Frequently Asked Questions
Common misperceptions, answered directly.
Do you do websites?
We do — but we diagnose narrative architecture first. A website without a clear narrative strategy is just a pretty template. Most of our Build engagements follow an Intervention, because the narrative work determines what the site should say and how it should be structured. If you already have a strong narrative, we can Build against it.
Are you an agency?
No. Sightbox is a strategic brand and product practice operating a Portfolio Narrative Practice (PNP) model. We sell judgment in structured engagements, not hours. We do not have account managers, junior staff, or process theater. Senior people work directly on your project.
What is narrative architecture?
Narrative architecture is the structured system of positioning, messaging, and visual identity that determines how a company presents itself to the world. It is not a logo or a tagline — it is the foundational frame that shapes investor decks, websites, product interfaces, and recruiting materials. We treat it as a first-class discipline, not a finishing step.
How are you different from a traditional practice?
Traditional practices optimize for throughput: large teams, billable hours, junior staff learning on your dime. We optimize for judgment: small teams, fixed-price outcomes, senior people doing the work. We do not compete on headcount or process — we compete on clarity, speed, and strategic depth.
How are you different from AI-native services?
AI-native services optimize for speed and cost by replacing human judgment with agentic substrates. That works well for procedurally legible work — customer support, contract review, intake forms. Narrative diagnosis is judgment-led and relationship-priced. We use agentic tools to compound our methodology and accelerate execution, but the strategic diagnosis stays human-led permanently.
What does the three-layer architecture mean?
Our interventions are organized into three composable layers: Intervention(diagnosis + narrative architecture), Build (execution into surfaces), and Standing Counsel (ongoing strategic partnership). Each layer can stand alone or stack with others. The key principle is that narrative architecture comes first; execution follows strategy, not the other way around.
Who do you work with?
Funded startups (Seed to Series B), growth-stage companies, and enterprises launching new products. Our best portfolio companies share a few traits: they're building something ambitious, they value craft, and they want a partner who will push back and think alongside them — not just take orders.
What is your pricing?
We price outcomes, not hours. Interventions typically range from $25K–$75K. Build engagements range from $30K–$150K+. Standing Counsel retainers run $8K–$25K/month. Every engagement starts with a discovery phase and a fixed-price proposal. See our pricing page for details.
How fast can you move?
An Intervention takes 3–5 weeks. A typical Build takes 6–12 weeks. Combined, most projects ship in 10–16 weeks. We do not stretch timelines to fill hours. If you need something faster, we can scope accordingly — but we will not sacrifice strategic clarity for speed.
Do you work with early-stage companies?
Yes, but we adjust scope to stage. Pre-Seed and Seed companies typically need a focused Intervention (positioning + identity + landing page) rather than a full Build. We love working with bootstrapped founders — efficient budgets, clear priorities, no committee decisions.
What do you mean by "Services-as-Software"?
We use the Services-as-Software frame as a macro reference, not as a self-label. The claim is that professional services are being reshaped by agentic substrates: codified expertise compounds, unit economics converge toward software-shaped curves, and human roles concentrate at standards, relationships, judgment, and exceptions. Sightbox is building the agentic substrate around our methodology — but the diagnosis itself stays human-led.