Article · 9 min read

9 Things To Know Before You Start Your Own Mastermind

Sarah Kathleen Peck · Forbes Free Beginner

This is the operating manual for the group you want to start yourself. It gives you the exact numbers to decide on before your first call: keep it four to six people, commit to at least six months with a fixed end date, meet on a recurring slot (the second Tuesday, not a fresh Doodle each month), and run a tight per-person format so nobody rambles. It also names the one rule most founder groups skip and then die without: a hard attendance bar, miss more than two and you are out.

• Four to six people is the sweet spot: more than eight and scheduling collapses, fewer than four and you lose perspectives
• Lock a start date AND an end date (six to twelve months) so the group has a reason to show up, not drift
• Write a short 'who belongs here' spec and set a strict attendance rule up front, because peer groups die from no-shows, not bad advice