Is this for me?
Frequently asked questions about working with Bryan Yates.
Who do you work with?
Solo and small business founders whose perspective is their product — advisors, consultants, agency owners, creatives, service providers. Generally past the initial revenue scramble and carrying more than they should. If your business runs on your judgment and how you see problems, this is built for you.
How do I know if I need this?
You probably recognize yourself in some of these: everything works but it all feels heavier. You can’t make another decision this week. You’re not sure your goals are even yours anymore. You probably should stop doing ______ but you haven’t. Or my personal favorite: you want to fire yourself from your own business. If any of that lands, let’s talk.
I’m not in crisis. Is this still for me?
Some of my best work happens with founders who aren’t on fire — they’re just carrying more than they should and can feel it getting heavier every quarter. You don’t need to be drowning to benefit from subtracting what doesn’t fit.
Is this therapy?
No. We’re not healing traumas. We’re looking at the buried complications making your business harder than it needs to be — the borrowed goals, outgrown instincts, and roles you never consciously chose — and subtracting them so you can operate more sustainably.
Is this business consulting?
Not exactly. A consultant hands you a plan. I help you find what’s buried under the business you’ve already built, subtract it, and get you moving in the direction you actually want to go. The work is collaborative, not prescriptive.
How does it work?
What does the engagement look like?
Five months. Eleven deep work intensives, roughly 75 minutes each, about twice a month. Every session is recorded and saved to your personal library. Between sessions, you have direct access via text and voice for when something shifts, stalls, or needs a gut check.
What are the field notes?
After every intensive, I write a document that’s not a recap or a summary. It’s a written continuation of the work — what actually happened, the patterns I saw, where you’re pointed next, and what each of us owns going forward. One client opened hers eighteen times in four months. Another made a business decision while reading hers on her porch on a Saturday morning.
What’s the Personal Playbook?
At the close of your engagement, you receive a comprehensive document covering the full arc — where you started, what you subtracted, what you built, your strengths, your patterns under pressure, and a forward guide for what comes next. It’s the document you carry with you after the work is done.
What happens after five months?
The goal is to make me unnecessary. Five months should mean you don’t need me for five years. If you need a sounding board after that, the door stays open. But you won’t need it as often as you think.
What makes this different?
What do you actually do?
I’m part strategic advisor, part performance coach, and all producer. Like any good producer, I hold the vision, find what’s in the way, and keep the whole thing directionally correct. I started my career as an oral historian working with Holocaust survivors. I spent years producing at Disney. I’ve coached hundreds of endurance athletes. The job has always been the same: find the patterns people can’t see from inside them and help them move in the direction they actually want to go.
What is subtraction?
It’s less about what you do than what you’re carrying. Most founders I work with have buried complications making the business harder than it needs to be — borrowed goals, outgrown instincts, roles they never meant to keep. We find them and take them off. What’s left is a business that fits.
Why not just add better systems?
Because you can’t get lighter by carrying more. Research shows that the more overwhelmed we are, the more likely we are to default to adding. More
Investment
How much does it cost?
$1,500/month for five months, or $6,750 paid in full (saves 10%).
How do I get started?
Start with a conversation. No pitch. No pressure. Just a focused chat about where you are, where you want to go, and whether this is the right fit. [Let’s talk.]systems, more tools, more frameworks, more of you in the machine. We do the opposite.