Staying the Course: A Workshop for Founders Facing Changes Driven By Success
Kathi Laughman
Possibilitarian, Strategist, Author
Why Successful Founders Need This Workshop Now
Every successful business eventually faces its greatest risk. It's not failure. It's drift — and it comes from success itself.
Sometimes it's success drift: the gap between why you built this business and what it's actually doing now. Sometimes it's growing pains: you succeeded faster than you prepared for, and resources of every kind are stretched thin. And sometimes it's a shift you never saw coming, because you were too focused on what already worked to look up.
None of this means you did something wrong. It means success created blind spots that failure never would have.
This workshop goes beyond noticing the problem. You'll learn to read the three signals — what you measure, how you communicate, and how you decide — that tell you whether your business is still doing what it was built to do. You'll work through real patterns other founders have faced, and leave with specific actions, not just awareness.
Because all business is personal. Staying relevant to your business — and keeping it relevant to the people who depend on it — is the ongoing work of being a founder. This is where you start.
What you’ll learn
You’ll walk away with a way to see your business clearly again — and the tools and plans for your own growth to keep it that way.
Answer the real question: what is your business here to do, right now?
See why this holds true whether your purpose was ever defined — or still needs to be.
This foundation is what everything else in this workshop is built on.
Success drift: the gap between why you built this and what it's actually doing now.
Growing pains: succeeding faster than you prepared for, straining resources of every kind.
No future-proofing: missing the shift you didn’t see coming because you were focused on what already worked.
See past the five myths about success drift — and why it starts with the founder.
Question what you’ve assumed about yourself, your business, and your market — and what’s changed.
Learn what’s actually worth measuring — and stop mistaking activity or revenue for real health.
See how communication breakdowns — with your team, your customers, yourself — create drift you can’t see.
Use a framework (IDEAL) to test decisions, and spot what you haven’t future-proofed for — or against — building on what you already know.
Because all business is personal — your relevance to your business is part of the job now.
Learn how to keep your business relevant to the people who depend on it — customers, team, stakeholders.
Discover what steering actually requires once doing it all yourself no longer works.
Do it on your own — walk away with what you need to watch for, going forward.
Bring it to a peer group — test what you're seeing against other founders you already trust.
Or make it a practice — The Founder's Compass gives you a quarterly rhythm to stay on course, together.
Workshop agenda
Why Your Business's Success Starts With Why You Built It
Get clear on the real reason you created this business and the role its true purpose plays as the foundation for its future and success.
The Impact and Cost of Losing Sight of That Purpose
See real patterns of what happens when a business drifts from its founding purpose — and what it can ultimately cost.
The Three Pitfalls Hiding Inside Every Success Story
A first look at three ways success and growth create risk: success drift, growing pains, and ineffective future-proofing.
Pitfall #1: Success Drift- How It Happens and How to Manage It
Understand how a gap can grow between why you built this business and what it is actually doing now; that only happens with success.
Pitfall #2: Growing Pains - The Real Cause and the Real Cost
Learn why succeeding faster than you prepared for strains resources of every kind, what it can actually cost you, and simple measures you can put in place to avoid it.
Pitfall #3: Future-Proofing - How to Do It With Confidence
Discover how to reliably watch for the shifts you can miss that can hold risk, reward, or both.
AI as a Thinking and Research Partner
AI holds great potential and can expose significant risk. See how to use AI to test assumptions and scan for shifts — a tool that supports the framework, not a replacement for it.
The Three-Part Framework That Protects Your Purpose
Meet the three instruments — Measure, Communicate, Decide — that counter every pitfall, protect your culture, and support your continued success.
You Cannot Outgrow Your Own Growth
The business cannot grow beyond where you grow. Learn what continuing to develop as a leader actually requires now.
Turning New Awareness Into Your Next Move
Leave with a clear path forward — on your own, with peers, or in an ongoing practice — to put this to work.
Learn directly from Kathi
Kathi Laughman
I teach founders how to manage growth before it costs them what they built.
Who this workshop is for
You're a founder or owner who's achieved real success — and you're now facing challenges you didn't expect.
You’ve realized what you built isn’t quite what you set out to create — and you want to close that gap.
You care deeply about the future of your business and your life, and want both to keep growing well, together.
What's included
Live sessions
Learn directly from Kathi Laughman in a real-time, interactive format.
Lifetime access
Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.
Community of peers
Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
Maven Guarantee
Your purchase is backed by the Maven Guarantee.
Frequently asked questions
Maven for Teams
Reimbursement
Get your company to pay
Everything L&D needs: email template, receipts, and certificate of completion.
Get reimbursedTeam discount
Learn with your teammates
Save 20%+ when 2 or more teammates enroll in the same cohort.
Save 20%+ with a teamPrivate cohort
Run a cohort for your org
A dedicated cohort with a custom schedule and curriculum, tailored to your team.
Book a private cohort$200
USD
12–2pm EDT