01 · Brain Lifeline
Pay-per-call advisory.
One-hour sessions, scheduled async. Prepaid 10-hour block: $1,250 ($125/hr effective).
Builders, agency owners, and operators already shipping AI who hit a specific wall. For the moment you don’t need a project: you need someone who’s been three turns ahead, for one hour, to look at the thing.
You bring a question: a stuck decision, an agent that won’t behave, an architecture you’re unsure of. We think it through and you write it down so you can act on it after the call. No retainer, no lock-in, and the fee credits forward if you install.
The lifeline
A stuck question becomes a written next move.
What people bring
Four kinds of knot.
Architecture review
You’ve built an agent that works in dev but you feel it’ll break under load. We open the repo together and tell you what we’d worry about and what we wouldn’t.
Tool-stack question
Claude or GPT for the workflow, MCP server or custom backend, Cursor or Claude Code. We’ve usually built the thing you’re deciding about.
Prompt or context knot
A project that’s 80% there, hallucinates on one thing, loses the thread three turns in. Most come unstuck in twenty minutes once someone external looks.
Buy-vs-build read
A team evaluating an AI product. We give you the honest read on whether to buy it, build it, or wait.
The boundary
Bring the stuck moment. Leave with the next move.
Bring the real failure
For example: “Our intake bot keeps sending urgent requests to the wrong person.” Put the workflow on screen—not a polished presentation.
Leave with the fix in order
You leave knowing which rule to change, which five cases to test, and who needs to own the result. The decision and punch list are written down.
Implementation stays separate
We do not quietly turn one hour into open-ended project work. If the problem needs a build, we say that plainly and show you the right next engagement.
How a session runs
One hour, four moves.
- BEFORE
Pre-read
You send a paragraph (and repo access if there is one). We read for 15 minutes before we meet.
- 0–10
Context check
We tell you back what we think the problem is. You correct us. We agree what the hour is for.
- 10–50
Work
Code on screen, notes in a doc. The goal is you leaving with something you can use.
- 50–60
Punch list
Three things to do, in order. Two things you were worried about that turned out not to matter.
What’s included
In the price.
- A written summary you keep: the decision, the reasoning, what to do next
- Next steps named specifically, not “consider exploring your options”
- A follow-up paragraph by email the next day
- Context kept on file, so the next call goes deeper, faster, in the same hour
- Fee credited forward toward a Personal Brain or Company Install
Adjacent paths
Where this connects.
The first conversation
Book a Lifeline. Or a Diagnostic first.
The Diagnostic Call (30 min, free) is the first step if you’re not sure a Lifeline is what you need. Book a Lifeline when you already know the question.
FAQs
Why $150/hr? That seems both high and low.
Deliberate. High enough that you only book when there’s a real question, which keeps the hour dense. Low enough that it pays itself back the moment you avoid one bad architectural decision. The 10-hour block ($1,250, $125/hr) is for operators who want a budget for the quarter.
What if the answer is “you need an Install”?
We’ll tell you, and spend the rest of the hour scoping it instead of pretending it’s a one-hour problem. You don’t pay extra because the answer was a larger question. And the Lifeline fee credits toward a Personal Brain or Company Install.
What’s the refund policy?
If the call doesn’t produce something you can act on, you don’t pay. Twice in three years; both got a refund and a better-fit offer. The bar is your judgment, not ours.
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