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what happens after you text ambient

You texted ambient, or you're about to. Here's what happens next, and what to do when something goes wrong.

ambient is a private, text-native network where verified founders help each other solve problems and open doors. It runs by text: iMessage, or SMS on phones without it, plus a few private web pages for the work itself. For the full picture, read how ambient works.

> note from [a]: most help pages are where a company hides its phone number. I am the phone number.

what happens right after I text?

If you're new, your first text carries a sign-up code. Then:

1. Sign in with LinkedIn. One founder, one account.
2. Name two things. The problem you need solved, and one skill you can deliver in writing in under an hour.
3. Wait for the check. We verify you're a founder, usually within 24 hours.
4. Earn your first lev. lev is your reputation score in ambient, and everyone starts at 0. You earn 1 lev when a founder you helped rates your work 4 or 5, or when a founder you invited gets verified.

Once you have lev, ambient looks for the founders whose skills fit your request, called an Op, and asks them. When one says yes, they get to work. You get texts about your Ops, offers, deadlines, ratings, lev and intros, many of them together in one evening digest.

> note from [a]: verified means I checked that you're a founder. Not a good one. Not a famous one. Just one. Everything after that, you prove by delivering.

how do I ask for something good?

An Op is one of two things: a warm email intro from a member who knows the person you need, or up to 60 minutes of written work on your own material, like a deck, a model or a document.

• One problem per ask. The one that's blocking you today.
• For an intro, name a person by role and kind of company. "Anyone in fintech" is a sector, not a person. Say what you want from them.
• For written work, name the material and the question. Say what finished looks like, and keep it to an hour's work.
• Leave out who you are. Keep your name, your company's name, logos and contact details out of your Op, your teaser and your files.

Ops can't be used to sell to other members, to ask for likes, follows, reposts, calls or interviews, or for anything that needs an NDA, scraping or personal data. For legal, tax, payroll, immigration or compliance work, ambient may offer an intro to a specialist instead.

what does a good ask look like?

Two versions of the same intro ask. Both are made-up patterns, not real members' asks.

The second names a role, a kind of company and what you want from the meeting. Members who could make the intro see your teaser before they accept, so it has to make sense to a stranger. The first could mean anyone, so it reaches no one.

> note from [a]: "anyone know someone at a hospital?" in a group chat gets a thumbs-up and one reply that says "following". I can't follow. I can route, once you tell me which someone.

how do intros work?

1. You write a teaser. A short note with no names. Members who can reach the kind of person you need see it before they accept.
2. You see who they can reach. When a member offers to help, you see the name of the person they can reach.
3. They email that person. Within 7 days, from their own email address, with ambient on CC and your teaser as written.
4. The person says yes or no. If yes, ambient introduces you both by email and steps out. Your first name and email go to them, and theirs to you. If no, there's no intro.

Nobody is obliged to reply or to meet. ambient asks for your email address once, for intros.

> note from [a]: the person you want to meet is asked before your name goes anywhere. An intro with consent. In this industry, that counts as innovation.

how does written help come back?

1. Upload within 24 hours. Once a founder accepts your Op, you upload your material on a private web page ambient sends you.
2. Clean it first. Remove names, company names, logos, photos and contact details. ambient scans and cleans every file and checks it for identifying details before the helper sees it. It may ask you to remove what it finds.
3. The helper has 7 days. The clock starts when your material passes the checks. They may spend more than an hour on it. The deadline doesn't move.
4. The work comes back in writing. You get it on a private web page, and you rate it within 3 days.

how long does it take?

Every step has a clock except one: ambient can't promise that your Op will be matched, or when.

• Founder check. Usually within 24 hours.
• An offer to help. Accept or decline within 24 hours.
• Your material. Upload it within 24 hours of a founder accepting.
• Written work. Delivered within 7 days of your material passing the checks.
• An intro email. The helper sends it within 7 days.
• Your rating. Within 3 days of the work arriving.

Ignore 3 offers, or decline 3 in a row, and you're set to Away until you text "back".

> note from [a]: I can't promise when someone says yes. I can promise what happens after: 7 days, or they're out for good. "I'll get back to you next week" never came with that clause.

what if nobody can help?

It can happen. ambient can't promise a match, a reply or a result, and nobody can pay to be asked first or matched first. What you can change is the ask. Make it narrower: one role at one kind of company, or one document and one question about it.

> note from [a]: there is no fast lane. Money can't buy one, and a big title can't skip the line. Being specific is the upgrade. It's free.

how do ratings work?

When written work arrives, you rate it from 1 to 5, within 3 days. Your new Ops wait until you've rated.

• 4 or 5. Your Op's 1 lev goes to the founder who helped you. Then ambient asks you both whether to swap names and numbers. Two yeses, and you can meet. One no, and nothing is shared, and the other side isn't told.
• 1 or 2. You add a short reason, and a person at ambient checks it against what the Op asked for.
• No rating. After 3 days, the helper earns the lev anyway.

Ratings aren't shown to other members as scores. On an intro, the helper earns 1 lev once they send the email with ambient on CC.

> note from [a]: rate the work against what you asked for, not against your week. A person reads every 1 and 2 next to the Op. If the Op never mentioned fonts, the fonts are not the problem.

what if the help was late or bad?

• Late. A founder who misses the deadline on your Op is out, permanently. That covers written work and intro emails.
• Bad. Rate it 1 or 2 with a short reason. A person at ambient, not AI, decides. If the work didn't meet what was agreed, the helper is out. If it did, the false rating puts you out instead.

Removal decisions are final.

what stays private?

• Members see each other only as a Node number and one line: stage, B2B or B2C, and industry. For example: "Node 562, a seed-stage B2B fintech founder".
• Names and numbers are swapped only after a 4 or 5 rating, and only if you both say yes.
• On an intro, the person you want to meet sees your teaser, with no names. Your first name and email go to them only if they say yes.
• ambient checks every file for identifying details. Checks can miss things, and nobody can stop a screenshot, so upload only what you're willing to share.
• ambient won't match you with a founder who works at your company or used to work there, a competitor we know of, or a company you ask it to keep you away from.
• Never send passwords, financial account numbers, health details or government ID numbers.

ambient's small team can see your name, number and email, to run ambient. We don't sell your personal information.

> note from [a]: the founder reviewing your deck doesn't know who you are. So they can't be polite about it. That's the service.

what if something goes wrong?

Text HELP for help and a list of commands, or email i@textambient.com.

Some of ambient's replies may be written by AI. AI can be wrong, and no reply can change the Terms. People at ambient, not AI, decide disputed ratings and unclear verifications.

Changing your phone number? Email us first, so ambient's texts don't reach the number's next owner.

> note from [a]: some of my replies may be written by AI. Yes, I see the problem with that sentence. They pass automated checks before you see them, and if one still disagrees with the Terms, the Terms win.

how do I stop or leave?

Text STOP at any time, or say it in your own words. ambient confirms once, your open Ops close and the texts stop. Leaving cancels your lev. Text START to come back.

To delete your account, email legal@textambient.com. ambient may ask you to confirm by texting from your number. Deleting ends your membership and your lev.

Removal is different. A removed member can't come back, whether by START, another number or another account.

> note from [a]: text STOP and I confirm once, then go quiet. Most breakups take more texts than that.

The overview: how ambient works. More questions: FAQ.