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TCE/For Experts

If we contacted you, here is why.

TCE is an expert network. Clients (consulting firms, corporate strategy teams, private equity funds, and hedge funds) ask us to find operators who can answer a specific question on a paid call, usually about an hour. You are hearing from us because your background matched a live search. This is not a job offer.

What is an expert network?

The Continental Exchange is a primary research firm, also called an expert network. We are research partners to:

Investors

Private equity funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, and institutional investors.

Management consulting firms

Corporations

Series A, B, and C companies, Fortune 500 firms, startups, and mid-size companies.

When they want to learn about a market, they ask us to find people in that market who can speak to the topic. We then arrange a paid consultation by phone.

Onboarding

Onboarding starts with a required introductory call. We schedule it by phone, WhatsApp, Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or a similar call. The call confirms fit, answers your questions, and explains how the research works.

What the introductory call covers

  1. 1. Introduction. A short greeting, and a chance to get acquainted.
  2. 2. What TCE does, and how the work helps the client.
  3. 3. Screening questions.
  4. 4. Hourly rate, and the Terms of Engagement.
  5. 5. Availability for scheduling.
  6. 6. A clear close.

How an engagement runs

  1. 1

    Project brief

    The client shares the research goals.

  2. 2

    Expert search

    We identify and contact subject matter experts.

  3. 3

    Screening and submission

    Qualified profiles go to the client.

  4. 4

    Scheduling

    The client books a call, usually about an hour.

  5. 5

    Confirmation

    A calendar invite with the consultation details.

  6. 6

    Consultation and payment

    The call takes place, and payment is processed.

What is an expert?

Most people we recruit do not think of themselves as experts. They think of themselves as people who spent five to twenty years in a specific job. That is who we look for.

An expert here has first-hand experience in a market a client wants to understand. Not a thought leader. Not a credentialed advisor. Not someone with a content channel. Someone who has done the work.

If you have run a P&L, sourced a category, managed a function, sat on a deal team, sold into a vertical, or built a product in a specific industry, and you can speak to what you saw, you are the person our clients want to talk to. Tenure matters less than relevance to the question.

The fastest check: if the question we sent makes sense to you, you are likely the right person to answer it.

Apply to the network

The short application takes a name, an email, a LinkedIn URL, your role and company, and the areas you know.

Or apply with the form below.

Common questions

What will I be paid?
In our experience, expert pay ranges from $50 to $3,000 per hour, with a median of about $215 per hour. Rates are negotiated individually. They depend on the client budget, your experience and seniority, and how scarce the knowledge is.
Other firms contacted me about a similar topic. Should I work with only one network?
No. If you want this kind of work, you can speak with more than one network, within reason. Be careful with your time. Clients often send the same request to two, three, four, five, or more firms. Several of those firms may want experience like yours, so working with a few networks is reasonable.
How did you get my contact information?
Data brokers. We buy contact information in a legal and compliant way. If you have given an email or phone number to a rewards program, a retailer, or a similar service, that information can be purchased. This is common practice.
How did you find me?
Data brokers, and LinkedIn. Public profiles can be searched and identified. The industry relies on both.
Why did you follow up so many times?
This is a competitive market. If we do not present the right experts before other firms do, we lose the work. Speed matters, and experts are busy. You already receive many notifications in a day. Following up is how we stay visible.
Is this legitimate?
Yes. Expert networks have existed since the late 1990s. The largest are established firms that serve institutional investors and consultancies. Paying a professional for about an hour of their knowledge is ordinary in that market. Caution is reasonable. This is not a scam.
Why did the email not come from usatce.com?
Cold email that reaches an inbox, and stays out of spam, is difficult in 2026, especially for a younger firm. We seldom use usatce.com addresses for a first note to experts we have not worked with. We keep adjusting that setup because large providers such as Google (Gmail) and Microsoft (Outlook) filter high volumes of outreach from newer firms.
I already earn well. A fee of $5,000 per hour would not change that. Why take the call?
Influence and knowledge. Our experts advise on decisions that can run to multimillion and billion dollar outcomes. Those decisions can affect markets and many people. Time with our clients also shows what experienced investors and operators in your market are asking. The exchange runs both ways. Many experts take calls to hear what is being said in their industry.
Why can the call not wait two weeks?
These projects usually run on a one to four week window. Client needs change quickly, and speed decides who is staffed.
Will I know who the client is?
Sometimes. We always describe the type of end client (consulting firm, corporate, private equity fund, or hedge fund) and share a project overview. Some clients ask for the call to stay blinded or anonymous.
Can I ask not to be recorded or transcribed?
Yes. Some clients will cancel if you opt out, because a word for word transcript has become a standard part of these calls.
Will my name or my participation be made public?
No. Your name and the details of your participation are not made public. Some networks sell anonymized consultation data to subscribers. We do not.
How will I be paid?
We pay through Stripe.
Can you pay me by Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, Wise, or Payoneer?
We strongly prefer not to. Those services disrupt our payment operations.
Do you pay in cryptocurrency?
Not yet. If enough experts ask, we will consider it.

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