Why the room exists
The bigger it gets, the fewer people you can talk to about it.
Your team needs you sure. Your family needs you home. Most of your friends don’t do what you do. So the real conversations happen in your head at eleven at night: the hire you’re not sure about, the offer on the table, the partner who stopped pulling their weight.
This room is for having them out loud, with people who’ve made the same calls and people who advise on them for a living.
Come once, and you leave with someone worth a second conversation. Stay for the year, and the big calls stop being yours alone.
Not a mastermind.Not a mixer.Not a pitch night.
From our first Gathering
Three strangers got talking that night. They’ve been buying companies together ever since. Nobody structured it for them. The room opened a door.
A Gathering, hour by hour
Third Wednesday. The Bond. Doors at six.
Home by nine. It’s built for people with companies to run and kids to put to bed. You don’t need to know anyone. Here’s the night.
- 6:00Doors. A drink at the bar, music on, and the room fills.
- 6:30The host opens the night, says who’s in the room and why, and says the one rule out loud.
- 6:40One speaker, one subject, from somebody who’s done it. Then questions from the floor.
- 7:30Win. Ask. Offer. Seven minutes from the floor: share a win, ask for help, or offer some.
- 7:45The room again. This is the part the night is built around. Introductions get made by name, with the reason.
- 9:00Home. The night is built so you leave with a person, not a stack of cards.
The last Gathering, September 16
Stan Sipes took the room. He helped grow Veyo from $60 million to $200 million in under three years. His subject was the six things that decide whether revenue compounds or flattens.
Your first evening
Here’s what to expect.
- Getting there
- The Bond, 32nd and Camelback. Doors at six.
- On the house
- The evening and the drinks. A pop-up bar, real glassware, and one featured mocktail each evening.
- The room
- Couches, tables and music. Sit where you like.
- Knowing people
- You don’t need to. The host opens the night and says who’s in the room and why.
- Speaking
- The floor at 7:30 is open, never required. Guests fill in one short form first, so the room knows who’s speaking.
- After you sign up
- Your seat is confirmed on Luma right away.
The one rule
Business gets done here. Nobody gets treated like a lead.
Talk shop. Trade what you know. If you hit it off with someone, follow up, one to one, like a person. What stays out: pitches from the front, lists, and mass emails.
We are
- A good night out that’s also good for business.
- Owners, operators, capital, and the advisors who work with them, in one room.
- Teaching from the front. Business in the room.
- A chosen room. Every seat, on purpose.
- In person, in Phoenix. Six evenings a year.
We are never
- A percentage of anyone’s deal.
- A logo on the screen.
- A list with your name on it.
Who pays for all this
Members pay dues. Advisor firms hold a seat, one firm per field, and bring their best people to teach and to meet you. A firm may also pay the club for introducing a customer, and you’re told before that introduction happens. The club never takes a percentage of anyone’s deal.
How advisor seats workYour host
Nik Shehaj built the room he couldn’t find.
He was looking at a company to buy and realized the room he needed around him didn’t exist. So he built it.
He opens the night and makes the introductions, by name, with the reason. He reads every answer to the seven questions before he talks with anyone about a seat.
The stage teaches, and the room does the business. The club never takes a piece of anyone’s deal.
Most owners I know make their biggest calls alone.
From his note in the club’s briefing
The Chartered seat
Guests come for the evening. Members come for the year.
The evening is on the house. A seat is for the owner who wants the right people in their corner all year.
Nine hundred dollars a year.
Fifty Chartered seats, numbered. The rate holds for as long as you hold one, and the Chartered rate closes with the fiftieth.
Dues are low on purpose. A seat is chosen, not bought.
The Hour Before
Five o’clock, upstairs, before the doors open. The room belongs to members.
Introductions
Made by the host, by name, with the reason, after reading what you’re building. Most happen in the room. You never have to work it.
Three guests
Up to three on your name at every Gathering. Bring a partner, a key hire, or a client.
Member sessions
Through the year, including the January workshop.
The recap
A written recap after every Gathering, so a missed night isn’t a lost one.
The Charter Roll
Your name and seat number on the Roll, and a chair kept for you at every Gathering.
How a seat is chosen
- 1
Come to an evening.
November 18 at The Bond. It’s on the house, and by nine you’ll know if it’s your room.
- 2
Answer seven questions.
About five minutes. They ask what you run, where revenue is, and what you’re after this year. The host reads every answer before you talk.
- 3
Talk with the host.
Twenty to thirty minutes with Nik Shehaj, the host. It starts with a conversation, not a checkout page.
Membership, plainly
- The rate
- $900 a year. It holds as long as you hold the seat.
- Renewal
- Your year runs from the day you pay and renews on that date.
- Missing an evening
- Your chair is kept at every Gathering, and the written recap comes after each one.
- Your details
- The club never gives out a member or guest list. Your name goes to a firm from us only when you ask.
- Meeting the advisors
- They’re in the room, and you meet them the way you meet anyone. If you hit it off, they may follow up, one to one. When the club introduces you to a firm, you’re told it holds a paid seat, and told before any introduction the club is paid for.
Advisor seats are one firm per category, by invitation. See how an advisor seat works, or write to nik@shehaj.com.
Between Gatherings
What’s your next big call?
Pick one and you get all of Built, Bought or Handed On, the club’s briefing on six calls a Phoenix owner makes, with the numbers behind each. Every number is sourced. Leave your first name and email, and we’ll point you to your page.
Your name, email and answer stay with the club. The invitation comes before each Gathering, and you can leave any time. Privacy.
No owner in this valley should have to build alone.
Ten years from now, an owner in this valley with a company to grow, buy or hand on knows where the room is.
How we get there
Put the right people in one room. Open the door between them. Never take a piece of your deal.
Wednesday, November 18. Doors at six, home by nine.
Come see who’s in the room.
Guests come at six, on us. Members come at five.