OFFICE HOURS

Your No-nonsense Support System

We're transforming our popular Mentor Roundtables into something even more useful—permanent Office Hours where you can join our experts whenever you need them. We heard you when you said you love the chance at honest, intimate conversations with people that can make a difference to your companies, so this year we’re building a dedicated Office Hours zone where founders, experts, and investors will be on hand to give you real advice throughout Wednesday and Thursday. 

No more strategic hovering or awkward networking to access people who know what they're talking about. Just drop in whenever your startup crisis hits—whether it's your imploding team, that pitch that makes investors wince, figuring out if your AI idea is just ChatGPT in a trench coat, or dealing with a board that questions your every move. No sign-ups, no gatekeepers—just direct access to people who've survived the startup gauntlet and can help you do the same.

2026 Office Hours Agenda

In PersonVirtual

July 08

11:00 AM EDT

Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Pitching Your Story

Craft compelling narratives that resonate with different audiences—from 30-second elevator pitches to investor decks to podcast interviews—learn how to tell your founding story in ways that make people care, remember you, and want to help you succeed. See More.
CEO
Medeloop
Managing Director
Techstars
Investor
Mighty Capital
Founder
T6 Talent Partners
Operating Partner
Maverix Private Equity
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: MVP & First Product

Build the minimum product that validates your core idea, know when to launch versus when to keep iterating, and avoid the trap of over-engineering before you have customers. See More.
General Partner
Two Small Fish Ventures
Executive Coach | Founder
Paper Education
Head of Product Design
Forum Ventures, AI Studio
CEO
2389 Research, Inc
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Customer Discovery & Validation

Learn how to find your first customers, conduct problem interviews that reveal real pain points, and validate willingness to pay before you waste time building the wrong thing. See More.
Lead Solution Design Architect
Launch @ NTT Data
Program Manager - Quantum Lab
BioInnovation Institute
CEO
Botpress
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Bootstrapping & Capital Efficiency

Build a profitable company by doing more with less, learn survival strategies for growing without VC money, and develop the discipline that capital efficiency demands. See More.
General Partner
No Talking Capital
CEO
Stay22
Chief Operating Officer
The Farmers' Truck
Entrepreneur
Osunatech
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: First Revenue: From Free to Paid

Convert early adopters into paying customers, overcome your own psychological fears about charging money, handle pricing objections with confidence, and cross the critical threshold from free to paid that validates your business model. See More.
Partner
Alchemist Accelerator
Founder & CEO
GridBank
Senior AI Advisor
Innovobot
Managing Partner
Storytime Capital
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Go-to-Market Strategy

Create attention in crowded markets, convert that attention into actual demand, build distribution as your primary competitive advantage, and develop a systematic approach to capturing market share. See More.
Founder
ThinkersOne
CPO & Certified Coach
Pidari
Director, Startups
Vector Institute for AI
Head of Product
Roblox Operating System (Enterprise AI)

1:00 PM EDT

Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Product Market Fit

Understand the signals that tell you when you've actually found product-market fit, how to measure it quantitatively, and what strategic moves to make when you don't have it yet. See More.
Lead Solution Design Architect
Launch @ NTT Data
Associate Partner
Antler
CEO
Stay22
Program Manager - Quantum Lab
BioInnovation Institute
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Founder Equity & Early Cap Table

Split equity between co-founders in ways that protect everyone, implement vesting schedules from day one, and structure early advisor agreements that won't come back to haunt you. See More.
Entrepreneur
Osunatech
CEO
Alchemist Accelerator
Partner
BDC Capital
Managing Director
StandUp Ventures
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: AI & Automation

Leverage AI to create competitive advantages your competitors can't easily replicate, develop automation strategies that let small teams punch above their weight, build AI-native features into your product, and stay lean by using AI tools effectively. See More.
Senior Director of Engineering
Microsoft AI
Principal Cloud Technologist
Amazon Web Services
Head of AI Education
Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
Senior AI Advisor
Innovobot
Director, Startups
Vector Institute for AI
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Finding & Working With Co-Founders

Choose the right co-founder by understanding what complementary skills you need, divide responsibilities clearly from the start, develop tools for navigating conflict, and recognize when a partnership isn't working before it destroys the company. See More.
Founder & CEO
Enjoy the Work
Founder
T6 Talent Partners
Operating Partner
Maverix Private Equity
Founder and CTO
VerifyYou
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Sales & Customer Acquisition

Build repeatable, scalable sales processes, transition from founder-led sales to a sales team that can operate without you, hire your first salespeople without destroying your culture, and create a predictable pipeline that investors and acquirers value. See More.
Chief Operating Officer
The Farmers' Truck
CEO
Botpress
Managing Partner
Imaginal
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Non-Venture Financing

Access grants, tax credits, revenue-based financing, debt, and crowdfunding to fuel growth, learn how to stack multiple non-dilutive sources, and understand when alternative financing makes more sense than venture capital. See More.

2:30 PM EDT

Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Brand Building & Positioning

Create competitive moats through strong brand positioning, shape customer perception deliberately rather than letting it happen by default, and position yourself in the market in ways that make competitors' strengths irrelevant. See More.
Founder
ThinkersOne
Head of Product Design
Forum Ventures, AI Studio
Founder
Hampr
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Community Building

Build authentic communities around your product or mission, turn customers into advocates who sell for you, and create defensible advantages through community that competitors can't replicate by copying features. See More.
Investor
Mighty Capital
Senior AI Advisor
Innovobot
Senior Technical Fellow
Reddit
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Lean Product Development

Iterate efficiently when resources are limited, manage technical debt strategically rather than letting it accumulate accidentally, and know when to pivot versus when to persist through difficulty. See More.
CPO & Certified Coach
Pidari
Executive Coach | Founder
Paper Education
Head of Product
Roblox Operating System (Enterprise AI)
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Partnerships & Business Development

Find partners whose incentives truly align with yours, structure deals that create value for both sides, avoid partnerships that sound good but deliver nothing, and build business development into your growth engine. See More.
Partner
BDC Capital
Partner
Jolt Capital
Founder
ScamHERO // Co-created
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Metrics That Matter

Identify the KPIs that actually drive your business rather than vanity metrics that look good but mean nothing, understand unit economics well enough to make smart trade-offs, set up dashboards that surface problems early, and track what investors and acquirers actually care about. See More.
Lead Solution Design Architect
Launch @ NTT Data
Program Manager - Quantum Lab
BioInnovation Institute
Associate Partner
Antler
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Customer Success & Retention

Reduce churn by understanding why customers leave before they do, increase expansion revenue from existing customers, build customer success functions that prevent problems rather than just fix them, turn satisfied customers into champions who sell for you, and make retention more profitable than acquisition. See More.
Principal Cloud Technologist
Amazon Web Services
Founder & CEO
Enjoy the Work
CEO
2389 Research, Inc
Chief Operating Officer
The Farmers' Truck

4:00 PM EDT

Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Building & Managing Teams

Know when to hire your first employees, find talent when you can't pay market rates, navigate team dynamics as you grow, master delegation, and keep people motivated when resources are tight. See More.
Founder
T6 Talent Partners
Operating Partner
Maverix Private Equity
Partner
Alchemist Accelerator
Senior Technical Fellow
Reddit
Head of AI Education
Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Venture Fundraising

Build investor networks before you need them, craft pitches that tell your story compellingly, respond confidently to tough questions, and leave enough intrigue to earn the next meeting. See More.
Founder
Hampr
General Partner
White Star Capital
Program Manager - Quantum Lab
BioInnovation Institute
CEO
Alchemist Accelerator
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Founder Mental Health

Recognize the signs of burnout before it's too late, cope with the isolation that comes with leading a company, manage stress without it consuming you, and find sustainable pace in a culture that glorifies founder mode. See More.
Partner
C/R Strategy Partners
Managing Partner
Imaginal
CEO
2389 Research, Inc
Head of Strategy
Metafide
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: AI & Automation

Leverage AI to create competitive advantages your competitors can't easily replicate, develop automation strategies that let small teams punch above their weight, build AI-native features into your product, and stay lean by using AI tools effectively. See More.
Senior Director of Engineering
Microsoft AI
CEO
Botpress
Head of Product
Roblox Operating System (Enterprise AI)
Director, Startups
Vector Institute for AI
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Founder Skills & Leadership Development

Make the critical shift from visionary who sees what should exist to operator who actually builds it, learn to inspire others to share your vision, and develop leadership skills before you have a team to manage. See More.
Co-founder
Raw Signal Group
Co-founder
Raw Signal Group
Founder and CTO
VerifyYou
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Pricing & Revenue Models

Figure out what to charge for your product, choose between subscription, usage-based, or freemium models, and develop a strategy for monetizing your first 100 customers. See More.
General Partner
No Talking Capital
Partner
Jolt Capital
Associate Partner
Antler

July 09

11:00 AM EDT

Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: The Legal Office Hosted by Osler

Get your incorporation structure right from day one, ensure IP assignment agreements are in place for everyone who touches your code, and make early legal decisions that won't limit your options later. See More.
Partner
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Associate, Emerging and High Growth Companies
Osler
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Venture Fundraising

Build investor networks before you need them, craft pitches that tell your story compellingly, respond confidently to tough questions, and leave enough intrigue to earn the next meeting. See More.
Managing Partner
Imaginal
Program Manager - Quantum Lab
BioInnovation Institute
CEO
Alchemist Accelerator
Associate Partner
Antler
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Founder Mental Health

Recognize the signs of burnout before it's too late, cope with the isolation that comes with leading a company, manage stress without it consuming you, and find sustainable pace in a culture that glorifies founder mode. See More.
Executive Coach | Founder
Paper Education
Senior AI Advisor
Innovobot
Chief Operating Officer
The Farmers' Truck
Founder and CTO
VerifyYou
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: AI & Automation

Leverage AI to create competitive advantages your competitors can't easily replicate, develop automation strategies that let small teams punch above their weight, build AI-native features into your product, and stay lean by using AI tools effectively. See More.
Senior Director of Engineering
Microsoft AI
Lead Solution Design Architect
Launch @ NTT Data
CEO
Botpress
CEO
2389 Research, Inc
CEO
Medeloop
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Customer Success & Retention

Reduce churn by understanding why customers leave before they do, increase expansion revenue from existing customers, build customer success functions that prevent problems rather than just fix them, turn satisfied customers into champions who sell for you, and make retention more profitable than acquisition. See More.
Partner
Alchemist Accelerator
Managing Director
Techstars
Head of Product Design
Forum Ventures, AI Studio
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Managing Boards & Advisors

Run board meetings that extract value rather than waste everyone's time, get useful advice from advisors who have skin in the game but lack day-to-day context, and keep supporters aligned with your vision even when they don't understand your decisions. See More.
Partner
C/R Strategy Partners
Founder
T6 Talent Partners
Operating Partner
Maverix Private Equity
Chief Operating Officer
Finalytics, Second Wind & TWENTY6
Partner
BDC Capital

1:00 PM EDT

Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: The Legal Office Hosted by Osler

Get your incorporation structure right from day one, ensure IP assignment agreements are in place for everyone who touches your code, and make early legal decisions that won't limit your options later. See More.
Partner, Emerging and High Growth Companies
Osler
Associate, Emerging and High Growth Companies
Osler
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Bootstrapping & Capital Efficiency

Build a profitable company by doing more with less, learn survival strategies for growing without VC money, and develop the discipline that capital efficiency demands. See More.
Founder & CEO
GridBank
Head of Product Design
Forum Ventures, AI Studio
Founder and CTO
VerifyYou
Head of Strategy
Metafide
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Crisis Management & Business Continuity

Keep your head and make good decisions when everything is breaking, anticipate disasters before they hit so you have response plans ready, respond effectively under pressure, and maintain operations when key people leave or major customers churn. See More.
Co-founder
Raw Signal Group
Co-founder
Raw Signal Group
Head of AI Education
Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
Chief Operating Officer
Finalytics, Second Wind & TWENTY6
Senior AI Advisor
Innovobot
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Founder Skills & Leadership Development

Make the critical shift from visionary who sees what should exist to operator who actually builds it, learn to inspire others to share your vision, and develop leadership skills before you have a team to manage. See More.
Founder
T6 Talent Partners
Operating Partner
Maverix Private Equity
Managing Partner
Storytime Capital
Managing Director
StandUp Ventures
Entrepreneur
Osunatech
Associate Partner
Antler
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Operations & Supply Chain

Build efficient systems that scale without constant intervention, optimize costs without sacrificing quality, scale infrastructure ahead of demand without over-investing, and manage growth without breaking what already works. See More.
CPO & Certified Coach
Pidari
General Partner
No Talking Capital
Partner
Hustle Fund
Chief Operating Officer
The Farmers' Truck
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Building & Managing Teams

Know when to hire your first employees, find talent when you can't pay market rates, navigate team dynamics as you grow, master delegation, and keep people motivated when resources are tight. See More.
Partner
Alchemist Accelerator
Senior Technical Fellow
Reddit
CEO
Botpress
Founder & CEO
Enjoy the Work

2:30 PM EDT

Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: The Legal Office Hosted by Osler

Get your incorporation structure right from day one, ensure IP assignment agreements are in place for everyone who touches your code, and make early legal decisions that won't limit your options later. See More.
Partner, Emerging and High Growth Companies
Osler
Associate, Emerging and High Growth Companies
Osler
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Metrics That Matter

Identify the KPIs that actually drive your business rather than vanity metrics that look good but mean nothing, understand unit economics well enough to make smart trade-offs, set up dashboards that surface problems early, and track what investors and acquirers actually care about. See More.
CPO & Certified Coach
Pidari
Program Manager - Quantum Lab
BioInnovation Institute
Senior Technical Fellow
Reddit
Founder & CEO
Enjoy the Work
Partner
BDC Capital
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Venture Fundraising

Build investor networks before you need them, craft pitches that tell your story compellingly, respond confidently to tough questions, and leave enough intrigue to earn the next meeting. See More.
General Partner
White Star Capital
Investor
Mighty Capital
Managing Director
StandUp Ventures
Founder & CEO
GridBank
CEO
Medeloop
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Product Roadmap & Prioritization

Learn to say no to feature requests that don't serve your strategy, balance customer demands with your long-term vision, avoid feature bloat that makes your product unusable, and stay focused when everyone wants you to build something different. See More.
Managing Director
Techstars
Lead Solution Design Architect
Launch @ NTT Data
General Partner
No Talking Capital
Head of Product
Roblox Operating System (Enterprise AI)
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Building Acquisition-Ready from Day One

Make decisions early that preserve your exit options later, understand what acquirers look for before they come looking, and build operational discipline into your company from the start so you're ready when opportunity knocks. See More.
Managing Partner
Imaginal
Partner
Jolt Capital
Founder
Hampr
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Partnerships & Business Development

Find partners whose incentives truly align with yours, structure deals that create value for both sides, avoid partnerships that sound good but deliver nothing, and build business development into your growth engine. See More.
Entrepreneur
Osunatech
Chief Operating Officer
Finalytics, Second Wind & TWENTY6
Managing Partner
Storytime Capital
Founder
ScamHERO // Co-created

4:00 PM EDT

Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: The Legal Office Hosted by Osler

Get your incorporation structure right from day one, ensure IP assignment agreements are in place for everyone who touches your code, and make early legal decisions that won't limit your options later. See More.
Partner, Emerging and High Growth Companies
Osler
Associate, Emerging and High Growth Companies
Osler
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: International Expansion

Know when entering new markets makes strategic sense versus premature distraction, manage the risks of expanding across borders, and grow internationally without destabilizing the markets where you're already winning. See More.
Managing Director
Techstars
Head of Product
Roblox Operating System (Enterprise AI)
CEO
Alchemist Accelerator
Partner
Jolt Capital
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Founder Mental Health

Recognize the signs of burnout before it's too late, cope with the isolation that comes with leading a company, manage stress without it consuming you, and find sustainable pace in a culture that glorifies founder mode. See More.
Partner
Hustle Fund
Co-founder
Raw Signal Group
Co-founder
Raw Signal Group
Founder and CTO
VerifyYou
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Brand Building & Positioning

Create competitive moats through strong brand positioning, shape customer perception deliberately rather than letting it happen by default, and position yourself in the market in ways that make competitors' strengths irrelevant. See More.
Founder
ThinkersOne
Managing Partner
Imaginal
Head of Product Design
Forum Ventures, AI Studio
Head of Strategy
Metafide
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: Competitive Strategy

Compete effectively when you're small and scrappy against larger competitors with more resources, choose battles you can actually win, position yourself against competitors in ways that neutralize their advantages, and build defensible advantages that can't be easily copied. See More.
Partner
C/R Strategy Partners
CEO
Botpress
Founder & CEO
Enjoy the Work
CEO
Stay22
Mentor Office Hours

Office Hours: M&A

Fix messy cap tables, streamline your financials for due diligence, and navigate the psychological weight of selling your startup so you can protect both your valuation and your sanity. See More.
Founder
Hampr
Entrepreneur
Osunatech
General Partner
White Star Capital
Managing Partner
Storytime Capital