Roundup of events for bootstrappers in January 2026. Online and in-person events are offered at $10.
Roundup of January 2026 Bootstrapper Events
We offer online events for bootstrappers including Bootstrappers Breakfast and Lean Culture. There are also in-person Bootstrapper Breakfast meetings in Las Vegas, San Francisco and Silicon Valley. These events are for “entrepreneurs who eat problems for breakfast.”®
We have ten events this month to help you move your business forward. Join us as your interests dictate and schedule permits.
Are you an entrepreneur who’d like to share lessons learned? If you’ve a reached a milestone in your entrepreneurial journey and would like to share lessons learned, please contact Theresa Shafer (tshafer@skmurphy.com) to explore scheduling a short briefing at a Bootstrapper Breakfast or a talk at a Lean Culture event. You must have attended a Bootstrapper Breakfast or Lean Culture event to be considered.
Fri Jan 2 9:00 am PST Silicon Valley Bootstrappers Breakfast (In Person) Redwood City
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bootstrappers-breakfast-in-redwood-city-for-silicon-valley-founders-tickets-1963668317799
Tues Jan 6 8:00 am PST Mastermind Open House https://www.meetup.com/skmurphymastermind/events/312281039/
Who sees your blind spots first? Clients, customers or trusted peers? Learn how a group of trusted peers can give you an extra competitive advantage in your business. This is an open house meeting to get your questions answered about what’s involved in an SKMurphy Mastermind and meet others who are considering joining.
Tues Jan 6 12:00 pm PST Drop-In Mastermind for Non-Fiction Writing
https://www.meetup.com/skmurphymastermind/events/312554077/
Writing a business book or a blog? Join our non-fiction writers group of similarly minded small business folks where we can keep each other motivated and accountable. Each attendee will have a chance to share a short piece (500-1,000 words) by reading it aloud or providing access to a google doc or emailing other attendees to get feedback. We do this every mastermind session.
Tues Jan 6 8:30 am PST Bootstrappers Breakfast Las Vegas CES 2026 Meetup
https://www.meetup.com/bootstrappers-breakfast-las-vegas-startups/events/312514523/
Fri Jan 9 9:00 am PST San Francisco Bootstrappers Breakfast Startups at CityGroup Center (In Person)
https://www.meetup.com/bootstrappers-breakfast-san-francisco/events/312550499/
Tues Jan 13 9 am PST Vegas Bootstrappers Breakfast Roundtable (In Person) The Coffee Press
https://www.meetup.com/bootstrappers-breakfast-las-vegas-startups/events/312514425/
Thurs Jan 15 8:30 am CST Chicago Bootstrappers Breakfast (Online)
https://www.meetup.com/bootstrappers-breakfast-chicago/events/cpkzjtyjccbtb/
Fri Jan 16 9:00 am PST Mtn View Bootstrappers Breakfast at Red Rock Coffee (In Person)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mountain-view-bootstrappers-breakfast-tickets-1200388768119
Tues Jan 20 9:00 am PST Silicon Valley Bootstrappers Breakfast (Online)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-valley-bootstrappers-breakfast-online-tickets-1200389981749
Fri Jan 30 30 9:00 am PST Silicon Valley Bootstrappers Breakfast (Online)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-valley-bootstrappers-breakfast-online-tickets-1200389981749
Some key take-aways from Bootstrappers Breakfast conversations in December
- It’s hard to predict the uses a new invention will be put to. They tend to go through three phases: cost reduction, increased use, novel structures that make intensive use of a new invention or technology. See https://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2019/08/07/scott-berkun-how-to-translate-observations-and-creative-insight-into-a-solution/ Evolutionary products require a sequence of small experiments, of trial and error, to gradually refine an initial product into a truly useful one.
- Managing LLM tools: The hallucination / error rate seems like it will take a long time to eliminate or even substantially reduce below where it is. In fact hallucinations are intrinsic to the algorithm. The discussion touched on several ways to make forward progress in spite of hallucination
- Keep a human in the loop, verify any outputs before sharing
- Explore deterministic methods to complement the stochastic methods that LLMs use.
- Make a distinction between expensive or cheap to generate or verify; if a solution is hard to verify it’s riskier to rely on LLM-generated solutions. If a solution that was expensive to generate becomes cheaper with LLMs and is cheap to verify, then LLMs can offer a productivity bonus that can be leveraged at low cost.
- Ideation and brainstorming methods normally tolerate a high failure rate on ideas and potential solutions. Adding LLMs to the mix may give you a broader range of ideas or suggestions to consider without putting final quality at material risk.
- Compare human-developed checklists, outlines, or plans with LLM-generated versions to add ideas or approaches that were overlooked by humans without risking final quality. If you let the LLM go first, this can channel your efforts too narrowly. Asking for critique, e.g. what’s missing, what improvements can you suggest is another viable strategy for improving quality of result with low risk of error or poor outcomes.
Lightning Round Question for January 2026
What steps have you taken to fully understand the competitive landscape?
Trademarks: “Bootstrapper Breakfast” and “Entrepreneurs Who Eat Problems For Breakfast” are registered trademarks of SKMurphy, Inc.
Image Credits: “Minneapolis City Urban” on Pixabay by StockSnap used with permission.