Method
Five stages. The first two cost nothing and one of them regularly ends with me saying no.
- Enquiry A written form rather than a calendar link. It establishes what you are aiming at, by when, where you are starting from, and what you have already tried. It takes about four minutes and it is the reason our first conversation can be useful rather than exploratory.
- Conversation Thirty minutes, no charge, no script, no slide deck. We establish whether the outcome you want is achievable on the timeline you have, and whether I am the right person for it. I decline a meaningful fraction of these, usually because the timeline is unrealistic or because what is needed is cheaper help than mine.
- Diagnosis Before any teaching, a written assessment of where you actually are against where you need to be — a real document, not a sales artefact. For quant candidates that means a technical assessment; for admissions, a read of the raw material. The gap is frequently not where people assume, and occasionally the diagnosis changes the plan entirely.
- The work Sessions with me. Not an associate, not a junior, not a subcontracted tutor you meet after signing. Sessions are recorded so you can go back over them. Written feedback between sessions, and answers to whatever you hit in the meantime. Scope is fixed at the outset; if the work runs long because I misjudged it, that is my problem rather than yours.
- Outcome Through to the offer, the admission, or a considered decision not to proceed. I remain reachable after an engagement closes — most of my future work will come from people I have already worked with, so this is self-interest as much as courtesy.
Practical terms
- Fees — half on signature, half at the midpoint. Quoted in pounds, payable in euros, pounds or dollars.
- Fit — if it is wrong within the first two sessions, I refund the balance and help you find someone better suited. A bad engagement costs me more than a lost one.
- Delivery — entirely online. Sessions recorded. Working on Central European Time: mornings suit Asia, afternoons the Gulf and Europe, evenings the United States.
- Availability — a limited number of engagements at any time, and a maximum of three introductory conversations a week.
- Confidentiality — nothing about your application, your firms or your family is discussed with anyone. Case studies are published only with written consent.