How to run a mastermind group that actually works!

So earlier this year I created Indie Masterminds - A mastermind community for indie hackers and solopreneurs.

When I started back in June, the concept was very raw in my mind and I wasn't sure what I was doing. But over the last 4 months I've refined the process of running an effective mastermind program.

I think anyone can do it, you just have to follow the processes.

I think the mastermind principle is the best way to fast track your growth as an entrepreneur. As I like to say -

You don't need a course, you need results!

And I think your mastermind can get you there.

I've ran 11 groups so far and had 40+ hours of invaluable conversations around building indie businesses.

Every member has reported better revenue, better productivity and more focus towards their long term goals.

In the weekly hot seat calls we've discussed every aspect of entrepreneurship -

Finding a niche

Product Ideas

Validation

Pricing

Positioning

Sales and Marketing

The whole range.

I highly recommend getting together with your friends and running a mastermind yourself.

Here's exactly what you need to do -

You form a group of 3-4 founders.

Every week the group meets for an hour long zoom call.

1 founder is on the hot seat every week.

They share their challenges, pain points, new ideas.

Rest of the group brainstorms solutions to their problems during the call.

This repeats every week for 4 weeks.

In the last week, run a personalized strategy session with every member.

The goal of this session is to chart out a custom plan they can implement over the next 6-12 weeks.

So we have 2 things here -

Hot seat sessions for brainstorming and going broad.

Strategy sessions for narrowing down and bringing it all together into an action plan.

Within a month, all members will know exactly what they need to do next, and then the subsequent months will be about how they implement the strategy.

But still continue with the "Go Broad then Narrow" model every month.

A few tips -

Have a slack/Discord group for asynchronous feedback and scheduling.

Set small, actionable goals every week and track them in a sheet

Share wins/losses/highlights with each other on every call.

And make sure to show up on the call every week, that's half the battle 🤷

I really think a mastermind group is an unfair advantage for every entrepreneur, especially early on in their journey because starting out can be so overwhelming.

This is a great way to build a strong network of friends around you while also making progress towards your goal.

Give it a shot.

Cheers, Ayush 🙏