| This is a great initiative. But it might need way more customization and polishing and set rules before it can help founders with problems at hand or direction or anything that matters. Good things where even VC meetings can't help: 1. Founders have better on the ground idea on petty things but important in a way and tedious to solve.
eg. food in office or affordable monitors that are great, a specific case of an employee etc 2. Founders can relate to problems, help solve or collaborate in solving together. eg. technical issue in infrastructure or log processing say. 3. Boosts morale and can provide some light even after a week of bad sales or VC meetings. Some can even make you see the truth or accept it if the situation is truly negative 4. Business opportunities - VCs most always connect startups to pilot with portfolio companies and other startups. This can bring early clients and introductions However I see some critical issues with this model: 1. People need many sittings to understand the product landscape, persona of the founder or the team to provide relevant suggestions or advise - which means either known people have to meet or it needs the same set of people to meet again and again 2. Moderation can be an issue. With known friends who are founders it is easy to converse & open up on issues - but with a random group it might become chaotic or a silent dinner. 3. The moment the meeting is unpredictable (not consistent week on week) in terms of value the zeal to attend would fade over time. 4. Given the unknown value of such a meeting you do not have a measure to value this time against a release you planned to do or an interview or even some mundane task at hand which has to be finished. I am a startup founder in India. Given we lack the ecosystem even when VC/angels are involved it is only founder-networks to bank on here. These meet-ups have worked well only with founders who are friends/ex-colleagues. |
good thoughts for a discussion about seriousness, but maybe not applicable for this specifically.