How the referral program works
You get The Dispatch every week. Your colleague gets it forward to them — with context. They get a sample issue, see the quiz, and if it resonates, they subscribe. That's it. No spam, no tracking pixels, no weird referral codes. Just a quiet nudge from someone who gets it.
Copy the email below
We wrote it for you. Just copy, paste, and send.
Send to a colleague
Pick someone who seems off. Quieter than usual. Shipping more, enjoying less.
They subscribe — or not
If it clicks, they subscribe. If not, no hard feelings. You planted a seed.
The forward email
Copy this, paste into a new email to your colleague. We kept it short because your colleague is busy and probably already overwhelmed.
Subject: This might explain why you're so tired of coding Hey [Name], I came across this site called The Clearing — it's for software engineers who are getting burnout from AI tools. Not "AI is bad" stuff — more like, the quiet exhaustion of shipping code you don't feel connected to anymore. There's a free quiz that takes 2 minutes. I've been reading their weekly newsletter and it's the most honest thing I've read about what's happening to our field right now. No pressure. Just if you've been feeling off about your work lately — this might name what's going on. → https://clearing-ai.com
What your colleague receives
Sample issue: "The Competence Illusion" (#38)
You can ship features. You can close tickets. You can pass code review. But can you actually do the thing? This week's Dispatch looks at how AI tools can give you the appearance of competence without the underlying skill — and why that gap is so quietly devastating.
Read the full issue →Who to forward it to
You're better at this than you think. Watch for these signals in colleagues:
That's the person. Send the email. One forward could be the thing that helps them name what's happening — and start to do something about it.
Share it differently
If email isn't your thing, try one of these:
Or just send the link directly
If the email template feels like too much, just send this:
That's the whole site. Quiz, guides, newsletter, resources — all free.
Frequently asked
Yes. Everything on the site is free. No paywall, no account required, no ads. The Dispatch newsletter is free. The quiz is free. All 157 pages are free. We believe the people who need this most are often the ones who can't afford to pay for it.
No. We send one email per week — The Dispatch. That's it. We don't send promotional emails, drip sequences, or "check out our new features." We respect attention.
Then they're probably not ready to receive it. That's fine. The site will be there when they need it. Forwarding this isn't about being right — it's about making sure the option exists.
No. We don't sell, rent, or share subscriber data. Ever. We don't use tracking pixels or third-party analytics. The newsletter is run through Formspree. That's it.
If they're showing signs of serious burnout or mental health crisis, The Clearing has resources for that — but it's not a substitute for professional help. Encourage them to talk to someone: a manager, an EAP counselor, or a mental health professional. The mental health page has crisis resources and therapist directories.
Not yet, but we're working on it. For now, forward the newsletter to your team Slack, share the resources page in your team wiki, or point people to the Manager's Guide if your team leads are asking why everyone seems tired. If you're an engineering manager, the hiring and retention page also has specific guidance.