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SynthBoard

For Students

The decision frameworks they'll teach you in case studies —
applied to your actual life.

MBA students debate fictional cases. Graduate students debate research questions. SynthBoard brings the same kind of argument to your actual career, internship, and life decisions — free to start.

Start free See how it works

In short

No separate discount — the Free plan is built for individual use: 150 credits every month + 250 to start, and talking to your Chief of Staff is free within a daily allowance. A consult's card reads up to 85 credits. Pro, at $20 a month, is the first paid plan; every plan is credit-metered.

Last reviewed

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.

Students

Example · Board of 3

I have offers from McKinsey, a Series B startup, and a research role. Which is the best 5-year bet?

Chief of staff

This one needs a board: The Strategist, The Empath and The Investor. The Strategist maps competitive dynamics and strategic options across multi-year horizons. Each researches alone first, then they react to one another — and on a decision, two of them take opposed sides.

  • The StrategistCompetitive Expert
  • The EmpathPeople Advocate
  • The InvestorVC Partner

Asked first

Has a competitor already made this move?

Yes, one hasNot that I knowWe’d be first

The board’s call

Take the Series B startup IF the equity offer translates to >$50K of real expected value, otherwise McKinsey.

McKinsey preserves more optionality — easy to leave, hard to re-enter. The Series B startup is higher variance — model the equity expected value seriously.

Confidence65 · Moderate

The Investor disagreed

“If the Series B is in a hyped sector (AI infra, climate) and you don't have conviction, McKinsey is the safer bet”

First step Test what The Investor 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.

  • Should I do a one-year MBA in Europe or a two-year MBA in the US? — The Empath, up to 85 credits
  • My internship sponsor offered me a return offer but it's not the team I want. Negotiate, accept, or pass? — The Investor, up to 85 credits
  • I'm torn between PhD and industry — which choice preserves the most optionality? — The Futurist, up to 85 credits

What you get

What she handles.
On this kind of call.

Apply frameworks to your life

Porter's Five Forces, the BCG matrix, decision intelligence — name any framework you've studied. A board applies it to your actual decision, and the memo keeps the dissent.

Multi-perspective like a case study

Case discussions work because diverse perspectives reveal the trade-offs. SynthBoard gives you that structured diversity on demand, even when you're studying solo.

Priced before it runs

A consult's card reads up to 85 credits; a board's card on the Free plan reads up to 135 credits. A board never bills above its card.

Why SynthBoard

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

Free to start

150 credits every month + 250 to start, and talking to your Chief of Staff is free within a daily allowance. No card.

Apply academic frameworks

Mention "use the Cynefin framework" or "structure this as a 2x2 matrix" and the Boardroom delivers the analysis in that frame.

Lifetime optionality lens

The Strategist and The Investor think in 5–10 year horizons — exactly the lens missing from most student decision-making.

Shareable for study groups

A board’s memo shares as a page anyone can read without an account. Run a board on a case the night before, send the memo to your study group, and argue the dissent.

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.

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.

Questions

Fair questions.
Straight answers.

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

Is there a student discount?

No separate discount — the Free plan is built for individual use: 150 credits every month + 250 to start, and talking to your Chief of Staff is free within a daily allowance. A consult's card reads up to 85 credits. Pro, at $20 a month, is the first paid plan; every plan is credit-metered.

How is this different from ChatGPT for student questions?

ChatGPT gives one perspective that tends to agree with however you framed the question. A board seats named experts — The Strategist, The Skeptic, The Empath and others — who each research alone, then react once to one another. For career and life decisions, the dissent is the value.

Can I use it for case studies and class assignments?

Yes, as case prep. Run the case past a board, then check your own analysis against the memo. Schools differ on whether AI-assisted prep counts as collaboration or assistance — check your honor code.

Which mode works best for student decisions?

There are no modes to pick; she sizes the room to the call. For an "X or Y" fork, a consult takes about a minute. For a career decision with real stakes, ask for a board — about 6–10 minutes.

Will this help with applications (job, grad school, scholarship)?

Yes — running your application strategy past a board surfaces objections you haven't considered. The Skeptic and The Empath together are particularly good at the "why this, why now, why you" question.

Keep exploring

Nearby decisions, audiences and methods inside SynthBoard.

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.

Built for the way you actually make decisions.
Start free, with one message.

Should I do a one-year MBA in Europe or a two-year MBA in the US?I'm torn between PhD and industry — which choice preserves the most optionality?How should I think about whether to apply for the Rhodes / Marshall / Schwarzman?

It waits in her box after you sign up. Nothing is sent until you press send. Free to start — 150 credits every month + 250 to start. No card required, and nothing runs until you tap.