Why My Mastermind Didn’t Work and What I Learned

When I shut down my mastermind recently, it stung.

Nobody wants to admit something they launched didn’t work. But I’ve learned that failure isn’t the opposite of success. It’s part of the path to it.

The truth is, the mastermind didn’t materialize into what I hoped it would. The members wanted community, collaboration, and connections. What they got was me running something from behind a screen, disconnected from the very ecosystem I was trying to lead. That was on me. I’d been so focused on my own agencies for 15 years that I never really planted myself in the broader agency-owner community. I thought I could just roll in and people would follow. That was hubris. Lesson learned: you can’t lead if you haven’t first participated.

Another mistake … I didn’t show up in person. I tell agency owners all the time to get out from behind their computers, go to events, and shake hands. But I’d never been to an agency conference myself. I tried to build community without ever showing up where the community actually gathers. The lesson is clear: hand-to-hand combat beats spray and pray every time.

And then there’s the pricing mistake. I gave the first cohort six months free and asked them to contribute in return with participation, referrals, and testimonials. Most did none of that. When people don’t pay, they don’t value it. They weren’t invested, and I set the wrong tone from the start. Lesson learned: never build something on the back of free.

Closing the mastermind wasn’t a failure. It was tuition. And the ROI on tuition is the wisdom I’m bringing forward into my next plays. But it’s still a blow to the ego.

I share this because if you’re running an agency, you’re going to try things that won’t work. That’s part of the process. The difference between the owners who scale and those who burn out is how quickly they take the lesson, apply it, and move on.

I’m keeping this newsletter, The Business of Agency Newsletter, and one-on-one coaching. If you’re not already subscribed to this newsletter, sign up at businessofagency.com to learn more.

I hope that helps.

~ Erik