Field Notes

Practical writing for product leaders and boutique advisors – on deciding what to build, answering the hard questions, and running a sharper practice.

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Managed Intelligence

The Fractional COO's Role Just Changed. Here's the Gap It Left.

AI drove a 46% fractional COO demand surge by restructuring the role itself. Here's what the unbundling left behind – and why it matters for boutique advisors.

5 min read
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Managed Intelligence

What Boutique Advisors Actually Need From a Research Partner

Boutique advisors don't need more research help – they need a synthesis layer. Here's what that looks like, and how to tell the difference.

6 min read
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Managed Intelligence

Your Clients Compare Your Deliverables to Their Salesforce

64% of mid-market executives expect real-time consulting visibility, up from 31% in 2023. Here's why the static deliverable is now a structural problem.

4 min read
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Managed Intelligence

Enterprise Document AI Isn't Built for Boutique Advisory Practices

Hebbia runs $3K–$10K per seat per year. Blueflame is now part of Datasite. Neither has a boutique tier — and the gap is structural, not cosmetic.

5 min read
A professional advisor reviewing research documents at a desk in an office setting, representing the managed intelligence model for boutique advisory firms
Managed Intelligence

The $50K Alternative to McKinsey: Managed Intelligence for Advisors

DiligenceSquared delivers M&A research for $50K vs. $500K–$1M from McKinsey. Bridgetown raised $19M on the same thesis. The model this validates matters.

4 min read
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Knowledge & AI

Why Your Meeting Notes Aren't Building Institutional Knowledge

Your AI meeting tools capture what's said. Institutional knowledge requires a synthesis layer above capture — curation, retrieval, and patterns that compound.

5 min read
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Knowledge & AI

What the 20% Capturing AI's Value Are Actually Doing

74% of AI's economic value flows to 20% of companies – and the other 80% are using AI too. Here's what separates the top performers from everyone else.

4 min read
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Managed Intelligence

Why Your CRM's AI Doesn't Know When a Client Is at Risk

Generic CRM AI flags at-risk consulting clients correctly just 41% of the time. Here's why that gap exists and what the firms hitting 79% built instead.

4 min read
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Consulting Operations

How One-Person Advisory Firms Hit 60% Operating Margins

The best solo advisory practitioners aren't working more than their peers. They've solved a structural problem the others haven't — and the margin gap shows it.

4 min read