One of the most important accelerants for my entrepreneurial career was my Entrepreneurs’ Organization forum. Forum, in the EO and YPO parlance, is a small group of 8-10 entrepreneurs/CEOs that meet on a monthly basis and share all aspects of their business and life in a private and confidential setting. As an entrepreneur, there are so many topics that are difficult or inappropriate to talk about with friends and colleagues, yet it’s critical to get feedback, or at least get something off your chest.
Here are a few benefits of joining an entrepreneur roundtable:
- Having a set day/time each month provides peace of mind to address any new issues that arise
- Even with a board or advisors, peer groups act as another outlet for difficult topics
- Many lessons are learned listening to opportunities and challenges other entrepreneurs face
- Beyond just business, there’s a real personal and family benefit being a part of a tight group (many chapters have spousal forums as well)
Entrepreneur roundtables are an invaluable resource for entrepreneurs of all types. Seek one out and you won’t be disappointed.
What else? What are some more thoughts on entrepreneur roundtables?
David Cummings on Startups 
To join EO & YPO there are minimum requirements: min $1MM in revenue, 50 employees+, etc. What organizations are there for businesses that have not reached those limits?
Completely agree with DC on the value of roundtables (or mastermind groups). DC chaired the EO Accelerator program here in Atlanta, inspiring me to chair it afterwards (and graduating from it!). @DBA – the EO Accelerator program takes companies that have $250k+ in revenue and is very clear about its goal to grow them to over $1MM in revenue so they can join EO.
I also blogged about this on medium here: Learning from Peer Learning Groups – https://medium.com/@seebq/learning-from-peer-learning-groups-a4e802185b97