~25%
Equity, all in
My entire compensation for the engagement — no retainer, no hourly, no separate consulting invoice. The number moves with stage and with how much of the company already exists when I arrive.
Equity Partnership
Bring me in on the build, not the invoice.
Most of my work is project consulting. For two companies at a time I do something different: I come in full-time on an AI business and take equity instead of fees, so the only way I get paid well is if the company is worth something.
What a typical deal looks like
There is no standard contract here — a pre-seed company with a prototype and a Series A company with revenue are not the same deal. What follows is the shape I usually start from: deliberately simple, and weighted so I carry risk alongside you rather than in front of you.
~5%
Up front, no cliff
A slice vests on day one. You get a partner who is already invested rather than one waiting out a cliff before they commit.
36mo
To vest the balance
The remainder vests monthly across roughly three years, so my upside is tied to where the company actually ends up rather than to how long I stay in the room.
2×
Double-trigger acceleration
Unvested equity accelerates only if there is both a change of control and a termination. An acquirer cannot strip the position, and you are not exposed on a sale alone.
Treat these as averages, not an offer. The split, the vesting schedule, and the shape of the acceleration all move with stage, scope, and what the company needs — and whatever we land on gets papered properly by your own counsel before anyone signs.
What you actually get
AI architecture and build
Model selection, data pipelines, API integrations, evaluation, and the automation layer underneath it — designed to be maintained after I am done.
Go-to-market
Positioning, acquisition, lifecycle, and the reporting to know which of it is working. The same marketing strategy work I do on retainer, applied to your company.
Team capability
Your people end up able to run and extend what we build. The goal is that the company does not need me at month 37.
Operating cadence
Real working hours inside your company, in your standups and your roadmap — not a monthly advisory call.
Who this is for
This only works when the equity is worth something and the company is far enough along to absorb someone senior. If that is not you yet, the standard consulting engagements are the better route — and I will tell you so.
Start a conversation- You have a product in market or close to it, not a deck.
- AI is core to what you are building, not a label on it.
- The cap table can carry a stake of roughly this size without breaking your next raise.
- You want an operator in the business, not an advisor on the outside.