01
0:00–0:15
Arrive + Reset
Fast check-in, music, a drink, and a simple prompt that immediately gives people something better to talk about.
Founder networking, rebuilt
Better conversations build better companies.
Startup Standups is a high-energy, two-hour founder experience powered by improv. No decks. No panels. No forced elevator pitches. Just useful conversations with people building things.
One room. Better prompts. Real people. Unexpected connections.
2 hours
Built for momentum
0 decks
Conversation first
100%
Participatory
1 goal
Meet people who matter
Why Startup Standups
Networking has a conversation problem.
Most startup events put people in the same room and hope useful connections somehow happen. Startup Standups gives the room a structure, a rhythm, and permission to skip the small talk.
The room becomes the program.
Passive panelsOut
Awkward introductionsOut
Transactional pitchingOut
Fast, useful conversationsIn
Improv-powered connectionIn
The two-hour format
Designed to get people talking — and keep them moving.
Startup Standups combines structured introductions, founder prompts, improv mechanics, quick-fire exchanges, and open connection time into one fast sequence.
02
0:15–0:35
Warm the Room
Low-risk improv games create energy, loosen status, and turn strangers into participants.
03
0:35–1:10
Founder Rounds
Short rotating conversations built around real startup problems, asks, experiments, and lessons.
04
1:10–1:35
Standup Challenge
A collaborative exercise that rewards listening, building on ideas, and thinking in public.
05
1:35–2:00
Open Connections
Now the room networks itself. Follow the conversations worth continuing and make the next move.
The network effect
Meet the people behind the titles.
The best startup relationships rarely begin with a polished pitch. They begin when people reveal what they are actually building, struggling with, curious about, and able to help with.
+
DiscoverFind unexpected overlap.
Structured prompts uncover shared markets, complementary skills, customer insight, and useful introductions faster than open mingling.
↔
ConnectLower the social friction.
Improv gives everyone a reason to participate. You do not need to be the loudest person in the room to meet someone valuable.
→
ContinueLeave with next steps.
The goal is not collecting contacts. It is leaving with conversations worth continuing, people worth helping, and ideas worth testing.
Built for active rooms
Less performance. More participation.
Startup Standups borrows the best behavior from improv: listen closely, accept what is actually happening, add something useful, and keep the scene moving. Those are also excellent habits for founders.
“AI can build your product. It still cannot build your customer relationships for you.”
Startup Standups principle
Who belongs in the room
Builders, backers, operators, and connectors.
Startup Standups works because the room is intentionally mixed. Every participant should be able to contribute something and discover something.
01
Founders
Pressure-test ideas, compare notes, find customers, discover collaborators, and talk with people who understand the work.
02
Builders
Engineers, designers, product leaders, creators, and emerging co-founders looking for useful problems and ambitious people.
03
Investors + Mentors
Meet founders before the pitch deck and understand how they think, communicate, listen, and respond in real time.
04
Community Leaders
Bring your ecosystem together around a repeatable, participatory format that creates stronger local startup density.
Bring Startup Standups to your city
Build a room people want to return to.
Host Startup Standups for your founder community, innovation hub, coworking space, university, conference, or company. The format is designed to be repeatable, sponsor-friendly, and locally led.
Explore hostingFAQ
Good questions.
Is Startup Standups a comedy event?
No. We use selected improv principles and exercises to make startup networking more participatory, spontaneous, and human. The goal is connection, not performing comedy.
Do I need improv experience?
Not at all. The exercises are designed for people with zero performance experience. You can participate without needing to be “funny,” extroverted, or theatrical.
Who should attend?
Founders, aspiring founders, product builders, operators, investors, mentors, creators, and active members of the startup ecosystem. Curiosity and willingness to participate matter more than title.
Will founders pitch?
Not in the traditional deck-on-stage sense. You will explain what you are building, but through fast conversations, real problems, prompts, and collaborative exercises.
Can organizations host or sponsor an event?
Yes. Startup Standups is designed for community partnerships, venues, sponsors, universities, conferences, accelerators, and innovation organizations. Use the hosting link above to start a conversation.
Join the next room
The next useful conversation could change what you build.
Get first access to upcoming Startup Standups, host opportunities, and new city launches.