch unblocking
- Pricing rescue
- Regional acceleration
Three durations + surge capacity.
- 3-month
Foundation
Weekly working session + on-demand deal triage. Operating cadence reset. Pipeline math wired. First strategic decisions landed.
- 6-month
Acceleration
Foundation + quarterly board prep + first hire(s) supported through onboarding + partner-motion second pipeline wave + one operating-model rework if needed.
- 12-month
Full partnership
Foundation + annual narrative + two quarterly board cycles + first regional motion + ongoing partner / investor introductions + ongoing decision support.
- On-demand
Surge capacity
Inside the retainer: real-time access for crisis moments — lost-deal post-mortems, stalled launches, pricing rescue, key-hire blowups, regional escalations.
What the retainer actually delivers.
- 01 Weekly working session (founder / CEO / CRO / CMO + Evgeny)
- 02 Operating cadence: pipeline + forecast + NDR + reason-code reviews
- 03 Quarterly board-prep pressure test + narrative refresh
- 04 First / regional commercial-hire scorecards, offer review, onboarding plan
- 05 Partner sequencing + named intros (holdco, agency, platform, data, industry)
- 06 Live deal triage, pricing rescue, churn-prevention plays
- 07 Decision-rights matrix + RACI for customer journey + capacity model
- 08 Investor / industry narrative + category positioning review
- 09 Real-time crisis access (deal blowups, pricing emergencies, hiring escalations)
When the Retainer is the right shape.
-
Post-Audit ongoing partnership
You ran an Audit, executed a Sprint, and now want ongoing operator partnership instead of contracting a new project every quarter.
-
Scaling US motion (Series B)
You're Series B Scaleup (75–200 employees · $10–30M ARR) with a US scale mandate and need senior operator partnership during the year that decides whether the motion compounds.
-
Board-grade decision support
You need someone in the room with operator credibility for board, investor, and partner-grade decisions — not just consulting framing.
FAQ.
- High Output Management · Andrew S. Grove
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things · Ben Horowitz
What is the Advisory Retainer?
An ongoing senior operator partnership for Series B Scaleup companies (75–200 employees · $10–30M ARR) scaling a US motion. It runs as a weekly working session plus live deal triage, board prep, partner intros, and an operating cadence — 3, 6, or 12-month terms with surge capacity for crisis moments built in.
How long does the retainer run?
Three lengths, each with explicit scope and decision points at each gate. The 3-month Foundation term resets the operating cadence and lands the first strategic decisions. The 6-month Acceleration term adds quarterly board prep, first-hire support, and a second partner-motion wave. The 12-month Full Partnership term covers an annual narrative, two board cycles, a first regional motion, and ongoing partner and investor introductions.
What does "surge capacity" mean?
Real-time access built into the retainer for the moments that go sideways — lost-deal post-mortems, a stalled launch, a pricing rescue, a key-hire blowup, or a regional escalation — on top of the scheduled weekly cadence.
What do I actually get on a weekly basis?
A weekly working session with the founder / CEO / CRO / CMO and Evgeny, live deal triage, and an operating cadence covering pipeline, forecast, NDR, and reason-code reviews. Beyond the weekly rhythm you also get quarterly board-prep pressure tests, hire scorecards and offer reviews for first / regional commercial hires, named partner intros, and a decision-rights matrix and RACI for the customer journey.
How is the Retainer different from the Audit or the Sprint?
The Audit and Sprint are scoped projects; the Retainer is ongoing partnership. It maps to the Audit → Sprint → Retainer ladder — for companies where strategy and execution are already clear and the bottleneck is ongoing operator-grade decisions, not another scoped engagement. Many clients start the Retainer after running an Audit and executing a Sprint.
Who is this not a fit for?
Pre-Series A or pre-PMF companies (start with the Audit if there's a specific scoped mandate, otherwise it's too early), anyone wanting fractional CMO / CRO / GM interim leadership (the retainer is not that), anyone looking for a board observer or formal board seat, anyone who wants to be told what they want to hear, and anyone who can't carve out an hour a week for the working cadence.
Need a senior operator in the room weekly?
One short fit call. If it’s a match, we scope the retainer + decide on duration (3/6/12). If not, you leave with a sharper read on where to start.