Back to Costa Rica

Three weeks ago I hosted the first ever Big Desk Energy Mastermind (a mouthful, I know)… and wow. It’ll be hard to translate into a single post just how remarkable of an experience that was, but I’m going to try. I’ll also share some of the key takeaways and insights from the weekend.

For context, I invited a handful of founders down to a breathtaking beachfront compound in Tamarindo, Costa Rica to spend 4 days together.

Why? I think…

• Conferences are boring as fuck.

• Networking events are far too chaotic and transactional.

• Most events are hit or miss, depending on who you sit next to.

• There is so much to learn from people outside of your direct circle and industry.

So instead, I leveraged my network (and this newsletter) to curate a group of successful founders building really interesting and differentiated businesses. A few founders bootstrapped their company to $10M in revenue, while others were venture backed or graduated from YC. And the industries represented varied from fintech, media, software, adtech, collectibles, etc.

One of the coolest parts of the experience: the openness and comfort everyone felt in sharing their internal metrics, processes, docs, vendors, and other best practices. It was a “look behind closed doors” at seven other unique businesses that are all absolutely crushing it.

And as you could imagine, it was motivating as hell.

We also did strategy sessions where each founder presented something they or their business do exceptionally well. A few of the topics included…

• 0 to $7M in ARR without spending a dollar

• Hiring international VAs to optimize operations

• Hacking SEO and getting alpha from quarterly earning reports

• How to efficiently raise capital from VCs

• Leveraging data and scatter plots to make core business decisions

• How to utilize the Traction framework to run your business 😉 

Not to be outdone by a bunch of startup founders, the private chefs put on an absolute masterclass of their own.

Oh, and we also had a ridiculous amount of fun. A few epic surf sessions, an afternoon yoga session, in-home spa and massages, and even a white water rafting outing on Saturday. We were told after signing the waiver that there was a 12-foot drop at the end… and this is how my raft handled it.

Overall, really just a tremendous all around experience. It was so ridiculously motivating and refreshing to be around other smart, high-output founders. Even casual meals had such an elevated level of conversation — from podcast and book recommendations, to hiring strategies, to the future paradigm of hardware innovation… and everything in-between.

One of the founders literally got an acquisition offer while on the trip. Another had just raised their Series A a few weeks prior. Different stages of the startup journey on full display to collectively dissect and discuss, all while surfing and living in paradise.

And in the 3 weeks since the trip, we’ve all remained in close contact checking up on each other, making continued introductions, and sharing updates and resources. I truly believe that’s how you build a strong community — by fostering relationships through shared experiences and genuinely wanting others to succeed.

And the community is going to grow… because I’m going to run it back again this October.

I’ll be hosting 7 founders who are looking to learn, share, collaborate, and disconnect in the jungle along the beaches of Costa Rica. In an absolutely stunning oceanfront villa no less…

Dates: Wednesday October 23^rd to Sunday October 27^th
Location: Tamarindo, Costa Rica
Cost: $12,500

I’m not an accountant, but have been told this can be written off as a business expense 😉.

Other details…

• Everyone will have their own private room and bathroom

• Private chef and food are all included

• All activities are optional but included (surfing, yoga, spa, etc.)

• Transportation will be provided while in Tamarindo

• Cleaning services provided daily

The only thing not included are your flights to and from Tamarindo, but I will coordinate group transportation to and from the airport.

The deadline to apply is Friday, August 23rd. I’ll reach out to those selected shortly after the deadline so there is ample time to coordinate travel and other details.

Hope to see ya in the jungle 🏄🏽‍♂️✌🏽.

If you enjoyed this post or know someone who may find it useful, please share it with them and encourage them to subscribe: mail.bigdeskenergy.com/p/back-costa-rica

Shoutout to Dan for the reader submission. This is probably what it looks like to work inside of a lofi playlist, but maybe some people are into that.

Reply with your own AI generated office and I’ll feature it in an upcoming issue.

Turn on, tune in, drop out. Click on any of the tracks below to get in a groove — each selected from the full Big Desk Energy playlist.

Some of my favorite content I found on the internet this week…

• Dupe founder explains how Nikita Bier injected virality into their product (Twitter)

• Uber says it will make more than $1B in Ad Revenue this year (Adweek)

• Apple says Patreon must switch to its billing system or risk removal from App Store (TechCrunch)

• This Cybertruck fuxxxx 👇🏽

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Until next Tuesday 🕺🏽