Sounding Board

Sounding Board
Join the waitlist
• Your name stays hidden by default. Relevant peers opt in.

Bring the founder decision you cannot discuss openly. Hear from someone who has carried it before.

Share a difficult operating, leadership, or co-founder situation with experienced Australian founders. Relevant peers put their hands up, and you choose whom to speak with for 15 to 30 minutes.

For Australian founders responsible for a company, team, customers, or investor capital

Join the waitlist See how it works
Exchange
Practical
Format
15 to 30 minutes
Access
Invite only
Cost
Free
Help others, get help back
⚖️

Learn how other founders handled it

Exchange practical experience from founders who have faced comparable company decisions.

💬

Bring enough context

A structured ask helps someone understand what you are exploring and offer a useful response.

🎯

Talk candidly

For sensitive situations, an experienced peer outside your organisation brings perspective without internal politics.

When everyone has a stake

Some founder decisions are difficult to discuss openly

Founders are expected to provide clarity even while they are still working through the answer. Your co-founder, team, board, and investors may each have a stake in what you decide.

The decision affects the company

You cannot test every option openly with the people whose jobs, ownership, capital, or confidence may be affected.

Your advisers have their own perspective

An investor, board member, adviser, employee, or co-founder may each see the situation through a different interest.

Your identity is tied to the company

It is harder to think clearly when the decision raises questions about your role, your co-founder relationship, or whether you should still lead the company.

The context changes the answer

Advice for a bootstrapped business may not fit a venture-backed company. Stage, ownership, runway, and team size all shape the decision.

How it works

Start with the situation, not a search for the right person.

1. Share your ask

Describe the situation

We review it for clarity, then share it with members. Your name is hidden from the community by default.

2. Peers opt in

Relevant experience comes forward

Members decide where their first-hand experience is useful and put their own hands up to help.

3. You choose

Choose who you want to meet

Accept up to three offers and arrange a focused 15 to 30 minute conversation with each person you choose.

There are no subscriptions or fees. When another ask matches your experience, put your hand up and help someone else move forward.

Who this is for

Operating Australian founders who want candid, practical input and are willing to contribute experience from building their own companies.

This is for founders currently accountable for employees, customers, revenue, investor capital, or other meaningful company commitments.

You'll fit right in if:

  • • You are actively running a company and have experience other founders can learn from
  • • You have a consequential operating, people, co-founder, or company decision to explore
  • • You're open to sharing context and receiving honest feedback
  • • You're ready to help others in return
  • • You value first-hand experience over generic advice

This isn't for you if:

  • • You're here to pitch, recruit, or sell
  • • You are looking for a mentor, investor, or advisory board
  • • You are still at the idea stage without operating experience to share
  • • You only want to consume without contributing

Perspective from a comparable founder context

Useful founder perspective depends on context. Company stage, business model, funding, ownership, team size, and growth expectations can change the answer. Members put their hands up when their experience genuinely relates to the situation you have shared.

An invite-only peer community

Candid exchange needs clear boundaries

Membership is invite-only and reviewed manually. No pitching, recruiting, or publishing someone else's experience.

Small and relevant

Running a company can be isolating, especially when a situation involves your co-founder, team, investors, board, or your own position. Shared context and compatible time zones make conversations easier.

Sensitive asks

By default, members see the ask without your name. Accepted helpers see your identity, and each person chooses whether to share contact details.

Permission matters

Nothing from an exchange is used publicly without the member's permission.

What not to share

Discuss the decision without naming employees, customers, or confidential company information. Peer perspective is not legal, financial, HR, mental health, or crisis advice.

FAQ

Quick answers about how the community works.

You share a work situation or practical question. We review it for clarity, then share it with members without your name by default. Relevant members can put their hands up, and you choose up to three people for 15 to 30 minute conversations.

No. When you post an ask, relevant members can put their hand up, and you choose who to talk to. It works the other way too: putting your hand up for someone else's ask is often how you meet a sharp founder you wouldn't otherwise cross paths with, so helping grows your network as much as it helps them.

Yes. Sounding Board runs on a give-and-get model. You help others when you can, and others help you in return. No subscriptions, no fees.

Sometimes you need external perspective with no internal baggage. A peer outside your organisation has no stake in your decision, which means they can be candid in a way colleagues often cannot.

LinkedIn is public, while a large Slack community still means broadcasting your situation and hoping the right person notices. Sounding Board is small and invite-only. Members choose the asks where their first-hand experience is relevant.

Membership is invite-only and reviewed manually. We keep the community small and relevant so members can decide where their experience is useful. No random adds, no mass approvals.

Not unless you choose to show it. By default, members see “A founder.” Even if your boss, colleague, or friend is already a member, they will not see your name. Your name is shown only to people you accept for a conversation. Each participant chooses whether to share separate contact details. The administrator still knows who submitted the ask, and your wording may identify you or your company.

Yes. Members arrange a focused remote conversation using whatever works for both people.

Most conversations take 15 to 30 minutes. The asker and helper arrange a time that works for both of them.

A focused conversation with a relevant peer. The goal is a useful exchange, not another recurring meeting.

Example questions, practical experience

What founders could ask about

Bring a decision, a difficult situation, or something you want to compare with people doing similar work.

Co-founder relationship

“My co-founder and I no longer agree on where the company is going. How have others worked through this?”

Stakeholders

“Our investors want faster growth, but I think the company needs to slow down. How have others handled that tension?”

Founder role

“The company may need a different kind of CEO. How did you decide whether that person was still you?”

Waitlist open · Operating Australian founders · No pitching · No fundraising

Invite-only peer community

Bring one consequential founder decision. Help one peer.

Join the waitlist for a small peer community of experienced Australian founders.

No pitching. No fundraising. No subscriptions.

Join the waitlist

We review the waitlist as the founder community takes shape. If it is a fit, we will contact you about an invite.