Make the room useful.

STARTUP STANDUPS
LIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING
2 HOURS · FOUNDERS + OPERATORS

Founder networking with a job to do

Bring one real startup problem. Work it with a professionally facilitated room using improv-style exercises. Leave with a clearer frame, several possible moves, one seven-day experiment, and five meaningful connections.

The Standup Board · Try the methodNot AI advice · a framing exercise
01 / YOUR PROBLEM

Put the headline on the desk.

02 / REFRAME

Change the question.

Turn the complaint into a testable question the room can work on.

03 / OPTIONS

Open the field.

Generate several plausible moves before debate collapses the room around the first idea.

04 / EXPERIMENT

Ship the next move.

Choose a small action that can produce new evidence in seven days.

Networking is the by-product.

The event is designed around contribution. People connect because they have already helped each other think, challenge assumptions, generate options, or make an introduction.

1

real problem reframed

3+

options generated

7

days to test one move

5

meaningful connections to make

The room has a method

Two hours. No panel. No pitch parade.

0–15
Arrive + frame

Name the problem you want the room to help you see differently.

15–35
Warm up

Fast improv exercises build listening, offers, and response speed.

35–75
Problem rounds

Founders put selected issues on the floor for structured reframing.

75–100
Option jams

The room generates alternatives before evaluating them.

100–115
Experiments

Each founder chooses a next move small enough to test this week.

115–120
Connections

Close with concrete asks, offers, introductions, and follow-ups.

Sample run of show; local hosts can adapt timing while preserving the core outcomes.

Who belongs in the room

Founders

Bring the messy problem that is slowing a real decision.

For founders →

Operators

Bring pattern recognition, practical tradeoffs, and useful questions.

For operators →

Ecosystem builders

Turn “networking” into a repeatable community problem-solving ritual.

For communities →

The connection model

Diagram of a founder connected to a customer, operator, skeptic, expert, and follow-up contact

Five connections with jobs attached.

Instead of collecting random contacts, aim to leave with a small working network around the problem you brought.

01

Customer

Someone who can sharpen the need.

02

Operator

Someone who has seen the pattern.

03

Skeptic

Someone who can pressure-test your assumption.

04

Expert

Someone who can shorten the learning curve.

05

Follow-up

Someone you commit to update after the experiment.

Next move

Bring a problem worth working on.

Join the list for upcoming Standups, or help bring one to your city.