How it works

Three ways to engage. One set of rules.

You describe what you need. We propose experts whose vetting you can see. You buy hours in blocks against the expert you choose, and stop, continue or switch at the end of any block.

Engagement types

The three ways.

  • 1-on-1 Consult

    What it is
    One expert, one conversation, billed by the hour.
    Typical use
    For a specific question, a second opinion, or a first hour to test fit.
    How it starts
    Starts with a single hour.

  • Solo Pod

    What it is
    One expert, ongoing, in blocks of hours.
    Typical use
    For a piece of work that needs someone senior for days or weeks — a model, a plan, a review, a rewrite.
    How it starts
    Starts with the smallest block and grows as the work does.

  • Team Pod

    What it is
    Two or more delivery experts and one senior advisor, in one engagement.
    Typical use
    For work with several moving parts or work that has to stand up to a board or a regulator.
    Oversight
    The advisor's hours sit inside the pod; there is no separate oversight fee. No cap on team size.
    • Delivery hours
    • Senior-advisor hours

A Solo Pod can become a Team Pod when the work grows. Every engagement can start with one hour.

After you describe the need

From brief to engagement, in five steps.

  1. 01

    You describe the need — one line is enough; the platform drafts the brief and you edit it.

  2. 02

    We propose experts against that brief, each with how they were vetted.

  3. 03

    You read the assessment before you engage — nothing is asserted that you cannot inspect.

  4. 04

    You buy a block of hours against the expert you choose; the full cost is visible first.

  5. 05

    The engagement starts. We aim to come back with matched experts within 24 to 72 hours of a brief.

Hours, blocks and switching

Change the expert, not the engagement.

Blocks
1 · 2 · 5 · 10 · 20 · 50 · custom hours.
Bought against
A named expert. Hours do not move between experts.
Cancelling
A block runs to its end. It cannot be cancelled part-way.
At the end of a block
Stop, continue, or bring in a different expert — no notice, no conversation with the outgoing expert, no fee.
Rates
Experts set their own, within $65–$250 per hour. The full cost shows before you commit.

Rates and blocks in detail are on the pricing page.

Verification

How verification works.

  • Atlas Verified · Tier A/B/C

    The expert took an assessment run against the domain in your brief; the transcript and the report are open to you before you engage.

    The tier is derived from the assessment as a whole — the evidence covered, the lowest-scoring area and any flags — not from a single score.

    • AExceptional
    • BStrong
    • CCompetent

  • Manually screened

    The expert was screened by hand against their stated experience rather than assessed; the profile says so, in those words.

Pod composition

Inside a Team Pod.

A Team Pod is two or more delivery experts plus one senior advisor, in one engagement. The advisor's hours are inside the pod, not sold on top of it, so there is no separate oversight line and nothing to add later to get a second pair of eyes on the work.

Hours are shown in blocks; the split between delivery and advisor hours is agreed on the brief, not fixed by the platform.

  • Delivery hours
  • Senior-advisor hours

Delivery hours in blue, senior-advisor hours in coral, inside one block.

Confidentiality

Confidential in both directions.

  • Client identity

    Never disclosed to an expert before engagement; the brief travels as a domain and a problem.

  • Expert identity

    Protected from the client the same way: you engage against a vetted profile and a reference, and the expert decides what more to share once engaged.

Describe what you need