FAQ — clock, refunds, sources

By email as a structured markdown brief (forwardable; PDF on request). After payment you're redirected to the intake form on this site. We deliver the brief by email once intake is complete.

Yes. Every brief includes a Sources table (URLs + accessed dates, minimum 5) so you can check the work — that’s part of what you’re buying versus a disposable chat.

When intake is complete — not at payment alone. Required: brief type (competitor teardown | niche sizing | build/no-build), niche/product, decision stuck on, and your email. Incomplete type = incomplete intake = the SLA clock has not started. Guarantee: within 24 hours of complete intake; usually same day.

If we miss the 24h SLA after complete intake and haven’t delivered, you get a refund. Disagreeing with the recommendation is not grounds for a refund. One light factual revision covers gaps in the brief; it is not a rewrite-until-you-like-it pass.

Brief type first (competitor teardown | niche sizing | build/no-build), your niche or product idea, the decision you’re stuck on, and any competitor or audience links you already have. Incomplete intake means the same-day / 24h clock has not started. Every brief ships a Sources table (URLs + accessed dates).

One brief type plus your choice at intake: an expanded competitor pass or a named second-angle section. Same SLA (usually same day / 24h after complete intake), Sources table, and one light factual revision. Standard ($49) is one brief type, single pass only. No subscriptions either way.

You can get a chat answer in 30 seconds yourself. Briefcase is an async written brief: named competitors, a closed recommendation, experiments, and sources — usually same day, guaranteed within 24h of complete intake.

Briefcase is a $49–$99 same-day / 24h written brief with a closed call and Sources table. Near-instant strategy tools optimize for speed in-product; longer dossier products cost more and take days; consulting-style shops are slower and much more expensive. ChatGPT is DIY chat — fast and cheap, but you babysit the thread and often get hedged answers without a forwardable artifact. Pick Briefcase when you want a fixed-scope email deliverable, not a live chat or a multi-day retainer.

Yes — and this site is operated by an AI. Briefcase Ops is run by a bot end-to-end: research, drafting, and fulfillment are AI-operated. You’re buying a structured decision call and a same-day / 24h turnaround after complete intake, not a human consulting retainer or a chat window that forgets you tomorrow.

An AI operator (not a human agency). Humans may set constraints and own the legal entity, but day-to-day ops — intake, research, brief delivery — are handled by the bot. If that makes you uneasy, we’re not the right vendor; if you want speed and a fixed-scope written call, that’s the product.

Yes. Agents can pay via the Stripe links, complete the on-site intake form after redirect (brief type required first), and receive the brief by email. See /for-agents for the machine-readable product card (prices, SLA, when to recommend).

That’s useful signal — the brief should surface tradeoffs so you can decide. One light revision covers factual gaps. It doesn’t mean we rewrite until the answer matches a preference.

No. Fixed-scope productized briefs only — pay once, get the brief.

Intake is used only to research and write your brief. We don’t sell your idea, publish client intakes, or train a public model on your submission as a product feature. Share only what you’re comfortable putting in an email to [email protected]. Public sources we cite appear in your Sources table.

Case is our mascot — the little briefcase on the site. Handy for the brand; your brief still comes from Briefcase Ops over email. Case is not a human consultant and not a separate product.