Since last year, I have been organizing some casual breakfast meetings with other entrepreneurs based in Sydney.
The next one will be held this Monday (28th June) and we are looking to extend our invitations to new people so it is a good opportunity to share how the event is organized.
Why a mastermind meeting?
Starting a startup is challenging, you go from one challenge to another. Being able to get an external view on what we are doing really help us make better decisions.
Also, hearing what challenges other founders face allows you to do some preventive work when possible.
I find these events very educative and the structure that we use encourages deeper exchanges among the founders and the small aspect of the group lets us open up more easily.
The structure
I would like to hear about your suggestions to improve the structure if you have any.
The structure of the meeting goes like this:
– The group meets once every month or every two months at 8am on a Monday.
This allows us to see results and evolution from one meeting to the other. Some people have complained about the 8am time, and would prefer a lunch meeting. The reason I chose early in the morning and on Mondays is because your brain is fresh and is not busy thinking of other things. It is also quieter during the morning.
– The group is composed of 4 to 6 people, sitting around a table having a coffee or breakfast.
It is really important to keep the group small. You can hear better, and everybody is more inclined to speak rather than being a passive attendee.
– All the guests are entrepreneurs currently building a startup.
It is important to really be actually doing a startup rather than thinking about it. Your contribution is much more hands-on. I am wondering if it would actually be valuable to have people from different industries, different age, different professions to offer some fresh point of view.
– Each of the guests must come with a challenge he faces in his startup.
It can be anything.
- “How can I use Twitter without being spammy?”
- “How can I shorten the sales cycle for my enterprise product?”
- “I am burning out, where can I regain some control on my time”
- “What would be a better market for my product?”
– Turn by turn, each of us states his challenge and the group takes 15 minutes to discuss about it and give suggestions.
We try to get one actionable item to do before the next mastermind meeting.
– After the meeting, we send (not always) a recap email to remind what has been said in the meeting and to add some more value by sharing some links to articles to check out.
Thanks Hendro (Moluko, @hwijaya), Ian (Travellr, @aussie_ian), Benjamin (All Over Geo, @benjaminRRR, Ryan (OpenOnDemand,@ryancross) and Patrya (Moluko) for your participation!
If you are based in Sydney and if you would like to join us, please contact me at aymeric/at/gaurat.net.
Do you have any suggestions on how to make the most out of our meetings?