The concierge pilot
Validation before software.
In public.
The biggest mistake available here is building a beautiful app before proving that families will pay and CNAs will join. So the plan is a concierge pilot — a small founding cohort, matched by hand, at real rates — but only after a hard go/no-go decision on August 1, 2026 and, if it passes, a Washington in-home services license. Right now, the only activity is conversations.
What's being tested right now
With CNAs
Five honest conversations testing the real offer: W-2 employment, a target 72–75% of collected on clients you bring, target $30–32/hr on platform-sourced work, and the verified career record.
With families
Three to five conversations testing whether hand-picked, verified, delegation-capable care is worth a target $48–54/hr — starting with a paid trial shift, satisfaction measured on both sides.
Everything is target economics — the point of the pilot is to find out whether these numbers hold before anyone is asked to rely on them. Nothing here is an offer of employment or a guarantee of rates or work.
The August 1 gate
Auria only moves forward if both are true:
- 1At least 4 of 5 CNAs say they would join at the published split.
- 2At least 2 families commit to a paid trial at premium rates.
If it passes:
Legal counsel engaged, then the Washington in-home services license application — the licensed infrastructure the model requires, built properly.
If it fails:
The platform closes cleanly — no zombie project. The career record and matching ideas live on inside a smaller licensed operation. Waitlist members hear the result either way.
What joining the waitlist actually means
For CNAs
A personal conversation with Ash — caregiver to caregiver — about the offer, your specialties, and whether the founding cohort fits. If the gate passes, founding CNAs get first profiles, first matches, and a voice in how the record works.
For families
A conversation about what you actually need now — and if the August 1 gate passes and Auria is licensed, first access to hand-picked, verified caregivers, starting with a paid trial shift: no long-term commitment, either side can step back.
What gets measured
The pilot exists to prove the economics with real dollars, not just that matching works. The scoreboard:
- Interview acceptance rate
- Trial-shift conversion
- Match duration & retention
- Caregiver willingness-to-join
- Family & caregiver acquisition cost
- Time-to-fill
- Backup-incident rate
- Realized gross margin per served hour
How this is being run
Ash currently practices with a home-care agency, and the pilot is run lawfully and respectfully toward that employer: no recruiting of its clients, and colleague conversations only within the bounds of his employment agreement. The same standard applies to founding CNAs: joining begins with a conversation, never a client transfer, and every caregiver is expected to honor their own employment and non-solicitation agreements. A platform whose entire thesis is trust starts by behaving that way.