## Background This process came out of years of interviewing founders (and being one myself). It happened at its highest intensity while I was making [[Vision Documentary - Offering and Process|documentaries]] with founders and their companies at key inflection points. More recently I've also been interviewing different founders through [[The Other Stuff]]. For whatever reason, I tend to have deep conversations with founders and creative people. I really enjoy understanding what someone is building and why. After enough of these, I realized two things: I am good at it, and it is genuinely valuable to the peopleI do it with. So I've decided to call this work a Mapping Session and I'm starting to offer it to founders around the world who want an outside perspective. ## What it is A Mapping Session is something I do with founders to help them see what they are working through more clearly. The thing being worked through can be anything: an overall vision, a specific decision, a problem set, a pivot, a project, a partnership. What matters is that it is tangled in your head and you cannot fully see it yet because you are too close to it. You need to externalize it, look at it, and figure out where to focus next. The work is fundamentally a thinking exercise. You own the thinking. You brought the problem. You will execute on whatever comes out of it. My job in the session is to help you see what you have, ask the questions you cannot ask yourself, and provide the structure that lets the thinking become visible. ## Who it's for These sessions work best for people who can already articulate a lot but want outside perspective to see the structure of what they are saying. They have the pieces in their head. But they want an external perspective to help them lay it out. Concretely: - Founders pre-fundraise, pre-launch or at a turning point where the next decision matters more than usual. - Founders working through a specific problem they are stuck on. - Operators inside companies navigating a major decision (a hire, pivot, a positioning change) - Anyone who has a lot of input swirling in their head and need help seeing the shape of it. This is not a fit for someone who wants generic startup advice or coaching. It is also not a fit for someone who has not yet started the work; the session is most useful when there is a real situation to map, not just an aspiration. ## What the client gets After the session, the founder leaves with several things. Each one has a specific purpose: - **A 2-3 hour recorded session in a focused environment**. The session itself is the primary thing they are paying for. It's focused time with me, in person, to work through whatever they are wrestling with. - **Full video file**. They can rewatch the session, share moments with their team, or use clips for other purposes. - **Audio file**. Easier to listen to on a walk or in the car than the full video. - **Transcript of the full conversation.** This can be pasted into an [[LLMs|LLM]] for deeper analysis and expanding on the ideas if they want to keep working with the material themselves. - Photos of the final index card map, digital representation of index cards in FigJam or other similar tool, and all physical index cards. - A synthesis document that captures the patterns we found, my read on which components are strong and which are weak, and what I think the next steps should be. - A follow up call to discuss synthesis (30 mins) if needed. ## How this works The work has three phases: prep before, the session itself, and the synthesis afterwards. ### Preparation - About 1-2 hours of preparation happens before the session to avoid going in cold. - The founder fills out a short intake form about what they are stuck on, what they are trying to figure out, and what materials they can share. If I've already had extensive conversations with the founder, I might skip this step and just ask for materials. - I read everything they send. - I write a short preparation document for myself to capture any initial hypotheses, insights or patterns. - There might be a brief logistics call if needed. ### Session - The session itself runs 2-3 hours. We record video and audio in a focused environment. - I interview the founder about what they are working through. They talk, I listen and as they talk I write what I am hearing on to index cards (along with my own ideas) and lay out the cards on the table in front of us. - The cards are being created, pointed at, moved around through the conversation. By the end there is a map of the situation on the table with components grouped, related, and visible at a glance. - In the final 20-30 minutes of the session, we step back and look at the map together. I walk through the patterns I see, name which components look strong and which look weak, raise the questions I think are worth sitting with, and suggest where I would focus next. - We photograph the final card layout, and also represent it digitally afterwards, so the map is preserved for the founder's reference afterwards. ### Synthesis and Delivery - About 1-2 hours writing a synthesis document in collaboration with AI using all of the materials we generated through the conversation. - The synthesis document's structure mirrors what happened in the conversation and the map we created using index cards on the table. - I often add any other open questions or perspectives that came up as I had some distance from the conversation and add that into the synthesis document for review. - The full package is delivered together in a Google Drive link. Video, audio, transcript, photos of index card map, digital version of index card map (FigJam or similar), and the synthesis document. - We can have a follow up call to review the document (30mins~) to discuss and add any new questions that have come up since the session. ## Pricing ### Single - $2,000 USD - One 2-3 hour Mapping Session - Full deliverable package: video file, audio file, transcript, photos of index card map, digital version of the map (FigJam or similar), and a synthesis document - One follow up call (30mins~) to discuss the synthesis, if needed ### Embedded - $3,000 USD, 3 month minimum - One 2-3 hour Mapping Session each month, with full deliverables - 1-2 check in calls between sessions (30mins~ each), if needed - Async access for short questions over email or messaging - Ongoing updates to the synthesis as the situation evolves. Payment is 50% on booking and 50% on delivery for Single. Embedded is invoiced monthly. ## How to start Email [email protected]. Tell me roughly what you are working through. I'll send a short intake form and we'll find a time. From the day you book, the session usually happens within 1-3 weeks.