Help & FAQs

The Karak.in is a two-sided marketplace connecting users with verified independent consultants. Users discover, book, and pay for expert sessions across categories including strategy, product, early-stage startups, and business development. Consultants set their own availability, services, and rates and manage bookings through a dedicated dashboard.

Anyone can browse the consultant directory without an account. To book a session, users must register a free account. Consultants must apply through the onboarding form at thekarak.in/register-as-a-consultant and be approved by The Karak Team before their profile goes live.

Yes — the platform currently serves India only. All rates are in Indian Rupees (₹), and consultant payouts are made to Indian bank accounts. Sessions are conducted online via Google Meet.

Sessions are 30, 60, or 90 minutes. Each service a consultant offers has a fixed duration set when the service is created. Users see the duration on every service card before booking.

You can reach The Karak Team at theteam@thekarak.in for any questions, issues, or feedback not covered in this FAQ.

▶ Users
Register a free account using the registration form on The Karak.in. Once registered and logged in, you can browse the directory and make bookings.

▶ Users
Yes. The directory and all individual consultant profiles are fully public. You only need to log in to make a booking.

▶ Consultants
Apply at thekarak.in/register-as-a-consultant. The Karak Team reviews your application, creates your consultant profile, and notifies you when it is live. You cannot self-create a consultant profile — all profiles are approved by The Karak Team.

▶ Consultants
Approval time is at The Karak Team's discretion. There is no automated timeline. You will receive an email when your profile is published.

▶ Consultants
Yes. While your profile is in Draft status, you can preview it using the Preview button. The profile is not visible to the public or in the directory while in draft. Only The Karak Team can publish it.

▶ Users
Use the directory. Filter by category, price range, rating, and location. Use the search bar to find consultants by name, service, bio keyword, or expertise. Clicking a category tag on any profile opens the directory pre-filtered to that category.

▶ Users
Open a consultant's profile, select a service, pick an available date and time from the calendar, fill in your session goal, choose your payment method (for paid services), and click "Confirm & request booking". The consultant has 24 hours to accept or decline.

▶ Users
Yes. There is no restriction on how many bookings a user can have at the same time. You are responsible for managing your own schedule.

▶ Users · Consultants
No. Each time slot is hard-blocked the moment a booking request is received. Only one booking can occupy a slot. If a booking expires or is cancelled the slot is released and becomes available again.

▶ Users
Available slots are generated from the consultant's weekly schedule. If no suitable time is showing, contact the consultant via their profile — they can adjust their availability or add a specific date.

▶ Consultants
Go to the Requests tab in your dashboard. Each incoming request shows the user name, service, date, time, and payment method. Click Accept to confirm or Decline to reject. You have 24 hours from the time of the request.

▶ Consultants
A Google Meet room is created automatically and added to both Google Calendars. Confirmation emails with the Meet link are sent to both parties. For Razorpay bookings, payment is captured at this point. A platform invoice is emailed to the user.

▶ Users
The booking request expires automatically. No charge is made. The time slot is released. You will receive an email notifying you that the request expired and you can rebook immediately.

▶ Users
You can cancel a booking that is still in "Requested" status — i.e. the consultant has not yet accepted. Once a consultant confirms your booking, cancellation is no longer available to you. If you need to cancel a confirmed session, contact the consultant directly. Only the consultant can cancel a confirmed booking.

▶ Consultants · Users
No. Once a booking is confirmed, only the consultant can cancel it. Users can only cancel booking requests that have not yet been accepted.

▶ Consultants
Yes, but only up to 3 hours before the session starts. You must provide a brief message (up to 50 words) to the user. If payment was made, issue a refund before or immediately after cancelling. The user is notified by email and the time slot is released.

▶ Users · Consultants
When the consultant confirms, a Google Meet link is sent to both parties by email. The link is also visible in the dashboard Bookings tab. No separate video call setup is needed.

▶ Users
The Meet link is generated when the consultant's Google Calendar is connected. If a link is missing, contact the consultant directly — they may need to reconnect their calendar and resend the confirmation.

▶ Consultants
Mark the booking as "No-show" from your dashboard. No-show sessions are tracked separately and do not count against your completion rate. You are not required to issue a refund for a no-show, but this is at your discretion.

▶ Users
Three payment flows are supported: (1) Free — for zero-rate services, no payment needed. (2) UPI Direct — you pay the consultant directly using their UPI ID after they confirm; payment happens outside the platform. (3) Razorpay — online payment via cards, netbanking, or UPI through Razorpay checkout.

▶ Users
No payment is taken at the time of booking. For UPI Direct sessions, you pay the consultant directly after they confirm — their UPI ID is shown in your confirmation email. For Razorpay sessions, payment is authorised at booking but only captured (charged) when the consultant confirms. Free sessions require no payment at any point.

▶ Users
UPI Direct payments happen entirely between you and the consultant outside the platform using standard UPI infrastructure (Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, etc.). The platform is not involved in or liable for UPI payments. Verify the UPI ID shown in your confirmation email before paying.

▶ Users
Yes. A gateway fee of 2% + 18% GST (effective 2.36%) is added on top of the service rate and is borne by the user. This is shown transparently before you confirm — you will see a breakdown of the service fee, gateway fee, and total amount charged.

▶ All users
The platform charges consultants a 5% commission on completed Razorpay sessions only. UPI Direct sessions carry no platform commission — consultants keep the full rate. Users are never charged the platform fee separately; the service rate they see is the full rate (plus the Razorpay gateway fee where applicable).

▶ Consultants
No. Sessions with a service rate of ₹0 carry no commission. For charity sessions, the platform also waives its 5% commission — 100% of the fee goes directly to the charity.

▶ Users
A failed payment means the booking is not confirmed. No charge is made. You can try the booking again. Razorpay handles failure notifications directly.

▶ Users
Refunds are at the sole discretion of the consultant. Consultants have a 72-hour window after a session ends to issue a full refund. After this window, no refund can be processed through the platform. The platform does not arbitrate payment disputes for UPI Direct payments, as those occur outside the platform.

▶ Consultants
Yes. You can issue a full refund from your dashboard within 72 hours of the session end time. After this window, the refund option is permanently locked. Razorpay refunds are processed through the original payment method. UPI Direct refunds are your responsibility to arrange directly with the user.

▶ Consultants
The pending donation for that specific booking is automatically cancelled. No disbursement is made for refunded sessions.

▶ Users
Yes. For paid bookings, a platform invoice is automatically emailed to you when the consultant confirms. It itemises the service fee, gateway fee (if Razorpay), and the total charged.

▶ All users
The platform does not process, hold, escrow, or guarantee payments between users and consultants. UPI Direct payments occur entirely outside the platform. Razorpay processes payments under their own terms of service. The platform is not liable for failed, disputed, or unrecovered payments. Consultants are solely responsible for ensuring they receive payment for sessions.

▶ Consultants
For UPI Direct sessions, your payout is the full service rate — no platform commission applies. For Razorpay sessions, a 5% platform commission is deducted from the service rate; the gateway fee (2.36%) is charged to the user separately and does not reduce your payout. The Earnings tab shows a real-time breakdown per session.

▶ Consultants
For UPI Direct sessions, you collect payment directly from the user — there is no platform-managed payout. For Razorpay sessions, payouts are processed via Razorpay Route to your registered bank account after session completion. Settlement typically takes 2 working days.

▶ Consultants
Go to the Earnings tab in your dashboard. Enter your UPI ID in the UPI Direct Payment panel and click Save. Format validation is applied (e.g. name@upi or number@bank). The UPI ID is shown to users in booking confirmations and emails.

▶ Consultants
Go to the Earnings tab and complete the Razorpay Route onboarding. You will need to provide business details and bank account information. KYC verification is required by Razorpay before payouts can be made.

▶ Consultants
Yes. In the Earnings tab, select the financial year (Indian FY: April–March) and click "Export CSV". The CSV includes booking ID, date, user name and email, service, status, service rate, gateway fee, platform fee, your payout, payment method, and whether payment was marked as received.

▶ Consultants
Mark a booking as received once the user has paid — after the session for UPI Direct, or automatically for Razorpay sessions. A note is required when marking received (e.g. UPI transaction reference or payment date). This creates an audit trail for tax compliance.

▶ Consultants
In the Earnings tab, click the "Monthly breakdown" toggle below the summary cards. It shows sessions, gross, gateway fees, and your payout for each month of the selected financial year.

▶ Users · Consultants
Reviews open after a session is marked "Completed". Both the user and the consultant must submit a review independently before either review is published. There is no partial publish — both reviews go live together.

▶ Users
Yes. Reviews can only be submitted by verified participants who have completed the session. The two-way gate (both parties must review) prevents one-sided or unsolicited reviews. The Karak Team can optionally enable manual moderation before reviews appear publicly.

▶ Users · Consultants
Ratings are hidden until the consultant has at least 5 completed sessions. Below that threshold the profile shows 5 empty grey stars. Once the threshold is crossed, the rating appears automatically after the next review is submitted.

▶ Users · Consultants
No. Reviews are final once submitted. Contact The Karak Team at theteam@thekarak.in if there is a factual error.

▶ Consultants
Go to the Availability tab in your dashboard. Set active days, start/end times, and buffer between sessions for each day of the week. Add blackout dates for holidays or leave. Changes take effect immediately for future slot generation.

▶ Consultants
Add it as a blackout date in the Availability tab. Blackout dates override your weekly schedule for that specific day. Existing confirmed bookings on that date are not affected.

▶ Consultants
Up to 5 services. Each service has a name, category, session duration (30, 60, or 90 minutes), and rate. Services cannot be deleted (to preserve service names on historical bookings) but can be deactivated.

▶ Consultants
Current defaults: 30-minute sessions up to ₹5,000 · 60-minute sessions up to ₹10,000 · 90-minute sessions up to ₹15,000. Minimum is ₹0 (free). Contact The Karak Team at theteam@thekarak.in if you need a higher ceiling.

▶ Consultants
Yes, at any time from your Account tab. Rate changes take effect from the next booking — existing confirmed bookings are not affected.

▶ Consultants
Yes. Duration changes take effect from the next booking. Existing confirmed bookings remain at their original duration.

▶ Consultants
Yes, but only once per calendar month per service. If you attempt to change it again in the same month, the save will be rejected with a message showing when the next change is available.

▶ Consultants · Users
A charity session is a paid service where the fee goes directly to a registered charity instead of being paid to the consultant. The platform collects the fee and disburses it to the charity on a 14-day cycle after session completion. The platform waives its 5% commission on charity sessions — 100% of the fee goes to the charity. A ♥ Giving Back badge marks these services everywhere they appear.

▶ Consultants
The charity list is curated by The Karak Team. You will only see charities registered in India. Contact The Karak Team at theteam@thekarak.in to suggest a charity for addition.

▶ Consultants
Your Earnings tab includes a "Giving Back" section (visible only if you have at least one active charity-linked service or historical charity sessions). It shows per-charity, per-year contribution totals and a list of linked sessions with amounts. Switch between financial years using the year selector.

▶ Users
The Verified badge is awarded by The Karak Team to consultants whose credentials, experience, and identity have been manually reviewed. It is not automatically granted.

▶ Consultants
Consultant profiles are automatically paused (hidden from the directory) after 60 days of inactivity (no login). Your profile and all data are preserved — The Karak Team can manually unpause you. Contact theteam@thekarak.in if this happens.

▶ Users
The search bar matches against four fields: consultant name, tagline, service names, and bio text (first 40 words). It works across all loaded cards including those loaded via the "Load more" button.

▶ All users
Aurora is TheKarak's AI research partner for startup founders. It answers founder questions by retrieving real, verified, source-attributed evidence from a structured database of over 26,000 actual founder decisions — what was decided, why, what happened as a result, and what the lesson was. Every answer cites its source; every claim is traceable.

▶ All users
Generic AI tools answer from general knowledge and can hallucinate. Aurora's answers are grounded exclusively in a curated database of real founder decisions drawn from Y Combinator, AJVC, Maharajas of Scale, Barbershop, First Principles, iSPIRT, and other sources. Aurora surfaces patterns from what founders actually did and what happened — not what experts think should happen. Around 44% of the database covers Indian founders, which no competitor matches at scale.

▶ All users
Aurora is built for startup decision questions: idea validation, co-founder choices, fundraising timing, pricing, hiring, product pivots, market entry, and more. Questions like "How did Indian B2B SaaS founders approach their first enterprise customer?" or "What did founders do when they ran out of runway at Series A?" are ideal.

▶ All users
Aurora is accessible to any registered user on thekarak.in. You must be logged in to use it. A free usage tier is currently in place; a Pro plan with higher usage limits is planned.

▶ All users
Click the Aurora button on thekarak.in. If you are logged in, you are taken directly to the chat interface. If not, you will see a login prompt. On first use, a short onboarding flow collects your stage, industry, and country to help Aurora personalise retrieval.

▶ All users
These three modes change how Aurora frames its answer. Patterns (default) gives you the most common approaches real founders took. Exceptions leads with the dominant pattern but pivots to cases where founders took a contrarian path. Step by Step gives a numbered tactical playbook: action, timeframe, signal, and a real company example for each step. Select your preferred mode in the composer bar before asking.

▶ All users
The PM Agent is a structured co-pilot for founders working through a specific startup decision. It is organised around 10 value chain stages: Idea Validation, Market Sizing, Business Model, Co-founder, First Customers, Product Build, Team Building, Fundraising, Scaling, and Late Stage & Exit. The PM Agent has a session cap of three exchanges per stage, after which it prompts you to act on what you've learned.

▶ All users
Projects let you maintain a persistent research thread around a specific startup or decision. Each project stores your question history, stage states, saved questions, and a session summary that Aurora uses to avoid repeating itself across sessions. Create a project from the left sidebar or the Projects tab on mobile.

▶ All users
If Aurora shows a "clarify" prompt, it means your question was too short or abstract to retrieve meaningful evidence. Three qualifier chips will appear as shortcuts. Any question containing a decision-related term (hire, pivot, raise, validate, customer, revenue, PMF, and others) will never be treated as vague regardless of length.

▶ All users
Each answer carries a confidence indicator: high, medium, low, none, or conversational. High means Aurora retrieved several well-matched insights. Low or none means the database had little directly relevant evidence; Aurora will say so rather than invent.

▶ All users
Three agents are currently accessible: Explore Freely — the default conversational research partner. PM Agent — structured co-pilot for working through a specific decision stage-by-stage. CFO Coach — focused on financial decisions, fundraising, unit economics, and dilution. A Marketing Agent (GTM lens) is built and pending activation.