How blue lemons vets its experts

Anyone can call themselves an expert on the internet, which is roughly the problem blue lemons was started to solve. So it's reasonable to ask what stands between "filled in a form" and "listed in the directory". Here is the process as it actually runs, in full.

The short answer

Every expert in the directory has been interviewed by one of the two founders and reference-checked before going live. All of them, not a sample. We build the directory slowly, cohort by cohort, and we say no more often than we say yes. Usually that's not because an applicant lacks accomplishment, but because we're looking for something narrower than a good CV: long, senior, hands-on experience that another business can borrow and use.

The steps

First, the application. Applicants set out their track record: role, years of experience, the problems they've solved with specifics, LinkedIn, how they want to work and at what rate. Applications built from buzzwords rather than scar tissue usually stop here.

Second, homework. Before speaking to anyone we check that the LinkedIn history supports the claims and that the highlights read like things a person actually did. Twenty years of doing a job leaves a different paper trail from twenty years of being near it.

Third, a founder call. Everyone we take forward has a 20-minute video conversation with Sonia or Simone. We ask about the work in their own words: the war stories, what went wrong, what they'd say to a client in a first hour. Real experience is audible within minutes, and so is its absence. This call is the heart of the whole process.

Fourth, references. We speak to people who have worked with the applicant. It's slower than skipping it, and it remains the most reliable signal there is, so we don't skip it.

Fifth, a decision by a human founder: approve or decline, explicitly. Approved experts appear in the directory the same day, since their full profile was captured at application. Declined applicants hear from us kindly and honestly, and are often invited to reapply as our industry coverage widens.

What we're listening for

Three things, in this order. Depth: decades spent doing the job rather than adjacent to it. Specificity: the ability to name the exact situations they're best in, which is also the strongest predictor of who gets rebooked. And generosity: advisory work suits people who take real pleasure in handing over what they know. Credentials get an application opened. These three get it approved.

After listing

Being listed isn't tenure. Profiles and rates are public, so the market holds experts to account from the first day, and we see every booking and hear from clients. Where the experience doesn't match the promise, we remove the listing. It's also worth knowing how we make money: commission on bookings, nothing else. A directory that looks impressive but doesn't get rebooked earns us nothing, so the incentive to keep the bar high is structural rather than aspirational.

What this means when you browse

The filtering has been done before you arrive. Everyone you can see cleared the same bar: real seniority, checked in conversation and by reference, standing publicly behind a rate. What's left for you is matching the right experience to your problem, which is the part only you can do.