Reignite Startup Hunger, Focus and Speed with Momentum Meetings (3 mins)

Is your team slowing down? A common theme in my CEO and Executive Team coaching practice is that as companies grow, that startup hunger — when everything moved fast and everyone was energized — often fades. Decisions take longer, focus drifts, and things feel sluggish. Many leaders blame the individuals on the team: “If only they cared as much about speed as I do!”.

However, like many team challenges, it’s usually not a lack of individual motivation that’s the problem, but a structural lack of alignment and focus, combined with insufficiently rapid cycles. A small shift in your meetings can bring that drive back.

The Solution: Momentum Meetings

Originally laid out in Bain & Company’s The Founder’s Mentality, “Momentum Meetings” form a Monday–Tuesday rhythm. This meeting cadence sharpens focus, accelerates decisions, and keeps execution moving.

Momentum Meetings help your team:

• Stay grounded in your company’s purpose

• Sharpen and scale your competitive advantage

• Rapidly unblock issues before they slow momentum

• Bust silos and figure out what you can do together that you can’t do apart

Here’s how to get started:

Step 1: Monday Momentum Meeting to Refocus and Unblock

Start your week by rallying the team around what matters.

1. State the Core Purpose

Keeps everyone grounded in the “why.” This is especially important for focusing everyone around the table.
Example: “Make healthcare simpler for everyone.”

2. Zero in on Your Competitive Advantage

Identify what makes you uniquely successful in delivering that purpose. Ask how you can make it an unassailable moat.
Example: “Fast onboarding and exceptional doctor matching.”
Ask: How can we scale this 100x without losing quality?

3. Raise Blockers (Anyone Can Speak)

Create space for anyone—at any level—to surface issues threatening competitive advantage and slowing progress. These might include:

• Process bottlenecks

• Gaps between teams

• Tech debt or broken workflows

• Strategic confusion

Bring in the customer voice here.
Use recent feedback, anecdotes, or have a customer-facing teammate speak for the user. This keeps focus real and energizing.

4. Assign Clear Action Plans (with Deadlines and Owners)

No “noted” or “we’ll look in to it” allowed. Every blocker should leave the room with:

• A clearly defined action

• A named owner

• A deadline

• Example: “Nina will redesign the first two steps of the confusing onboarding flow by Thursday.”

Track every action item in a common document or task tracker.

Step 2: Tuesday Momentum Meeting to Keep the Pace Up

This is a short check-in to keep Monday’s momentum alive:

• Are Monday’s actions progressing?

• Any new blockers?

• What needs iteration right now?

Example: If Monday's action was to explore new logistics partners, Tuesday checks if that’s moving, and unblocks any stuck decisions.

Why It Works

This weekly rhythm:

• Keeps the team aligned on purpose and competitive edge

• Elevates issues quickly before they metastasize

• Unblocks action quickly and cross-functionally, busts silos, and speeds up improvement cycles

• Builds a culture of speed, ownership, and continuous improvement

🔹 What Level Should Momentum Meetings Live At?

One reason teams stall is confusion about where to focus in weekly meetings. Are we chasing KPIs? Repeating our purpose? It helps to get clear on altitude. Here’s the distinction:

• Purpose is your enduring “why.”

  • It rarely changes. It anchors your team culturally and strategically; think of it as the north star.

  • Use purpose to guide decisions, inspire the team, and orient the company as it scales.

  • Example: “Make mental healthcare accessible to everyone.”

• Competitive Advantage is how you win: what makes your company distinct from others in delivering on its purpose.

  • This is where your weekly goals should live.

  • Competitive advantage is specific, leverageable, and can be scaled with focus.

  • Example: “Fast onboarding and access to top-tier therapists within 48 hours.”

• KPIs are scorekeeping tools. They help you monitor progress and spot friction.

  • They’re useful, but not the right place to center strategic goals.

  • Example: “Average time to match,” or “Customer satisfaction after first session.”

Momentum Meetings operate at the Competitive Advantage level. It’s the sweet spot that’s detailed enough to drive results, yet high enough to align cross-functional action.

🔹Industry Examples

• Fintech

  • Purpose: “Build financial security for underserved communities.”

  • Competitive Advantage: Mobile-first tools that simplify investing

  • Useful KPI: % of active monthly users

  • Sample Blocker: Too much jargon in first-time investor onboarding

• B2B SaaS

  • Purpose: “Help teams work smarter.”

  • Competitive Advantage: Automation that saves time without requiring engineering

  • Useful KPI: Number of workflows created

  • Sample Blocker: Best-performing template is buried 4 clicks deep

• Hospitality

  • Purpose: “Create unforgettable stays that feel like home.”

  • Competitive Advantage: Hyper-personalized service from local teams

  • Useful KPI: Repeat booking rate or guest NPS

  • Sample Blocker: No system in place to surface guest preferences across locations

When teams drift, it’s rarely because people stopped caring; it’s because the system stopped making it easy to do the right work.

Momentum Meetings give the structure back to the system, and the spark back to the people. I’d love to hear how you’re designing rhythms that serve both. Drop me a note in the comments!