Understudy · for small teams

Take a vacation. Your team still gets your answers.

Understudy is a Digital Protégé of your key person: they teach it by voice, and your team asks it the questions they used to ask them. It's checked every month, and if they ever leave, one button gives your team 30 days of extra capacity while you hire. $497 a month, month to month. Early-adopter launch price.

Start now: $497/moBook 15 min with a founder

One ordinary Tuesday

The cost of losing a person vs. Understudy

Example: a key person earning $150,000. The replacement cost uses Gallup's range of half to twice annual salary. Bars are to scale.

Replacement cost doesn't include what the departing person knew. Hiring a new person doesn't bring that back.

What you get for $497 a month

The protégéYour key person's Digital ProtégéThey teach it in a voice interview, up to 5 sessions. The first version is live within 24 hours.
Your team5 people can ask it anythingBy voice, any time. It answers the way your key person taught it and sends what it doesn't know back to them.
Hours8 hours a monthTeam questions, teaching, the refresh call and the Quality Check count. The interview doesn't. More: 5 hours for $245.
Quality controlMonthly Quality CheckYour key person grades 25 of its answers. Wrong answers become lessons, and you see a Readiness score.
Safety netStep-Up MonthIf your key person leaves, one click gives your team 25 hours and 20 accounts for 30 days, at no extra cost.
TermsMonth to monthNo contract, no onboarding fee, cancel any time. Add co-founders or other key people for $197/mo each, up to 3.

Without it, and with it

Without
With Understudy
A new hire's first month
Interrupts your key person
Asks the protégé first
Their vacation
The phone keeps ringing
The questions go to the protégé
The day they leave
Everyone guesses
One click: Step-Up Month

Ask it something only your key person would know

Your project manager asksWestfield wants the rooftop units set by March. Do we bid our usual crane day?
Frank's protégé repliesNot at Westfield. Their dock won't take the crane, so we lift from the north lot, and that's a second permit. Add a day. Before you promise March, check the curb adapters with me. I don't know the current lead time, so I've sent Frank the question.

Frank is a composite senior estimator, not a customer.

How it stays current

  1. 1They teach it

    A voice interview. Live within 24 hours.

  2. 2Your team asks it

    By voice. What it doesn't know goes back to them.

  3. 3It gets checked monthly

    A 10-minute refresh call and a 25-question Quality Check.

Ready the day you need it

Example Readiness scores from the monthly Quality Check. Your key person grades 25 answers; wrong ones become lessons.

If they leave, press one button

Step-Up Month is your safety net when a key person leaves, retires or goes to a competitor.

  1. Illustrated portrait of a senior woman engineer with a silver bob and glassesEvery monthQuality Checks catch what it gets wrong.
  2. Illustrated portrait of a senior woman engineer with a silver bob and glassesThey leaveYou click Step-Up.
  3. Step-Up Month25 hours, 20 accounts, 30 days, no extra cost.
  4. Day 31You pick a plan. No scramble.

Step-Up Month, step by step

They give noticeYou click "they've left" in your accountLeaving, retiring or going to a competitor: it works the same way.
Days 1 to 30Your plan steps up to 25 hours and 20 accountsYour whole team leans on the protégé while you hire. No extra cost.
The same dayTheir teaching access closesEverything they taught stays in the protégé your team uses.
Day 31You chooseStay on Understudy, or move up to Continuity for more hours and accounts. One Step-Up Month per key person.
Understudy
$497/mo

Early-adopter launch price · month to month, cancel any time

  • 1 key person's Digital Protégé
  • 5 employee accounts
  • 8 hours a month
  • Monthly Quality Check
  • Step-Up Month if they leave

Add key people for $197/mo each, up to 3 in all. Extra hours: 5 for $245. The voice interview doesn't count against your hours.

Questions owners ask

What exactly is Step-Up Month?

It's your safety net. If your key person leaves, retires or goes to a competitor, click "they've left" in your account. For the next 30 days, at no extra cost, your plan steps up to 25 hours and 20 employee accounts so your whole team can lean on the protégé while you hire. Their teaching access closes that day. On day 31 you choose: stay on Understudy or move up to Continuity. It happens once per key person.

Is this replacing my key person?

No. It's their understudy, not their replacement. It handles the questions they answer ten times a week, it only knows what they have taught it, and it steps up only if they are out.

What happens after I pay?

Drew emails you within one business day to book your key person's voice interview. The first version of the protégé is live within 24 hours of the interview.

What counts against the 8 hours?

Voice time: your team's questions, your key person's teaching, the monthly refresh call and the Quality Check. The interview that builds it, up to 5 sessions, doesn't count.

What if we run out of hours?

Team questions pause, and you get a one-click offer: 5 more hours for $245, good for 90 days. No surprise bills. Your key person can keep teaching it either way.

What does it cost for two or three founders?

$497 a month plus $197 for each extra key person, up to 3: $694 for two, $891 for three. Each one adds 4 hours a month.

Who can see what it learns?

Only your company. Its knowledge base is isolated to your organization and never used to train a public model.

Can I cancel?

Yes, any time. It's month to month with no contract and no onboarding fee.

Built to be trusted

  • It only knows what your key person has taught it
  • Sends what it can't answer back to them
  • Never used to train a public model
  • Knowledge base isolated to your company

Your key person could give notice tomorrow.

Start today at the launch price. Your first version is live within a day of the interview.

Start now: $497/moBook 15 min with a founderTalk to a protégé now