Theory vs
expert networks
An expert network sells access to paid calls with practitioners and leaves recruitment judgment, verification, interviewing and synthesis to the client. Theory Intelligence runs the interviews itself, verifies every participant, synthesises the evidence and delivers a signed recommendation with a provenance appendix, for a fixed published fee.
Theory vs Expert Networks
| Expert networks | Theory Intelligence | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | Access to individual calls, typically an hour each | A signed answer to a question, with the interviews behind it |
| Who interviews | You or your team | A named Theory researcher who also writes the recommendation |
| Verification | Compliance screening; profile largely self-reported | Identity and role verified by Theory; method recorded in provenance appendix |
| Synthesis | None; you take notes | Included; evidence weighed, conflicts named, position taken |
| Pricing | Per call, several hundred to over USD 1,000; subscriptions for volume | Fixed: Signal Brief USD 7,500 to 12,000 for 6 to 8 interviews and a signed brief |
| Accountability | None for the content of the calls | Researcher signs the recommendation |
| Speed | Calls can be arranged in days | Signal Brief delivered in 10 business days |
| Best for | Teams with time and skill to run and interpret many calls | Decision makers who need an answer they can trace and someone who stands behind it |
What expert networks do well
The expert network market reached roughly USD 3 billion in 2025, growing about 12 percent a year, according to Inex One. It grew because it solved a real problem: getting a practitioner on the phone quickly. GLG, AlphaSights, Guidepoint, Third Bridge, Tegus and more than a hundred smaller networks do this at scale, with compliance screening that keeps clients out of trouble. For a team with the time and skill to run twenty calls and make sense of them, a network is efficient.
What they leave to you
Everything that turns calls into an answer. Deciding who to talk to. Checking that the expert is who the profile says. Running the interview well. Reconciling what one expert says with what another contradicts. Writing it up. Taking a position. The network's fee covers access; the judgment is unpaid work done by your team, often the most junior members of it, under time pressure. And the same experts appear on many networks and many deals, so the "primary" research has often been given several times before.
What Theory does differently
Theory recruits participants directly against the question, verifies identity and role ourselves, runs every interview with the researcher who will write the recommendation, and delivers a signed answer with a provenance appendix. The fixed fee for a Signal Brief, USD 7,500 to 12,000 for six to eight interviews plus synthesis, is often below the cost of the same number of network calls before anyone has spent an hour on them.
When to use which
Use a network when you need one specific conversation fast and you will do the thinking yourself. Use Theory when you need an answer, when the evidence needs to be defensible to a committee, lender or board, or when your team's time is worth more than the fee. Many clients use both: a network for quick calls, Theory when the question matters.
Everything Theory delivers is governed by The Theory Standard. Prices are on the services page.
Questions people ask
Is Theory an expert network?
No. Theory is a research and advisory firm. We run the interviews, verify participants and sign a recommendation. Expert networks sell access to calls.
Is Theory cheaper than expert network calls?
For six to eight interviews plus synthesis, usually yes. A Signal Brief costs USD 7,500 to 12,000 fixed. Eight network calls can cost USD 8,000 or more before your team's time is counted.
Can Theory use expert networks?
Where a network is the only route to a specific person, we may use one, but we verify the person ourselves and record it in the provenance appendix.
Test the difference on one question
A Signal Brief: six to eight verified interviews, a signed answer, ten business days, USD 7,500 to 12,000. info@theoryintel.com.
Start a brief