It’s been a couple years since I wrote a post about this, and it seems a timely topic right now.
Here is how I interact with people, teams and companies. Usually I do just one of these at a time, but sometimes there is overlap. These are listed in order of priority to me:
MergeLane: I interact with teams that are part of the MergeLane accelerator. Companies with at least one female in leadership join one accelerator cohort a year (from the start of Feb through the end of April), and I am completely devoted to the success of these teams during and to a lesser extent (time-wise) after the program. I also interact with companies considering applying to our program (application opens Sept 1st of 2015!). I do this sometimes through one-off meetings or calls, and more commonly, I meet people through our MergeLane Events, including MergeLane Quickpitch events. Find a list of all MergeLane events and RSVP here.
Boulder Ideas Consulting: I interact with leaders, teams and companies as a consultant through my consulting firm Boulder Ideas. In this capacity, I most commonly work by the day, working with companies or executive teams on strategic planning, culture workshops, or specific operating issues that are pivotal (growth strategy, rebrand, new product launch, etc). I primarily work through Boulder Ideas during the “off-season” of MergeLane. For single leaders looking to secure a coach or one-time insight, I offer a $195 one-hour special for the first hour of consulting. It’s typically an enormously productive 60 minutes.
Random Days: I do “random days” where I meet with anyone who wants to meet usually for 30 minutes. These are free. You can sign up for an open session. Importantly, if you cancel with less than 24 hours notice for anything other than a white-hot emergency, I won’t allow an immediate reschedule.
Leadership Camp: I offer 3-day immersive leadership programs leveraging the core principles of conscious leadership. These are scheduled as they are scheduled. You’ll find a Leadership Camp description here, and the next date will be posted here. If you would like to learn more about our next Camp session, contact me.
Mentoring: I am an active mentor at Techstars Boulder and the CU New Venture Challenge. I allocate a lot of time to both these efforts with pleasure. I am thrilled to have continuing relationships with founders and companies post-graduation from Techstars.
Teaching: I teach Philosophy of Entrepreneurship, a one-credit elective at the University of Colorado Law School. The class is open to law students, MBAs, and engineering students. It is taught Spring semester. I am happy to have continuing relationships with any students to have taken this course.
Close Pals: This actually goes higher in this list. If you are a good friend of mine and you want me to spend time with a good friend of yours as a favor to you, let me know anytime.
Here are a few other important details:
I generally prefer to not do coffee or lunch. I do enjoy short walks around town on nice days for meetings.
I don’t think it’s wise for you to set up time with me to pitch me on investing. The bulk of my free capital is now going into MergeLane, and, although I’ve made a number of small angel investments, these typically are made in companies that I meet through Techstars or NVC. They are companies I’ve actively mentored, and the mentoring relationship migrates to an investment. I say this to protect your time and manage expectations.
I am apparently an extremely direct person. I have the best intentions here, but since people tell me this, I want you to know. That means if you ask me about my opinion of an idea or a pitch, I will be honest. Now my opinion and a dime won’t buy you a cup of coffee. I’m just one person. But please know that I will most often give you my gut opinion without a lot of protective padding.
One more thing. I have TERRIBLE name and facial recognition. I meet a lot of people. I almost always remember stories as hooks, but rarely do well with spotting new faces out of context. It’s nothing personal. It’s my bad, but I always feel badly about it, so I’m outing it here.
I hope this helps clarify some parameters for meeting requests, and I so appreciate you having any interest at all. I welcome any of your feedback.
