Alternative · Operating Systems

An alternative to EOS —
or a board inside it

EOS gives teams a complete operating system: Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, Traction. SynthBoard is a lighter alternative to EOS for founders who want the hard calls argued without the full system — or a board for the hardest issues inside it.

Start free See how it works

In short

No — different categories. EOS is a complete operating system with a cadence, a language and a meeting structure for the whole leadership team. SynthBoard is a board of AI experts that fits inside EOS, or a lighter option for founders who do not want a full operating system.

Last reviewed October 1, 2026

An example

One ask, start to finish.
What comes back is a memo.

How a board takes a call like this: her read, who sits, what they ask first, then the call — with how sure they are, who disagreed and the first step.

Operating Systems

Example · Board of 3

Which of these five candidate rocks deserves to be a quarterly rock — and which is a wish?

Chief of staff

This one needs a board: The CEO, The Operator and The Strategist. The CEO holds the through-line on company strategy and stakeholder trade-offs. Each researches alone first, then they react to one another — and on a decision, two of them take opposed sides.

The CEOChief Executive Officer
The OperatorCOO
The StrategistCompetitive Expert

Asked first

If you could do only one thing this quarter, is this it?

YesOne of twoProbably not

The board’s call

Three of the five candidate rocks deserve the slot.

CS-staffing rock has a clear owner, measurable outcome, and 90-day shape — keep. Pricing-restructure is a multi-quarter project, not a rock — break into pieces.

Confidence75 · High

The Strategist disagreed

“Three rocks per leader is the canonical EOS limit — respect it”

First step Test what The Strategist flagged before you commit.this week

Board of 3 · up to 135 credits on the card · an example, not a recorded run

Other asks people bring here

Several asks in one message become several rooms, each with its expert and its own price on the card. Keep or drop any, then convene them together.

How would a multi-perspective panel debate the hardest issue on our L10 list? — The Operator, up to 85 credits
What is the steel-man case against our current core focus? — The Strategist, up to 85 credits
Where is our V/TO leaning on assumptions that no longer hold? — The CFO, up to 85 credits

What you get

What she handles.
On this kind of call.

A board for the L10 issues list

Take the hardest issue from your weekly L10 to a board of opposed experts. It lands with a call, the conditions, and who disagreed.

Candidate rocks, argued

Bring your candidate rocks to a board that weighs them through strategic, financial, operational, customer and skeptical lenses.

A V/TO stress-test

Put your Vision/Traction Organizer to a board before your leadership team sees it, with someone assigned to argue against the obvious answer.

Why SynthBoard

Why SynthBoard for this.
Not one voice. A board.

A board that fits between L10s

EOS is a system. SynthBoard is a tool inside it — used between L10s on the issues that need a real argument.

Opposed experts vs one facilitator

EOS implementers are great facilitators. A board seats experts on different AI models and assigns opposed positions. Different mechanics.

Per issue, on the card

A board shows its price on the card before it runs — up to 135 credits for a 3-seat board on Free — and a board never bills above its card. A certified EOS implementer typically charges $2k–$5k+ a day.

Useful between quarterlies

EOS quarterlies happen four times a year. SynthBoard is there for the other 350 days, when issues land.

Who sits

The experts for this call.
Each one holds a position.

Your Chief of Staff proposes who sits for the call, and every board is built with someone whose job is to argue against the obvious answer. Name an expert and they take a seat; tell her who you want on your board and they sit by default. How many seats a board has depends on your plan.

Chief Executive Officer

The CEO

Everything on this list is important. That’s the problem. Pick one, and say no to the rest.

The CEO Chief Executive Officer

Best on: Trade-offs between teams, priorities, and what to stop doing.
Won’t let you: Keep every option open until none of them is real.

Try asking The CEO

Start with

The CEOOpen on every plan, Free included

Pick an expert

Hover, tap or tab throughSwipe, then tap one

GPT
Claude
Gemini
Grok

Seats are spread across model families: GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and more.

In their words

EOS surfaces the issue. The L10 names it. A board is where the hardest one gets argued to a call.

The Operator COOThe Operator on the role inside an EOS company

Questions

Fair questions.
Straight answers.

What people ask before they bring this call to a board.

Does SynthBoard replace EOS?

How does SynthBoard fit inside EOS?

Use it for IDS on the hardest issues, to stress-test candidate rocks before the quarterly, and to argue V/TO updates before the leadership team sees them. The board does the structured argument; the L10 still happens; the implementer still facilitates the human team.

When is EOS still the right choice?

When the company has 10+ people and needs a shared operating language across leadership, when the gap is meeting discipline and accountability, or when you want a certified implementer to run quarterlies. EOS is a system for running a company; SynthBoard is a tool for hard decisions.

How does the price compare?

They are not directly comparable. Free to start — 150 credits every month + 250 to start. Talking to your Chief of Staff costs nothing. A board shows its price on the card before it runs — up to 135 credits for a 3-seat board on Free — and a board never bills above its card. Paid plans are $20, $50 or $99 a month (1 credit = $0.01 USD). EOS implementer day-rates typically run $2k–$5k, with annual engagements from $15k–$50k+.

What does SynthBoard NOT do that EOS does?

No operating system, no meeting cadence, no shared leadership vocabulary, no implementer-led quarterlies, no V/TO software, no scorecard, no people analyzer, no team workspace. SynthBoard is a structured thinking room.

Can I use SynthBoard if my company already runs EOS?

Yes. The L10 is good at identifying issues and often stuck on solving the hardest one. Take the top issue to a board, bring the memo back to the next L10, and resolve it with the team. A board’s memo shares as a page anyone can read without an account.

SynthBoard (synthboard.ai) is one place for your business, your life, and every hard call. Your Chief of Staff keeps what you tell her on file, and 24 named experts on different AI models take the calls — one expert for a consult, a board with opposed seats for the hard ones — and hand back a memo with the call, the dissent and the first move. How it works.