Skip to main content
Practice  —  Memorandum No. III  —  Advisory Retainer

No. III

A standing seat across the operator's quarter.

A monthly cadence with a Gulf consumer-tech founder: strategic counsel, operator escalations, written artefacts. The least time-intensive engagement; the highest-trust one.

No. 1  —  Premise

Why this exists.

1

The founder's problem

At Series B+ in the Gulf, consumer-tech founders are running out of operators they can call. Boards over-index on the metric story; investors solve for capital, not cadence; advisors who understood scaling here are still rare. The questions that actually shape a quarter (re-orgs, hires, market timing, comp ladders) get answered in WhatsApp threads at midnight.

2

The practice's response

A standing seat next to one founder per quarter. Monthly written memos that become reference documents. Twice-monthly calls inside the actual decisions. Quarter-close reviews that produce the kind of written artefact a board can read. The least time we'll commit; the most we'll go on the record.

No. 2  —  Cadence

How it works.

  • Monthly written memo A 1,200–1,800-word note on what's shifted in the operator's quarter.
  • Twice-monthly call Sixty minutes inside the questions that don't fit a memo.
  • Quarterly off-site A working day inside the founder's quarter: strategy, not status.
  • Async on demand WhatsApp threads and written replies, same memo voice and faster turn.
  • Quarter-close review A written ledger of what was decided, what shifted, what's next.

No. 3  —  Artefacts

What it produces.

  • Written memos Reference documents on the operator-grade questions of the quarter.
  • Quarterly framework A working theory of what to defend, what to change, what to retire.
  • Decision logs What was decided, what was deferred, what was rejected, and why.
  • Operator-letters Letters drafted for board, team, or investors when the moment requires one.

No. 4  —  Prerequisite

Standing required.

For Series B+ consumer-tech founders building in the Gulf with a multi-quarter horizon. The least time-intensive engagement; the highest-trust one. Standing — not access — is the prerequisite.

Not for

  • One-off projects This is a quarterly cadence, not a sprint.
  • Hiring help This is operator counsel, not an operator search.
  • Sub-operator budgets Engagement is priced at operator-day rates.

No. 6  —  Regard

“One of the best Program Managers I know.”

Mike Manoske, PCC  ·  Executive Coach

Open an intro call  →