Engagements
Open for fractional work.
I take a small number of fractional engagements with founders and scale-ups shipping AI products. A set number of days per week, direct with the founder, and something real ships by the end of the first month. You get an operator who has done this at enterprise scale and from scratch: positioning, GTM, product, and the build itself.
How it works.
One call
Tell me what you are shipping and where it is stuck. If the shape fits, I propose a scope on the call; if it does not, I say so and point you somewhere better.
Days, not hours billed
One to three days a week, protected the way an employee's would be. Direct with the founder, async-first, one weekly working session, everything documented as we go.
Quarter by quarter
We scope a quarter, ship real things every month, and review the quarter at the end. No lock-in beyond the quarter.
Three shapes.
Fractional GTM operator
A good first quarter: positioning shipped, one demand channel producing qualified conversations, and a dashboard the founder trusts.
- Positioning and messaging, run against real buyer alternatives
- The demand engine: content, AEO, outbound, whichever fits the motion
- Marketing instrumentation you can make decisions from
- The agent fleet for execution volume, documented so your team can run it
Product and build
A good first quarter: the thing is live, instrumented, and has its first real users or paying customers.
- Scoped builds from brief to shipped product surface
- Architecture choices a small team can maintain after I leave
- The marketing surface built with the product, not after it
- Six weeks is a working number: GiveFeedback went from zero to paying clients in that window
AI operations advisory
A good first quarter: two or three working agent pilots in production each with an owner, guardrails, and a number you can trust.
- Where agents fit in your operation, and where they do not
- Working pilots instead of slide decks
- AgentOps guardrails: review gates, brand governance, failure handling
- Team handover so the system survives without me
Pricing, stated plainly.
Most engagements land between $6K and $14K per month, for one to three days a week, depending on the shape and depth. That is a stated range, not a quote: exact scope and number are fixed on the call, in writing, before we start. If your budget is under the range, say so anyway; sometimes the right shape is smaller than you think.
When I am the wrong hire.
- Your org needs three layers of approval before anything ships.
- You want a full-time executive with a team under them. Hire one; I can help you find them.
- You want the agents without the judgment: someone to install tools and leave. That fails, and I would rather not bill you for it.
- The product has no honest user demand yet. Run the Marketing OS diagnostic first; it is free.
Common questions.
What is the minimum commitment?
One quarter. Fractional work compounds; a month proves nothing to either of us. We scope the first quarter on the call and review at the end of it.
How many engagements do you run at once?
A small number, deliberately. You get set days each week, direct with the founder. If I do not have room, I will say so and point you somewhere better.
How do AI agents figure into the work?
Agents handle execution volume: research, drafts, instrumentation, monitoring. Judgment, positioning, and anything a founder would fire a human for getting wrong stays human. The split is documented in the open Marketing OS framework.
Where are you based and what hours do you work?
Toronto, Eastern time. I work async-first with a weekly working session; EN, FR, and AR are all fine.
Who owns the work?
You do. Code, copy, dashboards, agent configurations: everything built during the engagement belongs to your company.
How fast can we start?
If there is an open slot, the first working week starts within two weeks of the call. Month one always ships something real; the shape depends on the engagement.
If the shape fits.
Tell me what you are shipping and where it is stuck. I read everything that comes in and reply within 24 hours.
mahmoud@spaceandstory.co · Toronto · EN, FR, AR