Advisory

One practice. Three shapes.

Everything here does one thing: it tests how your audience, users, or clients would respond to the move in front of you — before you commit. Pick the shape that fits, or describe the decision on a fit call and I’ll tell you which one does.

The decision study.

2–4 weeks · single engagement
Start ≤ 7 days post-SOW

The high-stakes call on your desk, tested against simulated audience and client response. You leave with a board-ready memo that ranks your options against real behavior and your P&L, a defensible recommendation, and a 30-day plan to run it.

Decision framing doc by day 3 — the questions on the table, target audience, success criteria
300–500 audience, user, or client personas built and stratified; every option simulated through MusicDatak and MediaDatak
Ranked-options matrix with risk and reversibility
Decision memo, presentation deck, and a 30-day execution plan with named owners

Built for pre-commitment moves — M&A, format flips, launches, monetization pivots — and for boards that need a defensible second opinion before a vote.

Off-ramp at day 7. If the framing doesn’t hold at the end of week one, we stop and the remaining balance is refunded. That has never happened; it stays on offer.

The 90-day program.

90 days · 3 monthly milestones
Weekly scoreboards

Three months of disciplined experiments that compound. Built for owner-operators and mid-sized groups where every month has to pay for itself.

Month 1 — diagnostic across audience, revenue, content, team, and tech
Three prioritized experiments with success metrics, tested through the same simulation platforms
Weekly scoreboards reviewed with leadership
Month 3 — codified playbook, next-quarter plan, measured P&L impact

For businesses on a plateau, leaders preparing for sale, investment, or succession — and teams that need a tempo, not a deck.

Executive & board advisory.

Retainer · 6-mo minimum
Max 6 clients/year

A standing voice in the room — and, when the CEO needs it, a discreet one in the shadows. Two modes on the same retainer:

The boardroom. Monthly 1:1 with the CEO, chair, or principal; quarterly board attendance; board-ready reporting each cycle. Two decision studies per year included.
The shadow. A private line for the question that can’t be said out loud internally yet — M&A, succession, a firing, a pivot. You call; I research; we iterate until the decision is ready. On-call within 48 hours, confidential from first call to last.

For CEOs and chairs who want an outside read before the room hardens, and for boards facing structural change, a new-market entry, or regulatory pressure.

How it runs

Fit call Twenty minutes. You describe the call you’re about to make; we confirm fit and stakes.
Signed scope Mutual NDA, signed scope, kickoff shortly after. No discovery deck.
Simulate the response Every option tested against how your audiences, users, and clients would actually feel and behave. Not opinion. Not focus-group adjectives. Evidence.
Board-ready memo A recommendation I’ll stand behind, plus ranked alternatives and the risk of each — framed for the room that has to sign it.
30-day plan Named owners, weekly milestones, what “good” looks like at day thirty. Your team runs it.

Practical questions

What if we already have a preferred direction?

Most clients do — and that’s where the study earns its keep. The job is to pressure-test the preferred direction against audience behavior and P&L outcomes, surface what breaks it, and either reinforce the call with evidence or surface a stronger option. Either way, you leave with a recommendation your board can defend.

What does a typical study week look like?

Two structured sessions per week with your leadership, plus async daily progress notes. Live scenario review mid-study. Final memo handoff in a 90-minute session with optional board Q&A.

Do you work solo or with a team?

Solo on the intellectual work — one name signs the memo. The MusicDatak and MediaDatak teams support the modeling infrastructure. You don’t pay for a pyramid.

How is this different from a McKinsey or Bain engagement?

Shorter, cheaper, and narrower by design. A decision study resolves the strategic calls in front of you in two-to-four weeks, delivered by someone who has actually run stations and groups — not a team of analysts building a workplan. The memo is signed by one name, not a firm.

Where do the simulation platforms fit in?

MusicDatak and MediaDatak simulate how real listeners, users, and clients would respond to the move you’re considering — before you commit. They’re the engine under the memo, not the product. You’re buying a decision, not software.

How do you handle confidentiality?

Discretion is the practice. Client names, financials, and decisions are not referenced externally without written permission. The references on this site were cleared with the clients in question.

Start with the decision.

Engagement size is set on the fit call after the decision is described — fixed-fee for the study, retainer for advisory. Pricing reflects the size of the decision being made and the simulation work required, not headcount or hours. If none of these shapes fits, I’ll point you somewhere that does.

Book a fit call