Consultant's Dilemma: Fee vs free advice

I’m thankful to have the expertise others look for to help companies on their growth journeys, from pitch (deck) and product feedback, to data and AI strategy for product-led growth for product-market fit. I get many, many, many requests every week – I’m sure you do, too!

For the longest time, I shared 1-1 tips for free (and signed every NDA), but that quickly became unsustainable. Here’s what I do now, to still help everyone who reaches out – but in a more scalable way. This has saved me many, many hours every week. All without AI! :) 

First, I’ll share my strategy, then the templates for navigating those interactions with those who reach out.

Part 1: How to Navigate Requests for Our Time that still Help Everyone

I want to ensure that help is accessible at all cost levels, including free! Here’s how I balance that now:

• Free mentoring —if they're at an accelerator, attend one of my talks or panels, or come to (free) community office hours!

  • • Since I mentor at many, speak at many start-up events in the community, and host free community office hours many times a year with several start-up communities, my advice is still accessible but more scalable via a one-to-many version.

    • I also share advice to many FAQs that founders, VCs, consultants, data professionals, and others ask on my blog.

• When someone reaches out, I share that I strive for an agenda with every meeting (before scheduling one) and ask what they wanted to talk about. Then, I usually have a blog post or a talk (or three) I share in response, and tell them that questions are welcome. I don't usually get many follow-ups!

  • I realized early on that my blog posts are motivated by skipping meetings that could have been an email! 

  • I share below what the exchange can look like; it’s taken me a while to get here.

• If someone reaches out to "pick my brain," I now have a fee-based Calendly session; I have them opt in to get that link. Most don't opt-in!

• I started this blog post to help you figure out how much to charge and other advice on getting started as a consultant.

• If it helps, I offer a few fixed-fee sessions to founders, including a "pick my brain" session and one to review their materials as I would when doing diligence for a VC; feel free to adopt.

  • • Tip: If you end up sharing a link to a free Calendly meeting session, consider making it a one-time-use URL.

This has saved me many hours of free work every week! 

Part 2: How to Navigate Requests to Meet

We get many requests, and there is never enough time to meet with everyone. Here are two asynchronous examples of exchanges with someone over LinkedIn/email that have helped me qualify what they wanted. It’s taken me many years to get here! I'm sharing them in case they help you set boundaries and protect your time! 

Scenario 1: Request to “Pick my brain”

• X: "... Can you hop on a call to give you a demo/discuss what we're working on, and get help/insights on …

• Irina: Thank you for reaching out. Unfortunately, I get many requests to "pick my brain" every week (for which I'm thankful and flattered!), I now have a fee-based Calendly link just for this; I'm happy to share that link if you'd like. Having said that, if you're looking for free support, I share a lot of advice for founders on my blog, host free office hours in the community (like yesterday), and mentor at many accelerators. …

Scenario 2: Vague Request to Meet

• X: ...I've started something around <their elevator pitch> and there might be some good collaboration opportunities. Open to catch up?

• Irina: Thank you for reaching out! I'd be happy to catch up. I'm working on having an agenda for every meeting. What did you want to discuss about <their elevator pitch>? 

• X: I would like to discuss <their elevator pitch> and it would be good to chat and get to know each other even if that's not a good fit. Here's a proposed agenda:

  • • Get to know each other

    • Chat about the specific type of work you do

    • Chat about <their elevator pitch>

    • See if there are any next steps. If that works, let me know some times you're available.

• Irina: Thank you for sharing this. What about <their elevator pitch> are you looking to learn more about? I receive many requests daily to "pick my brain," and want to better qualify for the meeting before we schedule one.

  • • Tip: If their response to this sounds like they’re looking for product feedback, I’ll send them the response I give in Scenario 1.

• X: I've got a product to <their elevator pitch>…

• Irina: Thank you for sharing this. Please feel free to share the link to the product with me. While it’s not a fit at this time, if anything changes I will let you know. …

This has saved me many hours of meetings a week! 

I hope this helps you; questions are welcome! Good luck! :)

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