◆ Follow-up game plan — for Mark
Biggest leverage: He's already enrolled (first payment in), so this isn't a close — it's about aligning the two tracks he's on with you. He proactively flagged that beyond the incubator, he's in early conversations with you about advisory/investment in his new venture, and his ideal scenario is the incubator integrated with that relationship. Get clarity on how those relate — don't let the ambiguity linger, because it's the thing he cares most about.
Opportunities to open:
- He's a strategic ally, not just a student: runs IncludedCPG (500+ founders, 6-yr nonprofit) and built Diageo's $200M venture fund from scratch. Treat him as a network/pipeline asset for Ground Force and future cohorts — that relationship compounds well beyond his $12k.
- His self-diagnosis is sharp — "how do I get out of my own way," wants to transfer ownership, not just delegate. He'll move fast on the material; give him the advanced version.
- The advisory/investment thread: get the Nicola meeting scheduled (early August) and come to your own internal meeting with a clear POV on how the incubator + advisory fit together.
Watch-outs:
- Revenue on Vim Fiber doesn't cleanly hit the cohort threshold, and he raised that himself for transparency. Make sure he feels 100% legitimate in the room — reassure that mindset and timing are what matter, and he brings more to the cohort than most.
- Dad duties from 4:30pm ET on weekdays — lock session timing (likely 1pm PT / 4pm ET) around that constraint so he's not forced to choose.
The ask: Align internally on incubator + advisory, move up the Mark meeting, and get him introduced to Nicola to schedule.
Jomaree: Background and Current Venture
- From Queens, NY; food and beverage as a “love language” and cultural refuge growing up
- Career arc: consultant (Marsh McLennan), cocktail company (“helicopter company”), nonprofit, VC
- Founded Included CPG (includedcpg.com), a 6-year-old nonprofit unlocking CPG access for underrepresented founders
- Ran Diageo’s newly formed $200M venture fund from scratch starting 2022
- Now launching a new life sciences venture focused on protein and fiber
- Brought in via Specialty Food Association board connections
- Putting the “operator hat back on” after a deliberate pause in 2025
- Core self-diagnosis: “How the hell do I get out of my own way?”
- Things make noise, things get known, but they don’t scale because he’s wearing too many hats
- This next exercise: laying the foundation right from the start
- “The delta between” a true exit at scale and something off-kilter is getting this right now
Fit for the CEO Incubator
- Jomaree connected with Mark organically at BevNet two weeks ago via a mutual friend
- Read Mark’s blog first, then met him: “You’re actually saying the same thing I just read”
- Didn’t know the cohort existed until after; felt immediately aligned
- Strong fit signal: accountability to actually implement and do it is exactly what he’s looking for
- “Let the world talk to me” resonates as a throughline in his journey
- Revenue doesn’t aggregate neatly to the threshold on this specific project, but mindset and timing are squarely there
- Separate thread: Jomaree also in early conversations with Mark about potential advisory or investment in his new venture
- No formal meeting booked yet; Mark directed him to Nicola to schedule for early August
- Jomaree flagged this proactively for transparency
Incubator Details Covered and Next Steps
- Structure: 90-day sprint (August through October), founding cohort, small and hand-selected
- Weekly group session: one concept, one tool, one action
- Direct one-on-one access to Mark via WhatsApp
- AI-powered online portal tracking 360 assessments and exercises throughout
- Investment: $12K for the full three-month container, or 3 x $4K monthly payments
- Full ROI money-back guarantee if Jomaree shows up 100% and doesn’t feel the return
- Session timing: TBD, but likely 1 PM Pacific / 4 PM Eastern; Jomaree has dad duties from 4:30 PM Eastern on weekdays
- Jomaree’s ideal scenario: incubator integrated with whatever advisory or investment relationship develops with Mark
Next Steps
- Brief Mark on Jomaree conversation and align on next steps (Joshua)
Meeting with Mark tomorrow; cover incubator fit, the advisory/investment thread, and how the two can work together.
- Intro Jomaree to Nicola and move up the Mark meeting (Joshua)
Target within the next week or two; Jomaree to hold off reaching out to Nicola directly until Joshua reconnects by Friday.
Where they feel stuck
I'm at an exciting inflection point in my career. Over the past fifteen years, I've built companies, led a VC impact fund, and helped create founder communities, but I've also become the person who naturally steps in to solve the hardest problems. I'm beginning to realize that while I'm capable of carrying that role, it's not where I create the most value or energy. As I prepare to launch Vim Fiber as CEO, I want to intentionally design a leadership operating system where my role is creating vision, culture, and momentum—not being the hero behind every important decision.
What they've tried
I've invested in executive coaching, leadership frameworks, strong advisors, and building talented teams. I've learned how to delegate work, but I don't think I've fully learned how to transfer ownership. Too often, I still become the connective tissue across strategy, fundraising, partnerships, and key decisions. More recently, I've started paying attention to an "energy audit"—asking not just what I'm good at, but what genuinely gives me energy versus what quietly drains it. That reflection has convinced me that the next phase of my growth isn't about working harder; it's about leading differently.
What would be different in 90 days
Ninety days from now, success would mean feeling like I'm building from a place of energy instead of obligation. I'd have greater clarity around the handful of things only I can uniquely contribute, while building a team and operating cadence that confidently owns everything else. As I launch Vim Fiber, I want to step into this next chapter as a CEO who creates leverage instead of dependency—someone who spends more time thinking, coaching, creating, and building culture than solving every problem myself. If I accomplish that, I believe both the business and my life will become more sustainable, more joyful, and ultimately more impactful.
Anything else
One reason your work resonates with me is that it feels like you've named something I've been experiencing but haven't fully articulated. My career has evolved from operator to founder, to investor, to community builder. Today, I'm launching another company while simultaneously building an investment platform and supporting a community of more than 500 founders through IncludedCPG. What I'm increasingly wrestling with isn't how to build a successful company—I've done that before. It's how to build organizations and institutions that become stronger because of my leadership, not more dependent on it. That feels like the leadership transition I'm in, and why this feels like the right moment to learn from someone who's intentionally thought about that evolution.
How they heard about it
Masterclass