How Relationships Evolve
IT STARTS
WITH ONE
Conversation.
No ongoing consultation begins with a retainer agreement. Every M7 client relationship started somewhere smaller — a keynote, a workshop, a single R&D project. What converts them into long-term partnerships is what happens after the first deliverable lands.
01
Entry Point
THE FIRST ENGAGEMENT
A keynote. A Tech Tasting. A single R&D project. A 90-day intelligence pilot. Something scoped, bounded, and easy to say yes to — that demonstrates value fast and creates more questions than it answers.
02
The Moment
THE REALIZATION
The keynote lands. The pilot delivers. The project ships. And the leadership team realizes they don’t want to go back to navigating this space without us. The questions get bigger. The stakes get higher. They want more.
03
The Shift
EMBEDDED, NOT EXTERNAL
M7 moves from vendor to partner. We’re on the briefs, inside the strategic planning cycles, consulted before decisions — not after. Cross-industry intelligence starts feeding your specific decisions in real time.
04
The Outcome
THE COMPOUNDING ADVANTAGE
The longer M7 is inside an organization, the more context we carry and the better our counsel gets. What started as one conversation becomes institutional knowledge. You stop reacting to the market. You start shaping it.
The Framework
CRAWL.
WALK.
Run.
Every M7 consultation is structured around a progression model — not because we think you need to go slowly, but because sustainable transformation requires a foundation. We meet clients where they are, move at the pace their organization can absorb, and build toward operating at the frontier.
01
Phase One
CRAWL — FOUNDATION
Establish the intelligence infrastructure, audit where the organization actually is vs. where it thinks it is, and identify the two or three highest-leverage bets. Build internal fluency so the team can hold the conversation without us in the room.
- Current-state technology audit across key touchpoints
- Competitive intelligence and gap mapping
- Executive team briefings and framework education
- Prioritized innovation opportunity matrix
02
Phase Two
WALK — ACTIVATION
Move from insight to action. Pilot the two or three highest-confidence bets identified in Phase One, build the internal processes to sustain them, and generate the proof points the organization needs to move at scale. Turn early wins into institutional momentum.
- Pilot scoping and vendor selection support
- Project oversight and quality benchmarking
- Internal playbook and capability documentation
- Proof-of-concept measurement and reporting
03
Phase Three
RUN — LEADERSHIP
Scale what works. The organization has the foundation, the early wins, and the internal capability. Now M7 serves as the intelligence partner that keeps you ahead of the next curve — before it becomes a crisis, before your competitors see it, before the trade press covers it.
- Ongoing quarterly strategic advisory sessions
- New platform and technology evaluation
- C-suite counsel on major technology decisions
- Cross-industry signal briefings and competitive intelligence
What It Looks Like in Practice
INSIDE THE
Decision.
NOT AFTER IT.
The difference between a consultant and a consultation partner is where in the process they show up. M7 is not called in to validate decisions that have already been made. We are in the room when they are being formed.
Scenario
M7 Ongoing Consultation
Typical External Consultant
New Technology Announced
M7 sends a real-time POV within 24 hours — with strategic implications specific to your business, before you’ve had to ask
You schedule a call. They research it. You get a deck two weeks later.
Vendor Pitches New AI Platform
M7 evaluates the vendor’s claims against actual product roadmap knowledge from our developer network and tells you what’s real vs. vaporware
You rely on the vendor’s own materials. You make a decision with incomplete information.
Annual Planning Cycle Opens
M7 is in the room — contributing the emerging tech roadmap, flagging inflection points in the next 12–24 months, and pressure-testing priorities before they’re committed to
You hope your team has done the research. The annual plan is built on last year’s assumptions.
Board or Leadership Retreat
Matt keynotes or facilitates the session, synthesizing the year’s intelligence into a cohesive forward-looking narrative built specifically for your leadership audience
Someone pulls slides from last year’s industry conference. The room spends 20 minutes catching up on context.
Major Industry Event Passes
M7 delivers an executive intelligence brief within days — what mattered, what didn’t, and specifically what it means for your decisions in the next quarter
Your team reads the same trade press recaps as every competitor. Everyone has the same information.
Internal Team Needs Upskilling
M7 runs a custom intelligence program for your marketing, product, or strategy team — building the frameworks and vocabulary they need to lead internally
You send three people to a conference. They come back with different takeaways. Nothing changes.
What You Actually Receive
TANGIBLE.
Consistent.
YOURS.
Every ongoing consultation engagement includes a defined set of recurring deliverables — structured to create a persistent flow of intelligence and counsel, not a stream of unbillable conversations.
BI-WEEKLY VIDEO BRIEFINGS
Insight-driven video updates on the emerging shifts most relevant to your business — distributed internally for leadership and team use. Private, proprietary, and built around your context, not a generic industry summary.
Cadence: Every two weeks
PLATFORM DEEP-DIVES (“THE RUNDOWN”)
A visually-driven, three-minute read on a specific emerging platform or tool — what it is, how it works, the business model, and what it means for your brand. Designed for time-pressed executives who need to get smart fast.
Cadence: Bi-weekly
REAL-TIME POVs
When something significant breaks — a major platform announcement, a competitor move, a regulatory shift — M7 delivers an applied analysis within 24 hours. Not a press summary. A strategic perspective with specific implications for your business.
Cadence: On-demand, up to 2x/month
QUARTERLY KEYNOTE OR WORKSHOP
Each quarter begins or closes with a live engagement — either a keynote that sets the strategic tone and frames the key focus areas, or an interactive workshop that translates the quarter’s intelligence into an operational plan your team can execute.
Cadence: Once per quarter
MONTHLY INNOVATION RECAP
A curated synthesis of the month’s most significant signals — major market moves, technology milestones, behavioral shifts, and competitive intelligence — distilled into a format optimized for executive distribution and internal discussion.
Cadence: Monthly
STANDING ADVISORY ACCESS
Direct access to Matt and the M7 senior team for decisions that can’t wait for a scheduled briefing. Vendor evaluations, technology bets, competitive questions, board preparation — the standing call that every serious innovation leader should have on their calendar.
Cadence: On-demand
Engagement Models
TWO WAYS
TO Start.
Most ongoing consultation relationships begin with a bounded 90-day pilot — a low-risk entry point that delivers immediate value and builds the internal case for a longer commitment. The structure below reflects how most M7 partnerships are structured in year one.
Start Here
90-Day Consultation Pilot
$75K
Flat fee · 90 days · Full deliverable set included
A structured 90-day engagement designed to prove value quickly, establish the intelligence infrastructure, and build the internal case for an ongoing partnership. Includes a full measurement report at the end of the pilot period so you can evaluate impact with data, not gut feel.
- Kick-off keynote (1 hour, custom-built for your team)
- Monthly innovation recap (×3)
- Bi-weekly platform Rundown briefs (×6)
- Real-time POVs as needed (up to 2×/month)
- Standing advisory access throughout
- 90-day impact and measurement report
- KPI alignment session at engagement start
Most Common Year-One Structure
Ongoing Partnership
Ongoing Consultation Retainer
$15K/mo
$45,000/quarter · Minimum 90-day initial commitment
The full ongoing partnership model — M7 embedded in your organization’s intelligence and decision-making infrastructure on a continuous basis. Covers the full deliverable suite, plus priority advisory access, expanded deep-dive cadence, and in-person quarterly sessions.
- Everything in the 90-Day Pilot, ongoing
- Priority and expanded advisory access
- Quarterly in-person keynote or working session
- Custom team upskilling program (bi-annual)
- Vendor evaluation and technology vetting
- Annual planning cycle participation
- Event intelligence reports (2× per year included)
Start Here
ONE
CONVERSATION.
That’s All.
Every long M7 relationship started with a single call. We don’t do discovery calls that turn into sales cycles. We have a real conversation about where your organization is and whether M7 can actually help. If the fit is right, we’ll tell you exactly what to do next. If it isn’t, we’ll tell you that too.
General Inquiries
Matt Directly
Headquarters
New York, NY — Eastern Time
Response Time
One business day — always.
WHERE IS
Your Team Right Now?
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We respond within one business day. No gatekeepers, no runaround.