Roundup of events for bootstrappers in August 2026. Online and in-person events are offered at $10.
Roundup of August 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 nine events this month to help you move your business forward. Join us as your interests dictate and schedule permits. You can sign up here to get the monthly roundup of events for Bootstrappers
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.
Weds Aug 5 8:00 am PDT Mastermind Open House https://www.meetup.com/skmurphymastermind/events/315708976/
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. See also “Masterminds Help Founders with Empathy, Feedback, and Follow-Through”
Thurs Aug 6 8:30 am CDT Chicago Bootstrappers Breakfast (Online)
https://www.meetup.com/bootstrappers-breakfast-chicago/events/315209728
Fri Aug 7 9:00 am PDT 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 Aug 11 9:00 am PDT Vegas Bootstrappers Breakfast Roundtable (In Person) The Coffee Press
https://www.meetup.com/bootstrappers-breakfast-las-vegas-startups/events/315879474/
Weds Aug 12 11:00 am PDT / 1:00 pm CDT / 2:00 EDT Lean Culture: Fireside Chat with Founder Alisha Overton
https://www.meetup.com/lean-culture/events/313845182
Join us for an inspiring fireside chat with Alisha Overton, founder of theaoplanner.com, as she shares the story behind building a platform designed to bring clarity, structure, and strategic focus to ambitious professionals and entrepreneurs.
Alisha will discuss what inspired her to launch The AO Planner, the challenges she faced in the early stages, and the lessons she’s learned about productivity, intentional growth, and designing systems that actually work in real life.
Come ready to learn, reflect, and walk away with actionable ideas you can apply immediately.
Fri Aug 14 9:00 am PDT San Francisco Bootstrappers Breakfast Startups at CityGroup Center (In Person)
https://www.meetup.com/bootstrappers-breakfast-san-francisco/events/314382547
Tues Aug 18 8:00 am PDT Silicon Valley Bootstrappers Breakfast (Online)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-valley-bootstrappers-breakfast-online-tickets-488376135167
Fri Aug 21 9:00 am PDT Mtn View Bootstrappers Breakfast at Red Rock Coffee (In Person)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mountain-view-bootstrappers-breakfast-tickets-262928394907
Fri Aug 28 9:00 am PDT Silicon Valley Bootstrappers Breakfast (Online)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-valley-bootstrappers-breakfast-online-tickets-48837613516
Some key take-aways from Bootstrappers Breakfast conversations in July
- One thing that helps when you are recruiting people outside of your area of expertise (e.g. engineers looking for marketing or sales help; business people looking for engineers) is to write a position description and some short term projects (either an hour or two or a half-day to a day) that you can use as “get acquainted” work that you pay for. Leverage your network for people with expertise to help you review and improve these as well as to source trusted candidates. Hourly rate often matters less than work done to your satisfaction. Many frugal bootstrappers have been surprised to discover that someone charging $60-180/hr is actually cheaper in terms of total cost for a task or small project than someone in a distant time zone who charges $10-$30.
- Defining your “North Star” and planning for scale is important but near-term basecamps that allow you to make incremental progress and demonstrate traction to potential team members (including spouses and significant others) are as important: first paying customer, first five paying customers, 10, 20, … There is a lot of grind in the beginning as you learn what works.
- We did an abbreviated version of the “Three Question Test” that helps you clarify who your target customer is, for more details see “Don’t Assume Everyone is a Potential Customer” Chalk Talk and “The Three Question Test at the Bootstrappers Breakfast.”
- In particular try to identify prospects who are in a lot of pain or have a strong need, and prioritize those able to make a decision quickly and actually make use of your product or service over larger deals until you have at least a handful of paying customers.
- Kristin Zhivago advises, “Your brand is the promise you keep.” (don’t focus as much on a nice logo or tag line as a promise you can make in a proposal or offer that you are certain you can deliver). Pull the risk to your side of the table where possible and only charge for objective results achieved, at least for your first 5-10 customers.
- Your paying customers are an excellent source of ideas for what features to implement next. Most have paid for your offering even though it’s incomplete and can tell you where to extend next. See 40 Tips for B2B Customer Interviews for how to ask questions that unlock their needs, constraints, and operating reality.
Lightning Round Question for August 2026
Who do you want to meet?
Trademarks: “Bootstrapper Breakfast” and “Entrepreneurs Who Eat Problems For Breakfast” are registered trademarks of SKMurphy, Inc.
Image Credits: “Hands, business people, teams” on Pixabay by geralt used with permission.
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