Founders Masterminds: 6 Roundtables for Early-Stage Startups
You've built something. Now the hard questions start. Who exactly is your customer? Why aren't the calls converting? Which channel is worth your next 3 months? Would your numbers survive an investor's first five questions?
Most founders answer these alone, in their heads, at 1 a.m.
Masterminds is the opposite of that.
Six in-person roundtables, one per week. A small group of early-stage founders sits at one table with someone who has already solved the problem they're stuck on.
No lectures. No slides you'll never open again.
Every session runs the same way:
→ You bring your real stuff: your pitch, your pipeline, your numbers, your current blocker.
→ The mentor sets the frame, using real cases and real failures.
→ The table works on your case. Founders challenge each other, and nobody is polite about what's not working.
→ You leave with an output, not just notes: a sharper ICP, a target list, a 14-day channel test, a KPI sheet, a fundraising verdict.
The six roundtables
01 · Nov 3 · ICP, buyer persona & elevator pitch
Fares Měchura, Partner at Saleshero
You leave with: one target segment, one buyer persona, and a pitch that lands in 10 seconds.
02 · Nov 10 · Founder-led sales system
Alexander Raiman, Partner at Saleshero
You leave with: a real target list and your first sales conversation, practised live at the table.
03 · Nov 18 · Distribution & go-to-market
Simon McDermott, Fractional GTM
You leave with: the one channel that actually reaches your customer, and a 14-day experiment to test it.
04 · Nov 24 · Financial plan, KPIs & business model
Douglas Wong, ex-CFO Apple CEE
You leave with: a plan and KPIs that hold up when an investor starts asking.
05 · Dec 1 · Fundraising readiness
Ondřej Lipold, Tensor Ventures
You leave with: an honest answer to "should we raise VC money yet?", plus the deck slides investors actually read.
06 · Dec 8 · Reality check & next 90 days
Mentor to be announced
You leave with: your most critical blocker named, assumptions stress-tested, and a 90-day plan you'll actually follow.
Who it's for
Early-stage founders, from pre-seed to first revenue, who are past the idea stage and want to move faster on customers, sales and money. You should be able to come to all six sessions, because the group builds on each other's cases week by week.
Price & application
The participation fee is 3,990 CZK + VAT per startup
One fee covers:
All six in-person roundtables
A peer group of founders facing the same problems
Up to two people from one startup
Access to two TRUESDAYS events
Direct access to mentors who run sales teams, build GTM and sit on the investor side
Student founders receive a 50% discount.
How to apply
Click Request to Join and complete the application form.
Submitting the form is an application, not a free ticket or automatic confirmation of your place.
If your application is approved, we will contact you and send an invoice. Your place is confirmed once the invoice has been paid.
Founders Cookbook Masterminds is run by Startup Kitchen together with Pražský inovační institut and is co-funded by the European Union.