Decision Architecture is a $2,500 engagement from Stan Consulting LLC that works one major operating decision end-to-end across 7 to 14 days. The engagement includes stakeholder mapping, a written risk surface, two structured working sessions, a recommendation with full rationale, and an implementation framework that the operator's team executes. Implementation labor is not included. The fee is final on submission.
Home Services Project & Advisory Lane Decision Architecture
Stan Consulting · F7.2 · Project & Advisory Lane
One major decision, worked end-to-end. Stakeholder map, risk surface, written brief, two working sessions, and an implementation framework your team executes. 7–14 days. $2,500.
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Briefing
Decision Architecture is one major operating decision worked end-to-end. Stakeholder map. Risk surface. Written recommendation with full rationale. Two structured working sessions with the principal. An implementation framework the operator's team uses to execute. The engagement runs 7 to 14 days. The fee is $2,500 and is final on submission. Implementation labor is not included. Ongoing advisory is not included. This is a stress-test before the decision is committed, not a project.
Most operators do not lack options. They lack a written instrument that can be defended in a board meeting.
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One decision per engagement. The pattern is the same in each: reversible only at cost, multiple stakeholders, a real deadline, and a written instrument required to commit. The $2,500 fee covers all six categories below at the same scope.
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Org structure
Series B operator weighing a senior fractional CMO against the cost and runway implications of building a full marketing function in-house. The decision touched recruiting timeline, equity dilution, and the founder's reporting line for the next 18 months.
Engagement · $2,500 · 11 days
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Brand
DTC operator entering a second product category. The board wanted a full brand overhaul. The CEO suspected a focused messaging refresh would solve the same problem at a fraction of the cost and with no platform downtime. Both options were valid; the decision needed a written instrument.
Engagement · $2,500 · 9 days
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Growth lane
Series A SaaS operator with early traction in two segments. The pressure was to commit to one. The risk was that the wrong commit would burn 18 months and the next round. The decision required a quantified view of LTV, sales cycle, and the team configuration each path required.
Engagement · $2,500 · 13 days
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Pricing
Mid-market B2B operator under pressure from a competitor that had moved to usage-based pricing. The flat-fee model was simple, predictable, and threatened. The decision involved finance, sales, customer success, and product engineering. None of them agreed at intake.
Engagement · $2,500 · 12 days
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Geography
Direct-to-consumer health brand with national ambition and regional team capacity. The board favored a three-region launch to satisfy growth targets. The COO favored a sequenced launch to protect operations. The decision touched fulfillment contracts, ad spend, and hiring sequence.
Engagement · $2,500 · 14 days
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AI sequencing
Funded operator with budget approved for AI integration and three competing internal proposals. Each proposal solved a real problem. None of them was the right first move on its own. The decision was about sequence and dependencies, not tooling.
Engagement · $2,500 · 10 days
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The engagement is not a meeting series and not a slide deck. The four work products below run in parallel during the 7 to 14 day window and consolidate into a single written brief plus the implementation framework at the end.
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Every party whose work, position, or compensation changes if the decision is made one way or the other. Authority, exposure, and likely objection are named for each. The map identifies which stakeholders to align in what sequence.
Output · named map
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The downside scenarios for each option. What breaks. What costs more than projected. Where the decision is reversible and at what cost. Where it is not. Compliance and legal review flags noted by category, not by opinion.
Output · written risk pages
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The decision document. Recommendation with rationale. Quantified comparisons where data exists. Stated assumptions where it does not. Written so the operator can defend the recommendation in a board meeting and so legal can read it without translation.
Output · PDF brief, 14–22 pages
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Order of operations the operator's team executes. Stakeholder alignment sequence. Decision gates that should not be skipped. Metrics that confirm the decision is being executed correctly. Handed off at the end of session two.
Output · framework appendix
How it fits together
Four artifacts feed one written instrument. Two working sessions punctuate the cadence: one to set the stakeholder map and risk surface, one to walk the recommendation and the framework. The $2,500 fee covers all of it.
Operating principle
A decision committed without a written instrument is a preference, not a decision.
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The brief is the artifact the operator uses to commit. Until the rationale is written, the decision is a working preference held by the most persuasive person in the room. The brief moves the burden of proof off the loudest voice.
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Most decisions break in execution because a stakeholder was unmapped, not because the recommendation was wrong. The stakeholder map is the first artifact for that reason. Tactics that ignore the map fail predictably.
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The engagement ends at the framework. The team executes. If the framework is correct and the team is capable, outside execution is friction. If the team is not capable, that is a different problem and a different engagement.
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The cadence is fixed. Day-1 intake. Working session one between days 3 and 5. Working session two between days 8 and 10. Final brief delivered between days 12 and 14. The $2,500 fee covers all four phases.
Day 0–2 · Intake brief
Submit the form. The principal reviews the decision, stakeholders, and timing within 48 hours and confirms fit. The intake brief is written: stakeholder list, options on the table, deadlines, and what the decision touches.
Fee · $2,500
Day 3–5 · Working session 1
Live working session with the principal. The stakeholder map and the risk surface are walked. Assumptions are tested. The session output is the agreed scope of what the brief will cover and what it will not.
90 minutes
Day 8–10 · Working session 2
Second live session. The draft recommendation, the rationale, and the implementation framework are walked. Objections are raised and tested in the room. Revisions are committed in writing.
90 minutes
Day 12–14 · Final brief
The final written brief is delivered as a PDF. Stakeholder map. Risk surface. Recommendation with rationale. Implementation framework. The brief is the instrument the operator uses to commit and to align stakeholders.
PDF · 14–22 pages
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Fit
Not fit
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The $2,500 covers everything below. No upsell during the engagement. Scope is fixed before the intake is accepted. The fee is final on submission.
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A 1 to 2 page written summary of the decision, the options, the stakeholders, and the deadline. Confirmed in writing within 48 hours of intake. The intake brief is the scope anchor for the rest of the engagement.
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Every party affected by the decision named with authority, exposure, and likely objection. The map is the basis of the alignment sequence in the implementation framework. Delivered as part of the final brief.
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Downside scenarios for each option. What breaks. What costs more than projected. Where the decision is reversible and at what cost. Compliance and legal review flags noted by category, named without opinion.
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Two 90-minute live sessions with the principal. First session walks the stakeholder map and the risk surface. Second session walks the draft recommendation and the framework. Sessions are conducted by video.
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The decision document itself. Recommendation. Full rationale. Quantified comparisons where data exists. Stated assumptions where it does not. Written for a board, an investor, a co-founder, or legal to read without translation.
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Order of operations the operator's team executes. Alignment sequence. Decision gates. Confirmation metrics. The framework is the appendix to the brief and the operating document for the team that runs the decision.
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The Project & Advisory Lane has four tiers. Each one is sized for a different shape of work. The $2,500 fee for Decision Architecture sits between F7.1 ($1,250) and F7.3 ($5,000 floor) for a specific reason.
The Strategic Advisory Call at $1,250 is one 90-minute session. Single stakeholder. No written instrument. It is correct when the decision is tightly bounded and the operator can act on a verbal recommendation without needing a board-readable document.
Decision Architecture at $2,500 is the next tier. The same fee covers two working sessions, a written brief, a stakeholder map, a risk surface, and an implementation framework. The work is roughly 3× the Advisory Call in time and produces a written instrument. The fee reflects that.
Project Consulting starts at $5,000 and runs to $25,000. It is for multi-decision project work, longer cadences, or scopes that include implementation labor. If a single decision grows into a project during intake review, we recommend the move to F7.3 directly rather than absorbing scope silently at $2,500.
The pricing is set, not negotiated. The fee is final on submission. Discounts are not offered. If the engagement is not the right fit at $2,500, the correct response is a different tier, not a different price.
F7.1 · Advisory Call
$1,250
90-minute session. Single stakeholder. Bounded question. Verbal output.
F7.2 · Decision Architecture (this page)
$2,500
7–14 days. Written brief. Two working sessions. Stakeholder map. Risk surface. Implementation framework.
F7.3 · Project Consulting
$5K–$25K
Multi-decision projects. Extended cadence. May include implementation labor. Scoped in a separate call.
F7.4 · Crisis Consulting
Quoted
Acute, time-locked decisions. 72-hour cadence. Quoted on intake.
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Decision Architecture is a 7 to 14 day engagement that works one major operating decision end-to-end. The $2,500 covers stakeholder mapping, a written risk surface, two structured working sessions, a recommendation with full rationale, and an implementation framework the operator's team executes. Implementation labor is not included. The fee is final on submission. The deliverable is the written brief plus the framework, not a slide deck or a verbal debrief.
One major decision per engagement. Recent examples: fractional CMO versus in-house function build, full rebrand versus targeted messaging refresh, Series A growth lane between enterprise and SMB, pricing model change between flat fee, usage-based and tiered, geographic expansion sequencing, and AI install ordering between content engine, reporting, and audience. The pattern is the same: one decision, reversible only at cost, multiple stakeholders, and a real deadline.
The Strategic Advisory Call (F7.1, $1,250, 90 minutes) is a single working session focused on a tightly-bounded question with a single stakeholder. Decision Architecture (F7.2, $2,500, 7 to 14 days) covers a larger surface: stakeholder mapping, risk analysis, a written brief, two working sessions, and an implementation framework. If the decision can be worked through in 90 minutes with one person and no written instrument is required, the Advisory Call is the right tier. If it touches multiple stakeholders, has irreversible elements, or requires written rationale that legal or the board can read, Decision Architecture is the right tier.
Project Consulting (F7.3, $5,000 to $25,000) covers multi-decision project work with extended timelines, more stakeholders, and deliverables that may include implementation labor or a multi-week working cadence. Decision Architecture is bounded: one decision, 7 to 14 days, the operator's team executes from the framework. If the engagement scope grows past one decision during intake review, the right tier is Project Consulting and we recommend the move directly rather than absorbing scope silently at $2,500.
The framework specifies the order of operations the operator's team needs to execute the decision: which stakeholders to align in what sequence, which artifacts to produce, the decision gates that should not be skipped, and the metrics that confirm the decision is being executed correctly. It is written so the in-house team can execute without further consulting input. Stan Consulting does not execute the framework. The operator's team does. If the team needs implementation labor, that is a separate engagement and a separate agreement.
No. The $2,500 fee is final on submission. The scope of what is reviewed and what is delivered is specified in full before the intake is accepted. The 7 to 14 day cadence, the two working sessions, the written brief, and the implementation framework are what the fee covers. Scope is fixed before payment.
Compliance constraints are mapped in the risk surface section of the brief. The brief notes which elements of the decision require legal review, which elements have regulatory exposure, and where human review is required if the decision involves AI-generated output or a regulated category. Decision Architecture does not provide legal advice. It identifies where legal review is required and what to bring to that review.
Decision Architecture is led by the principal at Stan Consulting LLC with the small team that operates the firm. The principal has worked inside funded operating teams at Series A through C scale across multiple verticals. The two working sessions are delivered by the principal directly. The written brief is the team's product, not a software-generated assessment.
Some operators move from Decision Architecture into the F3 Consulting retainer, which is the right tier for ongoing relationship work at a quarterly cadence. The brief stands as the artifact for the decision it covered; the retainer covers the next set of decisions. Each tier is a separate agreement. Decision Architecture does not auto-enroll into a retainer.
Begin here
The form collects what the engagement needs to scope the brief: the decision being weighed, the stakeholders involved, the deadline, and the revenue context. The $2,500 fee is collected after the intake is reviewed and fit is confirmed. If the engagement is not a fit at this tier, you receive a written note on the correct first step at no charge.
If the decision is acute or the deadline is inside 7 days, note that clearly in the form. Crisis Consulting (F7.4) runs on a 72-hour cadence and is the correct tier for time-locked decisions; the principal will redirect you there if applicable.
The principal will review the intake within two business days and confirm whether Decision Architecture is the right tier for the decision you described. Watch for a written note from [email protected].
F7.2 · Project & Advisory Lane
One major decision, worked end-to-end across 7 to 14 days. Stakeholder map, risk surface, recommendation with full rationale, and an implementation framework your team uses to execute. The engagement total is $2,500 and the fee is final on submission. The brief is the instrument that survives the board meeting; the framework is what your team runs against the morning after.
Begin Decision Architecture · $2,500Smaller scope? Strategic Advisory Call · $1,250 · Or write the principal: [email protected]
A decision committed without a written instrument is the most expensive thing an operator does in a year. The brief costs less than the rounding error on the wrong call.