Frequently asked

Because a custom-built Presence Engine takes 21 business days of two-founder time, plus 12 months of ongoing strategy work, voice training, custom builds, and quarterly reviews. The math is roughly the same as what a founder spends on a stack of marketing subscriptions over 18–24 months — except at the end you own an asset.

The price is $25,000. How payment is handled is a conversation we have one-on-one in the strategy session — we keep it personal rather than publishing a one-size-fits-all policy.

Before the build begins, reach out and we'll handle it directly — the specifics live in your agreement, not a public policy. Once the build is underway, the seat and the work are committed (we've turned away another founder to hold it), so it can't be unwound at that point.

Because our focus is on each founder we take on — not on filling seats. Every Presence Engine is a custom, two-founder build, and only ten founders a quarter receive that depth of attention. The price reflects the work each one gets. Discounting would mean spreading ourselves thinner across more clients, and that's the opposite of how we work.

Continued Strategy & Maintenance: quarterly business reviews, voice model retrains, new custom workflow builds, sequence refinements, and ongoing access to both founders. It's optional — if you don't renew, your Presence Engine keeps running.

Two founders, one production lead. We can build ten Presence Engines a quarter at the quality we promise. More than that, and we'd be running a software company that pretends to be a service. We're not.

You'll get a written response with a real reason within 72 hours of applying. If the reason is something that might change later — revenue, location, situation — we welcome a future application. If the reason is structural, like vertical or business-model fit, we'd recommend not reapplying.

We're genuinely selective — not every application leads to a strategy session, and not every session leads to acceptance. It's less about a number and more about fit: we take on founders where we're confident we can do work we're proud of. If you're a good fit, you'll feel it in the conversation — and so will we.

No — and it isn't a formality. We need to understand your business and where you're trying to take it before we build anything, so production is aligned with your real goals from day one. The application is how we learn that. Even with a referral or some urgency, skipping it would mean building blind.

It happens occasionally, usually because of founder-side delays — voice-memo collection takes longer than expected, or integration access is harder than anticipated. We commit to live within 21 business days from kickoff. If we cause the slip, we extend Year 1 maintenance accordingly.

Yes, within scope. New workflow ideas that emerge during the build get added without additional charge inside the build window. Wholesale scope changes — "actually, let's add e-commerce" — are handled as a Year 2 custom build at standard rates.

The major ones: Google Workspace, Stripe, Calendly, Cal.com, Zoom, common CRMs (HubSpot, Pipedrive, Close), Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile, common email providers, and SMS providers like Twilio. If you use something obscure, ask in your strategy session.

You do. Your customer list, your voice model, your sequences, your content — all yours in perpetuity. If you leave the maintenance plan, the data stays with you.

Your Presence Engine keeps running. Existing workflows continue, existing sequences continue. You just don't get new voice retrains, new custom builds, or strategy sessions. You can return to the maintenance plan later at then-current pricing.

Because real maintenance takes real time. Voice retrains, custom builds, and QBR prep are weekly activities for our team. Pricing the maintenance plan at $497 is honest pricing for the work being done. Free maintenance would mean we couldn't actually maintain it.

Strategic pivots get worked through in your quarterly reviews. If your business changes substantially — new vertical, new location, new founder structure — that's exactly what the partnership is built for. Year 2+ founders frequently re-tool 30–50% of their system without additional build fees.

No. The Cordell & Co. Realty demo is illustrative — we build a unique Presence Engine for every founder. We work with founder-led service businesses across a range of industries. The vertical doesn't change the build process much; what changes is the voice, the content, the workflows, and the customer touchpoints.

Then your Presence Engine looks like your business's Engine. The demo is what we build, not who we serve — we work with any founder-led service business in our revenue and market range.

Right now we work exclusively with founders in Greater Houston — it's where we're built and where we can do our best work, so we're not opening other markets just yet. That said, if you're outside Houston and believe you're a strong fit, send us a special request — exceptions are rare, but we'll hear you out.