Tier 08 · The Forum

A peer group for firm AI operators.

A monthly, invitation-only Forum for partners and operations leads who are actually running AI inside their firm. Closed-door discussion. Real numbers. Real problems. No vendors in the room.

Apply to the Forum See the monthly rhythm
Monthly
Full-day meetings
12 Seats
Per cohort, max
Level 7
Operating rhythm
$8,999/yr
Annual membership
Tier 08 · The Forum · Annual
$8,999
per year · invitation-only · 12 meetings
12 / yr
Full-day sessions
Peer Review
Your scoreboard, every month
Hot Seat
1 partner per session
12 Members
Per cohort, max
Closed
No vendors, no observers
Retreat
1 in-person per year
Apply — $8,999/yr
🔒
Prerequisite: Performance Bootcamp (Level 6)

The Forum is for firms already running the OS and moving their scoreboards. If you haven't completed Performance Bootcamp, start there. Exceptions are rare and require a scoped intake call.

Why a Forum, not a community.

Slack groups and newsletters are everywhere. The gap is in-person, same-size, same-stage firm owners sharing real numbers and hard problems — under a signed confidentiality frame. Vistage for accounting, wired for AI operators.

01 · Peer Review

Your scoreboard, seen by 11 peers.

Every member brings the same 9-metric scoreboard from Performance Bootcamp. The group reviews deltas, flags where you're lying to yourself, and compares playbooks against firms one stage ahead and one stage behind.

02 · Hot Seat

One partner, one real problem.

Each meeting has one partner in the hot seat for 90 minutes on their hardest open problem — a stalled CAS pipeline, a partner buyout, a compliance risk, a busy-season fire. The group gets paid (in dues and in reciprocity) to help.

03 · Playbook Exchange

What's actually working this quarter.

Every quarter, each firm ships one playbook — a CAS package, a review-gate design, a client-ask agent, a partner dashboard. Shared under the Forum license. Everyone ships more than they could alone.

The monthly rhythm.

One full day, once a month, on a predictable Thursday. Online for ten months. In person for two (one summer, one winter). Same agenda. Same seats. No surprises.

Block 019:00a

Scoreboard check-in

Each member walks the room through their 9-metric scoreboard — deltas only, no narrative. The group flags outliers and surprises. 5 minutes per firm, round-robin.

Block 0210:30a

Hot seat

One partner, 90 minutes, one hard problem. Prepared one-pager distributed the week before. Facilitated by the Forum chair — not a free-for-all.

Block 0312:30p

Lunch + informal

Lunch is open table — clustered by whatever emerged in the morning. Busy-season concerns usually cluster one table, CAS growth another, staffing a third.

Block 041:30p

Playbook workshop

One firm ships the quarter's playbook — walkthrough, demo, Q&A. Every other member takes it home under the Forum license and commits to one implementation step by next meeting.

Block 053:30p

Commitment round

Each member states one thing they'll have done by next meeting. Written into the Forum log. Accountability the next month starts with reviewing whether that commitment landed.

Block 064:30p

Close

One-minute close from each member — what they're taking home. Door closes at 5:00p. No after-meeting Slack except for playbook drops.

Who's in the room.

Composite sketches of typical members. Not real firms — representative of the shape the Forum seats.

Member 01

Managing partner, 14-person firm

Multi-service (bookkeeping, tax, light audit, growing CAS). Finished Performance with CAS MRR at $85K, realization at 89%. In the Forum to lock in operating rhythm before scaling to 25 people.

Focus: Scaling without diluting OS discipline.
Member 02

Ops lead, 28-person regional

Runs the AI OS while the founding partner stays client-facing. In the Forum because the partner won't go — and needs peers at the operational level to compare routing rules, review-gate designs, and staff adoption.

Focus: Staff adoption and retention.
Member 03

Sole partner, 6-person boutique

CAS-led, tax overflow, no audit. In the Forum because the biggest risk is isolation — small firms get lapped by peer firms faster than they realize. Wants honest review of pricing and packaging.

Focus: Pricing discipline, CAS tiering.

Who it's for — and who it isn't.

The Forum only works if every seat is a peer on the same stage. These filters are strict on purpose.

A good fit if

You're running the OS yourself.

  • You completed Performance Bootcamp or equivalent.
  • You're a partner or operations lead — decisions stop with you.
  • You'll share real scoreboard numbers under confidentiality.
  • You can commit one playbook contribution per year.
  • You can hold a full-day, once-a-month meeting as non-negotiable.
Not a fit if

You want a newsletter.

  • You haven't installed the OS — it's too early.
  • You're a vendor, consultant, or outside investor looking in.
  • You won't share your own numbers.
  • You want content, not peer accountability.
  • You can't commit to 12 full-day meetings per year.

The confidentiality frame.

What's said in the Forum stays in the Forum. Three rules, signed by every member, enforced by removal on first breach.

Rule 01 — No vendors, no observers.

Only partners and ops leads actively running AI inside their firm. No software vendors, no consultants selling into the room, no investors observing. Members only.

Rule 02 — Numbers stay in the room.

Scoreboard figures, hot-seat details, compensation, client names — none of it leaves the session. External discussion uses anonymized deltas only. First breach is the last meeting.

Rule 03 — Playbooks are shared under license.

Every quarterly playbook is shared under the Forum license — usable inside your firm, not resellable outside it. Members cite each other by firm only with prior written consent.

Rule 04 — Peer, not competitive.

Seats are curated across markets so no two members compete directly. If a direct overlap emerges mid-year, both members get a choice on who stays — no passive conflict.

Apply to the Forum.

12 seats per cohort, max. Applications reviewed by the Forum chair. Next cohort opens quarterly.

Secure checkout. Seat confirmed after Forum-chair review — full refund if not seated.
🔑

Next rung: the License.

The Forum keeps your firm at Level 7. The License — full-stack, train-the-trainer rights — lets you deploy across a multi-office firm or license externally. From $33,000. The top rung of the ladder.

See the License →

FAQ

Is this like Vistage or EO?
The structural DNA is similar — peer group, confidentiality, monthly rhythm, hot seat. The difference is the cohort is every member runs AI inside an accounting firm at Level 6+, and the shared scoreboard is the same 9 metrics. Shared language, same stage.
Can two partners from the same firm join?
One seat per firm. If you want two partners in the room, the second seat is discounted 50% but held to the same confidentiality and participation bar.
What happens if I miss a meeting?
Two misses per year allowed. Three misses triggers a conversation with the chair about whether the seat is still the right fit — someone else would use it more.
Is there a waitlist?
Yes. Seats turn over about every 18 months on average. Qualified applicants typically wait one to three months from application to offer.
How are conflicts of interest handled?
Curated at intake. Two firms that directly compete in the same market don't get seated together. If a firm changes markets mid-year and creates an overlap, the chair resolves it one-on-one with both members.
Who chairs the Forum?
The chair rotates annually from Forum alumni who have licensed the program. Consistent structure across cohorts; different voices over time.
Is the $8,999 tax-deductible?
For most member firms, yes — as professional development or owner training. Confirm with your own preparer.

You can't learn this from a newsletter.

Twelve firms. Twelve meetings. Same scoreboard. Closed door. The Forum is where firm AI operators stop being lonely at Level 6. Application-only. $8,999/year.

Apply to the Forum