Send it in ahead
Founders send their challenge to the facilitator by the Monday before. Nobody gets put on the spot, and the facilitator can pick a good mix for the morning.
The monthly breakfast
Here’s what happens between 6:45 and 8:15
We’ve run enough of these to know what works. This page is the playbook, so you know exactly what you’re walking into. Maybe someday you’ll run one yourself.
You’ve been to the other kind of event
Networking events have their place. This is something else: a peer group, more like a mastermind without the $10,000 price tag. Here’s the difference.
flip it back and forth, we’ll wait
Who’s thereThe same 12 founders every month, all year.
What you talk aboutWhatever is actually hard in your business right now.
What you bringOne real problem, or just what you’ve learned the hard way.
What you leave withA next step, and people who’ll ask about it next month.
The vibeNobody’s selling. It’s a house rule.
How it endsSomeone prays for you by name.
6:45Breakfast
The 90 minutes
- 6:45Breakfast15 min
Grab a plate and a coffee and find your seat. Name tents are already on the table so nobody has to pretend they remember names. Eat first. Everything goes better after eggs.
- 7:00Intros15 min
Go around the table: your name, what your business does, and one honest sentence about how this month went. One sentence means one sentence. We time it with love.
- 7:15Devotional15 min
A pastor from our partner church, or one of the founders, opens a short passage. Usually it touches work, money, rest, or leading people. There’s always one question to sit with before we move on.
- 7:30The Table45 min
This is why we’re here. Two or three founders bring a real challenge and the whole table works on it with them. We follow a format (it’s just below) so it stays useful and doesn’t turn into a pile of advice.
8:15. You’re at work by 8:30.
The table
Who’s at the table
Twelve founders at the table, every month. It turns out to be about the right number. Everyone gets to talk, and there’s almost always someone who’s been through the thing you’re going through.
We mix industries and stages on purpose. A roofer and a software founder have more in common than you’d think, and they ask each other better questions than two roofers would.
The facilitator
Keeps time, keeps it moving, and makes sure the quiet person gets a turn.
hover over a seat bringing a challenge everyone else you
How a challenge gets worked
The last 45 minutes are the reason this exists. Each challenge gets about 15 minutes, and the format keeps it focused on the founder, not on whoever talks loudest.
steal this for your own teamLay it out
The founder explains the situation without interruption. Numbers help. So does saying what you’ve already tried.
Questions only
The table asks clarifying questions, and only questions. A suggestion with a question mark on the end doesn’t count. (“Have you thought about firing him?” is a suggestion.)
Experience, then opinion
People share what happened when they faced something like it. “When this happened to me…” beats “You should…” nearly every time.
Say your next step
The founder says out loud what they’re going to do. The facilitator writes it down. Next month, somebody asks.
Pray over it
Someone at the table prays for the founder and the situation right there, then we move to the next person.
House rules
The facilitator reads these out the first time you come. After that, everyone just knows.
- 01What’s said at the table stays at the table.
- 02No pitching. If they want to hire you, they’ll ask.
- 03Phones face down until 8:15.
- 04Share what happened to you before you share what you think.
- 05Come every month you can. It only works if it’s the same people.
- 06Be honest about how it’s going, even when it’s going badly.
Church partners
Every table is plugged into a local church
We don’t meet in a church building. Most tables meet in a co-working space that one of our members hosts. But every city partners with a local church, so the group stays connected to the wider church body. A pastor often leads the devotional, and the church gets to know the business owners in its own city, which a lot of pastors tell us they’ve wanted for years.