Layer 2 · SF-3 · Ad-hoc Strategic Intervention

One stuck decision resolved with a focused intervention, in one to three weeks.

Thursday morning, 11:08 AM. The board pre-read goes out in nine days. Item three says "agency replacement decision" and you have not made a call. The current agency is mid-renewal. The next conversation cannot be vague.

Built for Bay Area operator with one specific decision stalled before a board meeting, fundraise, or operational milestone. Applies to Founders, VPs of Marketing, Heads of Growth, marketing-responsible CFOs, and similar operators with one focused strategic question.

Ad-hoc Strategic Intervention is a Bay Area Layer 2 engagement product priced at $5,000–$15,000. Format: 1–3 weeks · intake plus focused review plus follow-up call. Deliverable: 4–8 page intervention document plus 60-minute follow-up call. Built for Bay Area operator with one specific decision stalled before a board meeting, fundraise, or operational milestone. Routes through ICP funnels, problem pages, and referrals; reached when the buyer has matched their state to the tier. Each engagement is fixed-scope at the start and cannot drift mid-engagement.

Price
$5,000–$15,000
Duration
1–3 weeks · intake plus focused review plus follow-up call
Output
4–8 page intervention document plus 60-minute follow-up call
What The Work Covers

Inside the SF-3 engagement. Specific deliverables, specific cadence.

What the work covers

  • Single decision scoped at the start (no scope creep)
  • Intake call (45 minutes) to confirm the question
  • Focused review: data, current-state read, one strategic question answered with evidence
  • 4–8 page intervention document with recommendation, rationale, sequencing, risk register
  • Follow-up call (60 minutes) to pressure-test the recommendation

Format and cadence

  • Day 0: scoping call, document brief lock
  • Days 1–7: data review, draft intervention document
  • Days 8–14: revision pass with founder input, final document
  • Day 14–21: 60-minute follow-up call to discuss execution path
Anonymized Outcome

What the work actually produced.

A Series A B2B SaaS in Menlo Park had stalled on whether to replace their incumbent agency three weeks before a board meeting. SF-3 intervention diagnosed the agency was correctly executing against a wrong brief; replacement was not the answer. The board pre-read referenced the SF-3 intervention document directly. Three months later: same agency, new brief, pipeline up 1.8x.

// Fit

This engagement fits when

  • Single specific decision (replatform, agency replacement, channel exit, hire-or-not, campaign post-mortem)
  • Decision timed to a board meeting, fundraise milestone, or operational deadline within 30 days
  • Bay Area operator (calibrated to VC reporting cadence and board language)
  • Founder or executive ready to act on the recommendation within 60 days
// Not fit

This engagement does not fit when

  • Diffuse strategic questions covering multiple axes (SF-4 Full Marketing Diagnostic is the right format)
  • Buyers wanting an open-ended retainer rather than a single-decision project (SF-5 or SF-2 instead)
  • Decisions that need full data audit before they can be answered (SF-3 timeframe is too tight for that)
  • Operators not ready to act on the recommendation (the intervention document loses leverage if it sits)
Buyer Questions

Before you scope the engagement.

How is SF-3 different from a free strategy call?

SF-3 is paid, fixed-scope, document-as-output. The deliverable is a 4-8 page intervention document the founder can hand to the board. A free strategy call produces a sales pitch, not a document. Different products, different commitments.

Why is the price range $5,000-$15,000?

Scope determines price. A scoped channel-exit decision with clean data lands at the floor. A pre-board strategic intervention requiring data integration, competitive review, and risk modeling lands at the ceiling. The scoping call locks the price before the work begins. Fixed once locked.

Can SF-3 cover positioning work specifically?

Yes. A positioning-focused SF-3 produces a 4-8 page positioning intervention scoped to one specific buyer-state (the wrong-fit lead pattern, the category collapse pattern, the evaluator-trust gap). Not a full positioning architecture; that is SF-4 territory.

How do I know if my question is SF-3 scope vs SF-4 scope?

If it is a single stuck decision, SF-3. If it is a complete strategy reset across all four marketing axes, SF-4. The scoping call diagnoses scope correctly; we redirect to SF-4 if the question is bigger than SF-3 can hold.

Is the intervention document confidential?

Yes. The document is the operator's. We do not publish, share, or reference it externally without written approval. The recommendation lands inside the operator's strategic context.

What happens if the recommendation is to do nothing?

Then the intervention document recommends doing nothing, with the evidence that supports it. "Do nothing" is a real strategic answer when the current course is correct and the pressure to change is wrong. Founders sometimes most need that read.

Can I extend SF-3 into SF-4 if the scope expands?

Yes. SF-3 credits toward SF-4 if the buyer escalates within 30 days of SF-3 close. Scope determines the upgrade pricing. The SF-3 intervention document folds into the SF-4 diagnostic as the starting frame.

Adjacent Tiers

If SF-3 is not the right scope. The matching tier on either side.

Where This Starts

One question, one answer, in time for the board meeting.

Ad-hoc Strategic Intervention · $5,000–$15,000 · 1–3 weeks · intake plus focused review plus follow-up call. Bay Area engagement, fixed-scope at intake.

Scope an SF-3 Strategic Intervention → See all eight SF tiers