Real-Life Strategy is private, in-the-room work for people who have a big move in front of them and would rather make it in the world than describe it on a feed: the funding round, the new market, the move you keep meaning to make and somehow never quite do. Austen Smart brings the strategy, the people and the rooms that turn a good idea into something that actually happens, and he does it the unfashionable way, in person, with the right person across the table over some shared food.
The Session – £750
What you get : Two hours, the two of us, and the one move you have been turning over for longer than you would care to admit. You bring the situation as it really is rather than as it looks on a slide, and we work out what to do about it: who to call, what to say to them, when to move and when to sit on your hands and wait. You leave with a plan you could begin that same afternoon, before the doubt has a chance to creep back in, and with the quieter thing underneath it, which is the sense that you mostly knew already and only needed someone to say it back to you plainly. No course to half-finish, no homework, no funnel diagrams. One honest conversation, and a move you can actually make.
Who it's for: Founders, leaders and career-switchers standing at a real decision point.
The Sprint – £2,995
What you get : Six weeks, six private sessions, and at the end of it a move that has actually been made rather than a plan that has quietly gone cold. We begin with the real strategy, the one that lives in rooms and timing and relationships rather than in your drafts folder, and then we work it week by week until the thing is done or well under way. This is the tier for the round you are about to run, the market you are about to walk into, the business you have decided to reshape. Between the sessions you have a plan and a person to answer to, which turns out to matter rather more than either on its own. I bring everything to it: nine years building music education alongside the likes of Spotify, the better part of £6M raised from people who had to be convinced, and whatever it is that a hundred kilometres on the trails teaches a person about pacing, patience and not stopping.
Who it's for: Founders raising in the next 6 to 12 months, leaders at an inflection point, operators who are finally ready to press play.
The Partnership – £6,000
What you get : Some moves are too big for advice alone and want hands as well as a head. The Partnership is three months in which I work alongside you on the thing that matters and, more to the point, bring the people who can actually move it: the operator who has solved your exact problem before, the producer, the investor, the head of partnerships who takes my call. It is the model I run for brands, pointed instead at you. We meet regularly, I am reachable in between, and across the quarter we keep putting the right people in the right rooms until something shifts. Membership of The Tribe comes with it, so when the three months are up you do not drop off a cliff but stay in the room. This is real-life strategy with its sleeves rolled up.
Who it's for: Founders and business owners with a move worth bringing a whole network to bear on, who would rather build it with me than be coached from the touchline.
Life happens. Here's how much you'll get back if you can't make it — sliding scale, no haggling, no surprises.
Full refund any time before your first session. Once the programme has started, fees are non-refundable.
Once the event has kicked off, refunds aren't available — but your ticket's still yours, swing by anyway.
Got another question? Say hi — we read every email.
Online event. Your unique joining link is in the confirmation email and lives on your My tickets page so you can find it on the day.
We can run Real-Life Strategy as a private session — for your team, your members, your community, your wedding, your launch party, your anything. Or work with Austen Smart to shape something bespoke — same energy, your brief. Tell us roughly when, where, and how many, and we'll come back with a quote.
✦ Minimum group size: 1 person.
Drop the rough date, party size, and where. Two minutes, no commitment.
Usually same-day. Includes price, what's included, and what we need from you.
Pay the deposit, lock the date. The rest follows.
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