Blacksky
How an engagement with Blacksky works
Written for the questions people ask on a first call: how do we start, what happens next, how long does it take, how is it priced, who owns what.
How to start
Tell Maurice what you are working on. He can have Mario call you back, or send a short email with details after the call. There is no form to fill in and no sales team to get past. Mario takes the first conversation himself.
The first conversation
The first call is a discovery call, usually thirty to forty five minutes. Mario wants to understand the problem, who it is for, what systems it has to work with, what the timeline is, and whether there are compliance or security requirements. If it is not a fit, he says so on that call.
The proposal
After discovery, Blacksky writes a short proposal: scope, technical approach, milestones, timeline, and the investment. Proposals are written by the person who will do the work. There is no handoff to a delivery team later.
Pricing, in shape
Blacksky does not quote prices on the phone because every engagement is scoped. Maurice can describe how pricing is structured, and Mario puts numbers on it in the proposal.
For a custom build or a consulting project, pricing is by scope, with milestone payments on larger projects.
For a hosted agent such as a Dewey phone line or a Maurice style assistant, the structure has three parts. A one time setup fee covers the build, and the client owns what is built. A monthly subscription covers updates and monitoring. Hosting is itemized separately on its own line, called Black Cloud, so the client sees exactly what compute, telephony, model usage, and memory cost. Changes outside the agreed scope are billed hourly.
Typical timelines
A proof of concept or a demo instance is usually a matter of weeks. A production agent on a client's own documents, with a phone number, is typically one to three months depending on integrations. Platform migrations and larger builds are scoped individually and run in milestones.
Ownership and handover
The client owns the work product once it is paid for. For hosted agents, that means the client's configuration, documents, and data are exportable, and the stack can be handed over if the client ever wants to leave. Blacksky keeps its platform, AgentOS and Black Cloud, which is licensed rather than sold.
Contract basics
Blacksky LLC is a Maryland company. Engagements are on an independent contractor basis, invoiced net thirty, milestone based for larger projects. Blacksky carries liability insurance.
Who does the work
Mario Moorhead is the founder and principal engineer and builds most systems himself, bringing in collaborators when a project needs them. Clients talk to the person building the system, from the first call through delivery.
Working with government and regulated organizations
Blacksky has delivered for federal agencies, healthcare organizations, and financial services companies through prime contractors, and understands their security and compliance expectations. For work that requires a prime, Blacksky can work as a subcontractor.
Free education
Blacksky Up offers free community courses on language models and emergent intelligence, and an apprenticeship program. All education is free, no exceptions. This is separate from paid engagements.