If you’re a senior leader or executive, you’ve probably seen this pattern: unsolicited emails or LinkedIn messages offering $150–$500 for an hour of your time as a “Subject Matter Expert.”

Maybe this is limited to crypto and frontier tech. I can only guess this is a mix of legitimate research firms, aggressive lead-generation shops, and outright phishing attempts. I receive several of these per week and ignore them.

But what if you’re tempted to try? Are they serious? Will they pay?

My approach would be to turn the table on the solicitor and instantly separate serious professionals from opportunists: pay-per-second via payment streaming.

This was fictitiously complex a few years ago. Now it’s easy to use, cheap, and practical for both parties.

Setup

• You get payment in USDC
• Delivered via a real-time streaming protocol (e.g., Superfluid https://app.superfluid.org/)
• Sent to disposable wallet address (you control, not a 3rd party)
• Starting with a $1 test deposit (before you confirm interview date and time)
• Streaming begins when the call starts
• You monitor the flow of money into your wallet in real-time during the interview
• The moment the stream stops, you can end the call

This creates total transparency and accountability on both sides. No net-30. No follow-ups. No risk. No overhead.

I bet this would filter out 95% of spam and low-intent outreach immediately. Even if you never intend to accept these interviews, propose this structure once. Their response tells you everything you need to know.

I like use cases where web3 gives us practical tools to replace trust with proof. This is a practical tool for busy people who value their time. If you ever try this let me know, so that we can compare notes.

Short Message You Can Send to the Solicitor

Feel free to copy/paste and adjust your rate:

Thanks for reaching out.

For any paid expert conversations, I only work via a real-time, pay-per-second stream in USDC using Superfluid: https://app.superfluid.org/

Process is simple:You create a USDC stream to the wallet I provideSend with a $1 test deposit when you schedule a callYou start streaming the payment when the call startsI’m paid every second during the conversationWhen the stream stops, we end the call ends

My rate is $X / hour in USDC, streamed per second.

If you’re comfortable with that setup, I’ll send the wallet address and available times.

I have no vested interest in Superfluid. I've been following it since a project named rDAI to create a “programmable money” was created.