TRUFFLE   /   STRATEGY WORKSHOP
DRAFT · NOT SENT

Darren · Seth · Graham

First align the partnership.
Then design the business.

A working agenda for three partnership sessions, followed by a separate business-design act. Built on the January workshop—not a restart.

Act I: 3 days × 4 hoursCalifornia: 06:00–10:00 PSTSouth Africa: 16:00–20:00 SASTDates: to be confirmed

Seth and Graham together in Cape Town; Darren joins remotely from California. Each slot shows California and South Africa time. California returns to standard time on Sunday, 1 November 2026: 06:00–10:00 PST (UTC−8) = 16:00–20:00 SAST (UTC+2). This schedule assumes dates on or after that change, while California is on standard time. Recheck the conversion when dates are locked; South Africa does not change its clocks.

Real rest, every day: 15 minutes fully off-screen plus a protected 18:00–18:45 Cape Town dinner / 08:00–08:45 California breakfast. No working meals or required discussion. Cape Town host: arrange or pre-order dinner before the session, ready at 18:00; the meal window includes serving and eating. Each four-hour window contains three hours of workshop work and one hour of rest.

Where January’s Notion work enters

The January workshop is historical input to validate together—not a current agreement or a verdict on any participant.

Day 2 · LeadershipApply behavior → impact → request to all three partners, equally.
Day 3 · Reality checkMark January positions as still true, changed, unclear or disputed.
Act II · Open loopsResolve sales ownership, roles, capacity, pricing and financial mechanics.
Act I / Day 0106:00–10:00 PST / 16:00–20:00 SAST · 4 hours · 15-minute break + 45-minute meal

Reconnection

Understand what changed—and what each person wants from the next chapter.

06:00–06:15California · PST16:00–16:15South Africa · SAST15 minutes

Opening agreement

Agree purpose, confidentiality, whether to record, and the rules for decisions and notes. Name the timekeeper and decision-log owner.

06:15–07:45California · PST16:15–17:45South Africa · SAST90 minutes · 30 each

Eighteen-month retrospectives

Each person looks backward: what changed, what matters more now, and what matters less. The others listen and clarify.

Allow 20 minutes for each story and 10 for listening and clarification. Keep the retrospective distinct from the future vision.

07:45–08:00California · PST17:45–18:00South Africa · SAST15 minutes

Off-screen break

Step away from the screen: stretch, water and personal time. No tasks, calls or workshop discussion.

08:00–08:45California · PST18:00–18:45South Africa · SAST45 minutes

Dinner / breakfast break

Protected dinner for Seth and Graham in Cape Town; breakfast for Darren in California. Leave the call. No working meal or required discussion; return at 18:45 SAST / 08:45 PST.

08:45–09:15California · PST18:45–19:15South Africa · SAST30 minutes · 10 each

Twelve-month future stories

Describe the life each person wants: family, health, work, money, place, learning and contribution. Make ambitions, constraints and non-negotiables explicit. Each person has 7 minutes to share the prepared vision and 3 for clarification.

09:15–09:40California · PST19:15–19:40South Africa · SAST25 minutes

Shared resonance and differences

Compare the three pictures. Identify reinforcing goals, tensions and incompatible expectations. Name the gaps without forcing agreement.

09:40–10:00California · PST19:40–20:00South Africa · SAST20 minutes

Reflection and close

Capture energy, caution, trust and desire to continue. Record decisions and carry forward unresolved questions.

Act I / Day 0206:00–10:00 PST / 16:00–20:00 SAST · 4 hours · 15-minute break + 45-minute meal

Partnership Mirror

Turn honest feedback into observable commitments and realistic capacity.

Neutral facilitator preferred. Otherwise use the scripted, equal-time peer-led format. Nobody facilitates or adjudicates feedback about themselves.

06:00–06:15California · PST16:00–16:15South Africa · SAST15 minutes

Reset and feedback agreement

Confirm equal time, no interruptions and the feedback format: observable behavior → impact → one request. Separate memory, interpretation and verified fact.

06:15–07:15California · PST16:15–17:15South Africa · SAST60 minutes · first two recipients

Structured partner feedback · Round 1

Explore strengths, leadership impact, friction and specific requests. Test where each person’s leadership helped, where it created drag, and what is needed now.

Give the first two recipients 30 minutes each: 15 for feedback (7½ per other partner), 10 for clarification and 5 to reflect. January’s historical perceptions are prompts, not findings.

07:15–07:30California · PST17:15–17:30South Africa · SAST15 minutes

Off-screen break

Step away from the screen: stretch, water and personal time. No tasks, calls or workshop discussion.

07:30–08:00California · PST17:30–18:00South Africa · SAST30 minutes · third recipient

Structured partner feedback · Round 2

Give the third recipient the same 30-minute format, so each person receives equal time across both rounds. Clarify what was heard; each recipient identifies what they own, will test, or carry as unresolved.

08:00–08:45California · PST18:00–18:45South Africa · SAST45 minutes

Dinner / breakfast break

Protected dinner for Seth and Graham in Cape Town; breakfast for Darren in California. Leave the call. No working meal or required discussion; return at 18:45 SAST / 08:45 PST.

08:45–09:20California · PST18:45–19:20South Africa · SAST35 minutes

Capacity and trust conditions

Make outside commitments, realistic weekly hours, availability and communication patterns explicit. Agree what each person needs to rely on the others.

09:20–10:00California · PST19:20–20:00South Africa · SAST40 minutes

Thirty-day partner compact

Choose observable behavior experiments. Specify commitments, what improvement looks like, and review dates.

Act I / Day 0306:00–10:00 PST / 16:00–20:00 SAST · 4 hours · 15-minute break + 45-minute meal

Ownership & direction

Own the feedback, test the business beliefs, then decide whether and how to proceed.

06:00–06:30California · PST16:00–16:30South Africa · SAST30 minutes · 10 each

Ownership reports & January reality check

Each person states what they heard, what they accept, what they will change, and how it will be measured.

Classify January’s working positions: still true, changed, unclear or disagree. Distinguish historical ideas from decisions never actually made.

06:30–07:15California · PST16:30–17:15South Africa · SAST45 minutes · 15 each

Hard-thesis presentations

Present the strongest beliefs about AI, talent, professional services, customer value and the future of work. Make the underlying assumptions visible. Use prepared cards: each person has 10 minutes to present and 5 for clarification.

07:15–07:30California · PST17:15–17:30South Africa · SAST15 minutes

Off-screen break

Step away from the screen: stretch, water and personal time. No tasks, calls or workshop discussion.

07:30–08:00California · PST17:30–18:00South Africa · SAST30 minutes

Stress-test the theses

Examine evidence, counter-evidence and testable assumptions. Prioritize three consequential theses, allowing 10 minutes each. Ask what would change each person’s mind; park the rest with an evidence owner and deadline.

08:00–08:45California · PST18:00–18:45South Africa · SAST45 minutes

Dinner / breakfast break

Protected dinner for Seth and Graham in Cape Town; breakfast for Darren in California. Leave the call. No working meal or required discussion; return at 18:45 SAST / 08:45 PST.

08:45–09:25California · PST18:45–19:25South Africa · SAST40 minutes

Design bounded experiments

Define the tests, named owners, evidence requirements and deadlines. Convert important uncertainties into a manageable experiment slate.

09:25–10:00California · PST19:25–20:00South Africa · SAST35 minutes

Continuation gate

Decide explicitly: proceed to Act II, pause for partnership repair, or narrow the scope. Agree the Act II brief, including founder-led sales and safeguards against repeating prior failure patterns.

Leave with

Ownership commitments · January position register · Agreed hard theses · Experiment slate · Continuation decision · Act II brief

Open Day 3 output worksheets →

Act II / Duration & dates to be agreed

Business design → ninety-day execution

A short intermission follows Act I. Act II proceeds only through the continuation gate. Travel planning must account for the whole program, not just the first three sessions.

01 · Business model & offers

Decide what Truffle is becoming. Test the shared specialist-capacity platform across Audit and Data Center / Built Environment offers; do not assume it.

02 · Sales & pricing ownership

Choose markets, founder selling capacity, US presence, pipeline support, pricing authority and evidence-based handoff criteria.

03 · Economics & cash

Resolve funding, cash requirements, partner income needs, reserves and financial mechanics.

04 · Leadership & operations

Agree roles, realistic capacity and decision rights. Name a real finance/operations owner and measurable operating safeguards.

05 · Customer-valued technology

Scope technology around measurable customer value. Decide what to build, test or park; avoid overhead ahead of proven demand.

06 · Ninety-day commitments

Set no more than five measurable outcomes, with named owners, milestones and a weekly review rhythm.

Decision boundary: matters requiring Ilan or advisers remain proposals pending their input. Act II’s detailed time slots are not yet agreed.

Before the room

Preparation for all three participants

At least 5 days beforeSend the detailed participant pre-work pack.
48 hours before Day 1Completed participant submissions are due.

Ready-to-use worksheets: complete the prework using guided prompts and fictional worked examples, then use the session templates to capture the actual deliverables.

Open the workshop workbook →Start the 18-month retrospectiveSession deliverable templates
  1. Retrospective timelineEighteen months, backward-looking—not a vision.
  2. Twelve-month future storyFirst person; life and work, not only targets.
  3. Confidential partner feedbackBehavior → impact → request for each partner.
  4. Capacity & role statementCurrent role, outside commitments, weekly capacity and desired role.
  5. Three hard-thesis cardsCore beliefs and assumptions for the business.
  6. Outcomes & biggest fearThree must-have outcomes; biggest fear if the workshop fails.
  7. January / Makosi reality checkWhat still holds, what to preserve, what must not recur, and leadership feedback applied equally.

Handling: recording requires everyone’s consent. Private feedback is not automatically shared business material. Do not distribute the raw January transcript by default.

Still to lock

Review decisions & logistics

Ask Seth and Graham what to add, change or remove, what the workshop must deliver, and which dates and travel windows work.

  • Three Act I dates
  • Act II duration & dates
  • Travel constraints
  • Private Cape Town room
  • Dinner ready at 18:00 each day · host, location & dietary needs
  • Reliable audio / video
  • Feedback facilitator
  • Timekeeper & notes owner
  • Pre-work submission location
  • Recording consent